On Wed, 10 Aug 2005 16:59:00 -0700 (PDT), ZDNet News Alerts<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5827601.html?tag=zdnn.alert FBI abandons old computer system, tries againBy Declan McCullagh, CNET News.com Published on ZDNet News: August 10, 2005, 4:58 PM PT The FBI has formally begun the process of trying to replace its $170 million case-management software with something that will work. The bureau on Tuesday announced it had contacted 40 selected contractors asking for bids on creating the project, which is being called Sentinel and will succeed the now-defunct Virtual Case File system. An effort to modernize FBI case management systems that relied on paper and antiquated computer hardware, the VCF was supposed to usher agents into the 21st century by allowing them to more easily share information. Instead, it turned into a flop that ended with public finger-pointing between contractor SAIC and top bureau officials. A May 2004 report (PDF here) from the National Academies found "inadequate" management of VCF by the bureau and warned that if the system were activated all at once as planned, it would run a "very high risk" of crippling failure. FBI Director Robert Mueller admitted to Congress in February that at least $104.5 million had been lost on VCF and could not be reused on a successor system. A month later, Mueller officially pulled the plug. In addition to handling any technical challenges, the bureau will have to convince Congress that it can avoid repeating the same mistakes it made with VCF. One recent article in U.S. News and World Report reported that Sentinel might cost a whopping $792 million--a sizable check even for a federal agency with a budget as flush as the FBI's. So far the FBI isn't talking about Sentinel's expected cost. A brief statement released Tuesday said only: "Sentinel will further enable the FBI to achieve its mission priorities by enhancing information access and promoting information sharing with law enforcement and intelligence community members." The requirement for Sentinel is similar to that of the defunct VCF system: namely, to update the FBI's case management software, replace paper with electronic files, and link multiple databases for quick searches. "What the agent on the street does not have is a user-friendly format for inputting investigative and intelligence information into his or her computer," Mueller said in February. "Instead, the agent faces a cumbersome, time-consuming process of preparing a paper record of that information, seeking the necessary approvals, then uploading the document into an existing database." The FBI did not release the names of the companies invited to bid nor any information on the system's specifications. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12hhn4915/M=362329.6886306.7839369.3040540/D=groups/S=1705323667:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1123766407/A=2894321/R=0/SIG=11dvsfulr/*http://youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1992 ">Fair play? Video games influencing politics. Click and talk back!</a>.</font> --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
