Software and sensor woes hit the 'Virtual Fence' project

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>]

But hey, at least Boeing still made the big bucks!

 

Richard

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/27/AR2008022703
747_pf.html

 

'Virtual Fence' Along Border To Be Delayed
U.S. Retooling High-Tech Barrier After 28-Mile Pilot Project Fails

By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 28, 2008; A01

The Bush administration has scaled back plans to quickly build a "virtual
fence" along the U.S.-Mexico
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Mexico?tid=informline>
border, delaying completion of the first phase of the project by at least
three years and shifting away from a network of tower-mounted sensors and
surveillance gear, federal officials said yesterday.

Technical problems discovered in a 28-mile pilot project south of Tucson
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Tucson?tid=informline>
prompted the change in plans, Department
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/U.S.+Department+of+Homeland
+Security?tid=informline>  of Homeland Security officials and congressional
auditors told a House subcommittee.

Though the department took over that initial stretch Friday from Boeing
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Boeing+Company?tid=informli
ne> , authorities confirmed that Project 28, the initial deployment of the
Secure Border Initiative network, did not work as planned or meet the needs
of the U.S.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/U.S.+Customs+and+Border+Pro
tection?tid=informline>  Border Patrol.

The announcement marked a major setback for what President
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/George+W.+Bush?tid=informli
ne>  Bush in May 2006 called "the most technologically advanced border
security initiative in American history." The virtual fence was to be a key
component of his proposed overhaul of U.S. immigration policies, which died
last year in the Senate.

Investigators for the Government
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/U.S.+Government+Accountabil
ity+Office?tid=informline>  Accountability Office had earlier warned that
the effort was beset by both expected and unplanned difficulties. But
yesterday, they disclosed new troubles that will require a redesign and said
the first phase will not be completed until near the end of the next
president's first term.

Those problems included Boeing's use of inappropriate commercial software,
designed for use by police dispatchers, to integrate data related to illicit
border-crossings. Boeing has already been paid $20.6 million for the pilot
project, and in December, the DHS gave the firm another $65 million to
replace the software with military-style, battle management software.

 

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