In June 2002 I wrote about the FBI's technology woes, and the problems in deploying modern business systems persists. A recent NYT story, "F.B.I. Sees Delay in New Network to Oversee Cases," lays out the difficulties with deploying the Virtual Case File system--part of the $500 million Trilogy project--that is supposed to bring the agency into the modern age of technology and electronic information sharing. The Markle Foundation's Task Force on National Security in the Information Age published a report in December 2003 describing progress on information sharing as "ad hoc and sporadic at best." Last week FBI Director Robert Mueller said, "I envision tomorrow's FBI as a highly trained, electronically sophisticated, internationally networked organization...more flexible, more agile, and more mobile." That sounds similar to what every corporation aspires to achieve. The FBI's problems, however, aren't solely technology-based--first the agency needs to wean itself from its paper-based culture...
