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This FEDERAL COMPUTER WEEK story (Sept. 22) reports as follows on the progress of the Department of Defense:
"DOD officials said that although the department has about three times more mission-critical systems identified than any other agency, the department has completed the renovation phase for 40 percent of those systems. 'DOD is moving forward to solving this problem,' DOD spokeswoman Susan Hansen said. 'However, we would like to accelerate our progress.' "
Here is a department with systems in dozens of forgotten languages. The size of the code base is enormous -- the largest complex of systems in the U.S. Government, run by rival branches of the military. On August 15, the Office of Management and Budget reported that DoD was 14% renovated. (See my posting: "Percent Completed: 0.") Five weeks later, it is 40%. Yet spokeswoman Hansen is humble. She says they want to accelerate their progress.
This is a miracle. The question is: Which kind? A miracle of government organization? A miracle of programming? Or a miracle of public relations?
Perhaps Congressman Horn will ask for documentation. How did the DoD do it? Shouldn't this information be shared with the world?
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