Technology spill-over cornerDHS IG slams Unisys for shoddy performance on $1 billion TSA contract
Few government programs were as thoroughly botched as Unisys’ handling of a 2002 $1 billion TSA airport communication contract; the DHS IG has just completed his report on this sorry saga, and Unisys does not look any better for it; what does not help, at least on the PR front, is the fact that on-his-way-to-jail Jack Abramoff helped Unisys get the contract in the first place
The involvement of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff in helping Blue Bell, Pennsylvania-based Unisys win a large Transportation Security Administration (TSA) should have been an early indication of trouble, but few heeded to warning signs. Unisys was awarded a $1 billion contract for airport security equipment, but its performance on the contract was judged to be so poor that the DHS inspector general recommended that the project be put out for bid again. The IG, call-‘em-as-you-see-‘em Richard Skinner, found in a report released yesterday that Unisys received most of the $1 billion without providing the TSA much of the equipment “critical to airport security and communications.” He writes: “The original funding is almost exhausted but many airports still do not have basic information technology and a telecommunications infrastructure.”
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Federal officials responsible for airport security at hundreds of U.S. airports complained that Unisys supplied antiquated equipment and that the radios the company supplied did not always communicate with each other inside the same concourse — a crucial function during an emergency. “We are not pleased with the level of services provided as the services are not state of the art and in fact are archaic,” wrote one federal security director. Another security officer complained that some cell phones — “a hodgepodge of $20 Radio Shack sale rack phones” — were so old they actually have a mechanical bell that rings.
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The IG did note that TSA had an enormous task to take over airport security from private contractors. The agency had inadequate funding and staffing to oversee the contract, the report said. The IG recommended that TSA put the contract out to bid again once the $1 billion is exhausted. TSA agreed to do so and said it has strengthened its procurement oversight. TSA chief, Kip Hawley, wrote in a memorandum that “TSA has implemented several changes since the DHS OIG [Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General] opened this audit and continues to make significant improvements within the Office of Acquisition.”
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IG Skinner noted that TSA knew the contract could exceed $5 billion, but still set a ceiling at $1 billion on it. The IG report said that when the inspector general asked TSA to explain the low ceiling, agency officials said it was based on “specific requirements.” The IG said, however, that the officials “could not document which specific requirements.”
