Tech projects listed among Justice’s top management challenges
Upgrading and integrating IT systems remains a hurdle, IG says.
Reorganization of intelligence functions and information technology security rank among the Justice Department's top 10 management challenges, according to an inspector general report published Friday.
The other eight challenges cited in the report fall in the areas of: counterterrorism; sharing of law enforcement and intelligence information; IT systems planning and implementation; financial management; grants management; detention and incarceration; judicial security; and tackling the supply and demand for drugs.
The report summarized IG audits and recommendations from the last few years, saying the department has made improvements in many key areas. More improvements and reforms are needed, however, and progress will be assessed in coming audits, the IG said.
The department's information technology systems to support counterterrorism activities still "fall far short of what is needed," for example, particularly regarding the FBI's effort to create a modern case management system to catalog, retrieve and share information, the report stated.
"The successful upgrade of the FBI's IT systems -- as well as the development and integration of other important IT systems throughout the department -- remains one of the top challenges facing the department in the years ahead," the IG concluded.
The report noted that the FBI scrapped its $170 million Virtual Case File system in March. At the request of FBI Director Robert Mueller and Congress, the IG is auditing the FBI's new Sentinel program, which is intended to replace the virtual case system.
"Our preliminary work has identified several issues of concern that the FBI will need to focus on in order to successfully develop and deploy the Sentinel case management project," the report stated.
For example, the FBI's Sentinel Program Management Office is not yet fully organized and staffed with systems engineers, contracting officers and budget personnel, according to the IG. The Sentinel program manager is on loan from another agency for up to three years, which means he may have to be replaced before the project is completed.
According to the IG, the FBI already has identified a number of risks in the Sentinel development process: the program award schedule is very aggressive; Sentinel phases must interface with numerous legacy systems operating outside the FBI; parallel initiatives could result in scope creep; mission or user requirements could change; evolving enterprise architecture standards could present new design problems; and total costs are unknown.
The IG also has initiated an audit of the FBI's progress in implementing recommendations from a 2003 report on Robert Hanssen, a former agent who in 2001 pleaded guilty to espionage and conspiracy charges.
And the IG plans to do another audit in 2006 on the department's effort to integrate the FBI's automated fingerprint identification database with a similar database at the Homeland Security Department.
"In sum, the department's counterterrorism challenge is varied and unceasing," the IG said.