A New Way to Pay for IT Failures
By Allan Holmes | Wednesday, March 05, 2008 | 04:52 PM
By Allan Holmes | Wednesday, March 05, 2008 | 04:52 PM
The Census Bureau has had trouble managing the costs, time lines and, most important, the performance of a contract to develop a handheld computer to collect data during the 2010 census. The cost of the contract has increased from its original $600 million to $647 million, according to a General Accounting Office report released today. If all related costs due to the handheld contract's delay and mismanagement are taken into account, GAO estimates the increase in costs for the 2010 census could range between $600 million and $2 billion.
While those overrun costs are high, many government information technology projects (and private-sector IT projects) have suffered similar fates -- with little or no repercussions for the agencies. But Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and a member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, has suggested something new that could set a precedent for other agencies. In a committee hearing held today on the problems with the handheld contract, Coburn suggested that any cost overrun in the contract be covered by the Census Bureau cutting the budgets for programs in future budgets. This is what he said:
For years, the Census Bureau has estimated that the 2010 count will cost between $11.3 billion and $11.8 billion. I hope that the Secretary of Commerce will work to ensure that the cost does not increase beyond that, even with these trying circumstances. However, let me be perfectly clear -- if the costs go over that amount, taxpayers should not have to subsidize this mismanagement more than they already have. If more money is needed, I fully expect that the department and the bureau will work internally and with [the Office of Management and Budget] to find offsets out of programs that already exist.
The Census Bureau's total budget for fiscal 2008 is about $1.5 billion, with larger budgets coming at the end of decades to pay for conducting the decennial census. Using even the conservative estimate of a $600 million cost overrun in the hand held contract would present a financial challenge, to say the least.
Comments
Time and time again we see programs running over budget. And time and time again we see the admission that the requirements were not fully and clearly defined. Yet nothing appears to happen to ensure that current and future programs have clearly and fully deinfed their requirements - while at the same time we see programs continue to miss project timeline and budget. Does nayone else see the viscious circle here? Everyone is making excuses - no one is fixing the problem.
Sharon | Tuesday, March 11, 2008 | 03:53 PMManagement ineptness is rampant across the Federal Government. A culture that reasons a wrong into a right is truly poisoned.
WB | Friday, March 07, 2008 | 08:39 AMI would love to see a rule like this put in place across all govt agencies. Accountability, both govt and contractors, seems in short supply. Or at least the guts to enforce the rules.
sid | Friday, March 07, 2008 | 07:56 AMWas there any political hanky panky?
Wise Old Owl | Thursday, March 06, 2008 | 03:12 PMI do not know what the big deals of a handheld computer. You can use any off-the-self handheld computer and then write software for the specific task. At our facility, we have housekeepers conducting room cleanest surveys with PDAs. This includes taking pictures of any deficiencies that gets uploaded to an online database. I am sure they did not spend a million for it.
JP | Thursday, March 06, 2008 | 01:55 PMFinally a voice of reason in the never ending demand for more tax money. Way to go Tom!!!
dan ketter | Thursday, March 06, 2008 | 10:54 AMABOUT THIS BLOG
Allan Holmes on what's happening and what's being discussed in the world of federal information technology.
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