WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- After spending $170 million on new computer software that was already obsolete, the FBI has announced it's giving up on the project.
Speaking before a panel of the House Appropriations Committee, FBI Director Robert Mueller made the announcement Tuesday, saying he took personal responsibility for the collapse of the project, which was riddled with technical, management and scheduling problems that made it outdated before it was completed, the New York Times reports.
Called the Virtual Case File system, the software project was considered critical in helping agents investigate terrorism and was to have been the third and last phase of a $581 million effort to overhaul the department's antiquated computer systems.
Mueller said it would take at least 3 1/2 years to get a new system in place, and added it would be made up of a more flexible network of off-the-shelf software.
