WASHINGTON, May 27 (UPI) -- The head of the FBI told Congress earlier this week his agency will launch a new computer system to replace the $170 million network installed following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Some experts remain skeptical, however, that renewed efforts by the agency to boost its electronic information capabilities will work -- more for political reasons than computer-related factors.
At a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing, Robert Mueller said the Virtual Case File system that was supposed to improve information-sharing within the agency and its field offices, as well as with other government agencies, needed to be overhauled, even though he could not specify how much the forthcoming Sentinel system would cost.
The terrorist strikes on New York and Washington and the subsequent war on terrorism have highlighted the need for the homeland-security-related agencies to be more efficient in sharing and storing data. In the FBI's case, the VCF was supposed to be a paperless and instantaneous way for agents as well as analysts to manage all of their investigations. It ultimately came to naught.
An FBI official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told United Press International that of the federal money spent so far on the failed system, $50 million has been invested in building up networks that can be used even with the new Sentinel network. The agency plans to open the new system for bids by contractors by mid-summer, with the contract awarded by the end of the year, the official said. The first of four phases of the system should be in place by the end of 2006, and system installation is expected to be completed by 2008 at the earliest -- or seven years after the terrorist attacks.
Sentinel should encompass "far more" than simply improving communication between the FBI's field offices and headquarters, the official said.
"This will be an information management system that will improve counter-terrorism" and the many other activities that the FBI is engaged in to bolster homeland security, the official added.
Meanwhile, Mueller told Senators the FBI already has completed the first steps in improving its communications network by installing a secure computer system and 30,000 new desktop units.
Nevertheless, some experts worry about what Sentinel actually will be able to do, even if budgetary considerations were not an issue.
What the FBI is facing is "what many large U.S. corporations are facing today, too," said Jerry Luftman, professor of information systems at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J.
From solely a technological perspective, what the FBI is trying to do "could have been done 20 years ago," Luftman told UPI. The former IBM executive also noted "politics, culture, and tradition" presented perhaps a more complex obstacle for the agency's multitude of divisions and offices to share information and communicate effectively with one another.
What the agency really needs is a "strong central leader who can ensure that different organizations get integrated," Luftman said, adding, "without that, all the money won't make it happen."
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Shihoko Goto is UPI's Senior Business Correspondent. E-mail: [email protected]
