Lack of funding grounds IT upgrades at TSA

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

Short on cash, the Transportation Security Administration is stuck in a holding pattern on its IT infrastructure.The agency recently halted work on the upgrade because it does not have enough money to finish the current phase at 600 locations.

Short on cash, the Transportation Security Administration is stuck in a holding pattern on its IT infrastructure.The agency recently halted work on the upgrade because it does not have enough money to finish the current phase at 600 locations.Acting deputy CIO Joe Peters said 400 out of 600 airports and other locations have not received what TSA calls the white package, which includes upgrades to broadband connections, LANs, WANs, offsite application hosting and high-tech telephone systems.'We have a [$1.3] billion IT budget, and the IT infrastructure projects only see a portion of that,' Peters said this month at Input's Marketview 2004 conference in Falls Church, Va. 'Most of the budget goes towards explosive-detection systems.'Peters estimated TSA needs about $200 million more to finish deploying the white package.Some locations are using dial-up modems to connect to the Internet and have only basic phone systems, he said.Observers said the White House has not requested enough money for TSA over the last two years, and only for fiscal 2005 is proposed funding level close to adequate.'We've been concerned about the funding levels at TSA since its beginning,' said a staff member for the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. 'We've consistently felt TSA hasn't had the money to do what was necessary to move in the right direction.'The administration requested $5.3 billion for TSA for fiscal 2005, up from $4.6 billion in 2003 and $4.5 billion in 2002.For IT, the president asked for $1.3 billion in 2005, but most of it goes to a few large projects, such as bomb-sniffing systems, the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System II and personnel systems. Office of Management and Budget spokesman J.T. Young denied that TSA has been shortchanged. The agency has received more than $15 billion since it was created in 2001 and will see a 20 percent increase in 2005, he said.'The administration has worked to ensure that TSA has the resources it needs to perform its core aviation security missions, including upgrades to its IT infrastructure,' Young said. 'For 2003 through the president's 2005 request, TSA invests twice as much in IT infrastructure as a share of its total spending than the average for all of DHS.'Robert Atkinson, vice president of the Progressive Policy Institute in Washington, said the Bush administration's record for appropriately funding IT projects is poor.'They are unwilling to make investments now and get payoffs later,' said Atkinson, who has written several papers on TSA and worked on the Homeland Security Task Force of the Markle Foundation, a New York technology think tank. 'TSA and the Homeland Security Department have not gotten the money they need. You can't fund agencies on the cheap and get by.'He said the administration must exhibit a sense of urgency for TSA to complete its mission.'This administration looks at TSA like it looks at other programs like Food Stamps. It doesn't want to spend money because their belief is in small government,' he said.The Senate staff member said the funding shortages have put many TSA projects behind schedule.This is not the first time TSA officials have had to slow down the IT infrastructure installation.In 2003, the agency's overall budget was short $1.6 billion, forcing IT managers to delay installation work for the white package.TSA finished the first part of the program, the red package of basic IT services, in 2002.The third part, the blue package, is still to come. It would include installation of advanced technologies such as electronic surveillance and biometric systems.'We are stuck in a predicament,' Peters said. 'We are a new agency without legacy IT infrastructure to operate on, and funding shortfalls have prevented us from expanding capability.'TSA is working with Homeland Security CIO Steve Cooper to identify and prioritize infrastructure requirements.'The entire department is trying to baseline all our programs, and until that is done, we can't prioritize our needs,' he said. 'Until the funding situation changes, our IT expansion is in a holding pattern.'














Persistent concerns






























X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.