Oh Dear ™ - Criminal Justice IT system is pants

[King Cnvt]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7141642.stm

Thousands of criminals in England and Wales are being let off paying money to help victims because a computer system cannot process many offenders' details.

He said a new multi-million pound Libra computer system currently being rolled out to magistrates' courts also cannot process the information needed for the surcharge.

"Everybody who works in the system has heard so many complaints about Libra. It's never done what it was supposed to do.

"It was supposed to make all the administration of the courts much simpler and quicker and run smoother, but it's too complicated."

http://www.cjit.gov.uk/how-it-all-wo...agement/libra/


How about the suppliers only get paid if it works?

[tonyblair]

And there's plenty more where this comes from Gordon!

[BrilloPad]

criminal justice not much better either

[thunderlizard]

How about the suppliers only get paid if it works?

That would require somebody in the public sector to actually read through and negotiate a contract. Much easier to say "ooh, that's a nice pie chart. Have this £1bn which it is my job to give to somebody so we don't look stingy"

[malvolio]

That would require somebody in the public sector to actually read through and negotiate a contract. Much easier to say "ooh, that's a nice pie chart. Have this £1bn which it is my job to give to somebody so we don't look stingy"

Having read through that contract - a couple of hundred pages all told - and criticised some of its content (and having had such criticism ignored, which seemed like another waste of money), I'm not surprised it don't work and I'm even less surprised they can't afford to fix it.

[threaded]

I also looked at the contract and rejected working on it as I felt it was not something that could ever work, not without starting over.

They're just coming at the system from completely the wrong directions, and the Civil Savants I was talking to were so clueless I thought it must be a put up job to make someone look daft, and it weren't going to be me.

But that's enough free consultancy for this morning.

[malvolio]

I also looked at the contract and rejected working on it as I felt it was not something that could ever work, not without starting over.

They're just coming at the system from completely the wrong directions, and the Civil Savants I was talking to were so clueless I thought it must be a put up job to make someone look daft, and it weren't going to be me.

But that's enough free consultancy for this morning.

Actually it's pretty much a standard EDS contract. I've seen several of them, and apart from the actual schedule of work to be done, only trivial commercial and delivery details ever change. Service delivery is totally geared towards cash extraction and no penalties.

[threaded]

Oh come on, the plan was: there are three players, we want to reduce that to two, but still expect the loser to play ball, also we want to follow the exact same (broken) model as used at the Inland Revenue and integrate systems that aren't actually working, and change them at the same time.

Here's a billion quid for whoever can make the best use of the word 'challenging' in their powerpoint presentations for when it all goes belly up.

[TimberWolf]

Here's a billion quid for whoever can make the best use of the word 'challenging' in their powerpoint presentations for when it all goes belly up.

I believe it's called 'built in obsolescence'.

[Churchill]

I believe it's called 'built in obsolescence'.

Built-in obfuscation, Shirley?