A pilot program by the National Communications System to use sate...
A pilot program by the National Communications System to use satellite phones as an alternative for emergency calls by national security and emergency preparedness personnel, has been ended, said a Government Accountability Office report. The service is in the…
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Department of Homeland Security. Although the “pilot began in December 2007 and is estimated to last 3 years and cost $1.9 million, as of May 2009 NCS could provide little documentation to explain its objectives for the pilot, and how it planned to meet those objectives,” the GAO said. NCS officials provided briefing slides to GAO investigators “to elaborate on the pilot program and describe some high-level program objectives,” but “these slides lacked key program information such as a methodology for evaluating pilot results to determine whether the intended pilot objectives were met, and milestones for pilot implementation,” the GAO said. In April, DHS officials said the pilot had been put on hold. “NCS subsequently terminated the pilot in May 2009, according to NCS officials,” the GAO said. “NCS officials acknowledged that the pilot program needed improved planning and metric documentation and noted that NCS took a number of issues into consideration including the current availability of push-to-talk capability among existing satellite service providers in making the decision to end the pilot.” The GAO report, which provided a broad overview of the NCS, said the DHS has failed to complete a strategic plan for the program, despite previous GAO recommendations. “Strategic plans are an essential element in results-oriented program management, and provide agencies and stakeholders a common set of operational principles with which to guide actions and decisions,” the GAO said. “Although DHS stated that it was taking steps to finalize its strategic plan in response to our June 2008 recommendation, it has not yet finalized the plan which has been in draft since mid-2007 or committed to incorporating key elements of a strategic plan.”