NEWS: FBI's Virtual Case File is not working, page 1

The FBI's Virtual Case File project not up and running after the 104 million dollar price tag. This story has many wondering why the Bureau has such poor IT management. This technology would help in the war on terror and other criminal problems but Bureau has had no centalized oversight and this has been a problem with Capitol Hill lawmakers.

www.gcn.com
The collapse of the FBI’s Virtual Case File project leaves the bureau facing complex choices about how to modernize case management for its workers and how to quell skeptics who question whether the bureau can avoid making the same management missteps.

The cause for the VCF project’s failure, as determined by the Justice Department inspector general and independent auditors: inadequate project oversight, poor investment planning and scope creep.

Endless changes made by the FBI, however, are what ultimately hamstrung the program. The project’s contractor, Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego, documented the requirements requests from the bureau. In one 18-month period, the FBI requested 399 requirement changes.

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This is a real calamity. The FBI needs someone to be the IT czar since oversight on this project was practically null. The taxpayers of the United States deserve better. This situation is not all about the price tag as most Americans wouldn't care if it cost 50 million more, just so long as the project works. This technology is vital for tracking terrorists and other criminals. This technology would have streamlined file searches and other leads.

This news is not good for the FBI's reputation already sullied by the 9/11 Commission findings. How can we as Americans depend more on the Bureau when major projects like VCF don't come to fruition.

[edit on 9/3/05 by mike81859]