The Social Security Administration plans to lessen its dependence on mainframe technology during the next decade or so and make many other information technology improvements during that time, SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue told the House Ways and Means Committee today.
The agency’s core systems comprise about 36 million lines of Cobol, Astrue said. “Given the huge amount of code we inherited,” he said, "it’s going to take some time” to shift to a more modern platform, but he promised to start the process. “I think the agency got comfortable with the Cobol technology,” Astrue said, and that now makes it more difficult to automate SSA operations. ...
Astrue said the agency wants to replace the disability determination systems used by the 50 states and four territories. SSA provides the systems, and the states operate them. Each system is different, and maintaining the separate systems is expensive and inefficient, he said.
“We’ve been negotiating with the states for about nine months” to obtain consensus on a single new system, Astrue said. “It will be an enormous step forward if we can do that.”
A new software tool called the Electronic Case Analysis Tool (eCAT) will help disability examiners collect the correct information faster, he said. An early version of eCAT was fielded prematurely “and failed miserably,” but a better development process and extensive testing should result in a different outcome next year, he said. ...
A new online application form for Social Security benefits will debut in September, replacing an 8-year-old form used by only about one in 10 retirees. The new, simplified form can be completed in one-third the time and with fewer errors, he said.
Visitors to SSA offices soon will go first to a kiosk where they will check in and register the reason for their visit. Also, waiting areas will have PCs where some visitors may be able to accomplish their business with SSA electronically ...
However, Sylvester Schieber, chairman of the Social Security Advisory Board, said eCAT development was not coordinated with the system’s users. “There appears to be a lack of a holistic electronic-systems strategy…linked to a well-thought-out process structure that is properly resourced and that emphasizes the interdependence of the operating components,” he stated.
Apr 24, 2008
Social Security, Cobol And E-Cat
From Federal Computer Week:
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5 comments:
What's the new ISBA going to be?
"Check here if you want benefits." LOL
The current ISBA seems to be pretty easy, so how far can it be to be dumbed down and still collect all the info needed to process the claim.
Probably will be like when the Website URL was changed from ssa.gov to socialsecurity.gov and reason giving was it would be easier to remember. Huh?
Not improved, just different.
Wonderful - a new system. Right now we have so many that do not "talk" to each other. The PSCs and OCO use "Paperless" - but the DOs and DDSs cannot see anything there. The new eView system cannot interface with Paperless either. And the PCACS system that tracks the paper folders and stuff in Paperless does NOT know that eView is there. Talk about confusion.......
the real problem is all the contractors who would lose business if systems were dropped in favor of a standard talking platform. OMG would they lose business. Every time one of the ssa systems chanes, 6 or so dds systems contractors more make money or recoding. Barnhardt didn't have the clout to get beyond the politics of this. the agency isn't negotiating, they're trying to figure out which contractor should get the plum long term contract for conversion and then the single contract for future permanent system.
Research has led to the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science.
The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons & 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.
These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction (that would normally take less than a second) to be delayed any time from four days to fourteen years.
Governmentium has a normal half-life of two to six years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which some of the assistant neutrons & deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.
This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.
When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium, since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.
A major part of the problem with SSA systems is that the programs which SSA administers are complex and the total system so large that 1) Congress has never been willing to appropriate the huge amount of money needed to redo all systems into one integrated system and 2) Even when big improvements were attempted the private contractors could not deliver on a timely basis. Hardware was always delivered piece meal and parts of the agency were still waiting for th equipment by the time it became obsolete.
It reminds me of how many years it took with the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) system before the private contractors admitted that they could not make a system that could handle such a huge volume of users.
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