FBI will try modular system to improve information sharing on cases

WASHINGTON -- The FBI is scrapping its plan for a software program that would allow agents to quickly share information about ongoing investigations, Director Robert S. Mueller III told Congress Tuesday.

In testimony before a panel of the House Appropriations Committee, Mueller said the bureau would instead start all over with a new, modular program designed to fulfill the same goals.

Mueller told lawmakers he was "tremendously disappointed" that the bureau was ditching the software program known as Virtual Case File -- the final piece of a three-pronged overhaul of the FBI's archaic computer infrastructure. The $170 million Virtual Case File program was conceived in 2000 as a way to allow agents to share information rapidly through a computer database.

Science Applications International Corp., the contractor for the system, delivered the case management software to the FBI in December 2003. But Mueller said the program fell far short of the bureau's needs -- and the contractor wanted an additional $56 million to repair defects.

The FBI completed the first two phases of its computer upgrade project -- putting new computers and other hardware at agents' desktops and designing a secure network.

But the frustrating hunt for effective case management software continues, Mueller said, declining to tell lawmakers a possible price tag for a new system.

The new, so-far unnamed project -- Mueller said the bureau was "looking for names" -- would be designed with separate program components that could be updated with new technology, without redesigning the entire software package. The project would be completed in four phases over 39 months, beginning late this year, he said.

Unlike Virtual Case File, which was not capable of using off-the- shelf products, the new software could be continuously modified, Mueller said. Bureau computer officials envision adapting off-the- shelf programs for some of the modules, such as records and workflow management, security and finances.

The decision to scrap Virtual Case File -- and start over from scratch with a new program -- was a setback to the FBI's information technology initiatives, which have long been criticized by lawmakers for running over schedule and over budget.

On Jan. 13, when Mueller first acknowledged that the program might be unsalvageable, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., called Virtual Case File "a train wreck in slow motion." One of Leahy's chief criticisms was that the bureau's contract for the Virtual Case File project did not have specific requirements and penalties for missing those milestones.

Tuesday, Leahy said he hoped the bureau would not repeat its mistakes.

"I hope the FBI has learned from the last-go-round that it needs to have a firm handle on its enterprise architecture and its requirements needs before spending millions of dollars on information technology upgrades," Leahy said.

Tuesday, lawmakers praised Mueller for shouldering some of the blame for the demise of Virtual Case File. Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R- Va., who chaired the Appropriations Committee's panel, said Mueller was "making lemonade out of lemons."

"Looking back, if you could, would this new approach be what you would have done . . . or is it that you're making the best out of a bad situation?" Wolf asked Mueller.

Mueller vowed that the new program "will be better than Virtual Case File," because of technological advancements since the program was first designed.

"If I look back to 2001, when I came on board, I don't think I would have had the vision to know what changes there would be in technology . . . that would make what we plan to do much more reasonable," Mueller said.

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