Published
5 years agoon
One of the great mysteries of California politics is why, in a state that boasts of its digital innovation, its government has such a miserable record on using technology.
“We are concerned,” she added, “that some of our previous recommendations to the FI$Cal project office and the California Department of Technology (CDT) remain unaddressed and that the state is at risk for delayed, and incomplete or inaccurate financial reporting, which may have serious statewide consequences.”
In other words, state bureaucrats have ignored recommendations to fix FI$Cal’s problems.
Howle’s report cites specific deficiencies and reveals, albeit politely, that bureaucrats have been fudging on how much it has been implemented. The reports questions, for example, what the FI$Cal project office “considers implemented to mean.”
“According to the project office, implemented means that the system is ready to use,” the report says. “… Implemented does not mean that those entities have necessarily transitioned from their legacy systems to FI$Cal nor that users within those entities are necessarily fully transacting or conducting the state’s business with FI$Cal.”
Were FI$Cal an isolated example, it would not be so worrisome. But it’s only one of many troubled or failed technology projects.
Dan Walters has been a journalist for nearly 60 years, spending all but a few of those years working for California newspapers. He has written more than 9,000 columns about the state and its politics and is the founding editor of the “California Political Almanac.” Dan has also been a frequent guest on national television news shows, commenting on California issues and policies.
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