

Bad Government Software - cgtyoder
http://baselinescenario.com/2013/10/18/bad-government-software/

======
doubt_me
Is the government not willing to change the way they operate on technology?
Why does everything the government do get contracted out? Is there a
possibility of the tech for all government systems be supplied in house and
operated as such?

Who is in charge of technology contracts and why are they still around?

When does this sort of bullshit stop? MILLIONS are being wasted on something
that hasn't lasted a few weeks

ARE THEY SERIOUSLY EXPECTING THESE SYSTEMS TO LAST YEARS?

~~~
LeeHunter
Be careful what you wish for. Internally developed systems in the government
tend to suck as badly and cost as much or more than solutions that are
contracted out. Software development, except in relatively small isolated
cases, will never be well executed inside government. The nature of
bureaucracy pretty much guarantees it. The best hope is relying on open source
or off the shelf software as much as possible.

------
triplesec
Grand scheme healthcare system software contracted by government is often
plagued with issues, compounded by naive government officials not drawing up
strong enough contracts to hold their sharkish IT "partners" to account. With
the UK as an example, here's a summary from the Reg:
[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/27/uk_public_sector_out...](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/27/uk_public_sector_outsourcing_cost_overruns)
"It says that clearly some of the problems encountered by ICT projects are a
result of over-ambition, a lack of design and development before procurement,
and pressures for efficiency savings overtaking the ability to deliver. The
technical complexity of ICT projects is also often underestimated". There's
also a report linked at the bottom with more details.

