NEWS: FBI abandons its New $170 Million Computer System, page 1

posted on Jan, 14 2005 @ 01:26 PM

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The FBI announced its plans to dump its computer system intended to share information about terrorist acts that may seem unconnected. The system was said to be outdated and now the FBI is looking to salvage any parts of system to recoup some of the losses.

www.boston.com
The FBI said yesterday that a nearly $170 million computer system intended to help agents share data about terrorist threats and other criminal cases is seriously deficient and will be largely abandoned before it is launched.

The software, known as Virtual Case File, was supposed to provide a modern database for storing and indexing all case information and entries by agents, enabling them to share files electronically and search easily for links between cases that might not otherwise seem connected.

But the FBI has concluded that the system, the latest version of which was provided by Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego last month, is already outdated. New contractors are examining whether any portions of the system can be salvaged, and are determining how much it will cost to complete the project, the FBI said.

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You can see our tax dollars are being put to good use. $170 million to put into a system that was deemed "outdated" even before completion is a horriffic example of bad spending. Even if some parts of the system are salvaged, it may still cost around the same price to build a new one.

dixon

posted on Jan, 14 2005 @ 01:29 PM

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It's allright. The American government will say that they can afford it. Wonder how far the US$170M would have gone if it was used for medical care and housing and education ?

zhangmaster

posted on Jan, 14 2005 @ 03:52 PM

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Yeah, $170 million isn't a huge amount as compared to what the US spends on everything else, but these 'little expenses' can add up pretty fast. I just can't believe the system was labeled as obsolete by the FBI before it was even used. $170 million for nothing. That money wouldn't really go that far in either one. I mean Kazi worked it out that the proposed $250 million for education would only end up being $130 per school district. With $170 million it would be around $90 somewhere which wouldn't do any school too much good. That is unless he'll give the money to select schools that need it the most.

shots

posted on Jan, 14 2005 @ 05:04 PM

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Any system is better then no system at all, but I do not know all the details.
This sounds just plain stupid to me. I wonder if they even tried it out?

NavyDog

posted on Jan, 14 2005 @ 07:24 PM

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conservatives will continue to rant that welfare, social security and other programs are all just a scam - and perhaps a few scams do take place

however...

multiply this contract by thousands of others and tie in the bureacracy of our government and you have the ultimate scam of all

FLYIN HIGH

posted on Jan, 14 2005 @ 08:54 PM

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I would sure like to get into thar D.C. crowd. It seems that for every idea they get, they throw large sums of $$ at it wether it works or not. I thought they had to have some accountability but I forgot: we are talking about our govt. systems, Im just pleased to know the did not spend all of that money on hammers or lavish road trips in the name of National Security when it could have been put to better use in helping the poor and infirm.

jsobecky

posted on Jan, 14 2005 @ 08:56 PM

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They'll probably be able to salvage a lot of the hardware, IMO. It sounds like the software application that was originally spec'ed out is now determined to be obsolete. Most likely, this is because the requirements have changed as the WOT changes the way we do intel.

Kidfinger

posted on Jan, 14 2005 @ 09:26 PM

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Ok, Let me get this straight. They are going to use a computer to look for suspects that they might have missed? Can any one say AI? Doesnt this concern anyone? They will use software to determine who is a suspect. This is something that should remain in human hands IMO.