I recently came across what appears to be evidence of a halt in the Integrated Wireless network (IWN) project. A statement made by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa is posted on the US Senate web site here:
In this statement of May 4th, 2011, Senator Grassley mentions a "stop work" order being issued for the IWN program, and officially "suspended" by the Department of Justice Wireless Management Office. The statement portion pertaining to the IWN appears below.
The statement also indicates that the project "will end without completing it's original goal". So does this mean the IWN project is officially stopped and finished? I'm still searching for confirmation on this question. We will have to see what the future brings. Stay tuned...
Oversight Hearing of the Department of Justice
Prepared Statement of Ranking Member Chuck Grassley
U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Hearing on
Oversight of the Department of Justice
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Integrated Wireless Network (IWN):
I would also like to discuss what appears to be a new
failed IT procurement at the department.
The integrated wireless network program (IWN) was recently suspended by
the Department of Justice and it appears that the project will end without
completing its original goal to integrate the wireless radios for all federal
law enforcement agencies. The IWN
program was designed to implement a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission
and create a single interoperable communication system between federal law
enforcement agencies. However, the
Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the Office
of Management and Budget have all expressed concerns with the program and labeled
it as high risk. To date, hundreds
of millions of dollars have been spent, and there is no part of the country
where all federal law enforcement radios are interoperable. The contractors have argued, as
expected, that they just need more money and time and there are rumors that the
department now wants to issue sole source contracts to companies just to buy
equipment. I want to know more
about this stop work order and whether the stop work order will simply be used
to sole source a contract for radios to vendors outside the original IWN
program. I am concerned that this
program is starting to look a lot like other failed IT programs at the
department—hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars spent with nothing to show
for it.
UPDATE:
A source found this article on line from the Washington Post that indicates any further expansion of the IWN project is currently on hold:
UPDATE:
A source found this article on line from the Washington Post that indicates any further expansion of the IWN project is currently on hold:
According to the article sources, “given future funding uncertainty” the Justice Department was ceasing design work on the next stage, in Maryland and Virginia, and would not begin planning for the third stage deployment in the Midwest, which had been slated for 2012. Apparently there is enough funding to continue with the current IWN operation in the Washington DC National Capitol Region and the Pacific Northwest.
UPDATE II:
An article has appeared on-line that summerizes what I found earlier:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/mobile/232500144
This article links to a new report by the DpJ Office of the Inspector General. That report can be found here:
http://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/2012/a1210.pdf
Unfortunately, this report has much of the technical information that appeared in an earlier OIG report redacted for public release.
And more industry reporting on the subject:
http://mccmag.com/newsArticle.cfm?news_id=7868
UPDATE II:
An article has appeared on-line that summerizes what I found earlier:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/mobile/232500144
This article links to a new report by the DpJ Office of the Inspector General. That report can be found here:
http://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/2012/a1210.pdf
Unfortunately, this report has much of the technical information that appeared in an earlier OIG report redacted for public release.
And more industry reporting on the subject:
http://mccmag.com/newsArticle.cfm?news_id=7868