Slow going for FBI's computer upgrade

WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (AFP) - The FBI will just have to wait for a major upgrade to its computer system, as delays have plagued the centerpiece of the overhaul, the bureau acknowledged Friday.
"Obviously it has (been delayed). That is correct," an FBI spokesman said in response to a question from Senator Patrick Leahy as to whether there had been a delay in completing VCF, or virtual case file, software on schedule by December 2004.
"This is a massive project. It's a huge challenge," FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said.
"These things do take a lot of time, and you just don't roll it out in one large format to 27,000 employees of the FBI; it's being done a little bit at a time."
The delay is all the more frustrating, as it has been deemed indispensable due to problems in FBI investigations including those involving perpetrators of the September 11, 2001 terror strikes.
Congress has earmarked more than 500 million dollars to get the project running in four years -- including 170 million for VCF.

01/14/2005 17:57 GMT - AFP