NSA to partially privatize

[hacktivism@tao.ca]

[: hacktivism :]

NSA to Hand Non-Spy Technology to Private Firms  


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency  will 
turn over to private industry the development and management of 
most of its nonclassified information technology  in a single, 
10-year contract valued at up to $5 billion to the  winning 
bidder, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.   

The Post said NSA Director Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden called  the 
initiative "unprecedented" at an agency that has historically 
kept most of its technology development in-house.   

Hayden told the paper in an interview the contract would free 
NSA management to focus on retooling critical spy technologies 
that are increasingly threatened by fiber-optic  cable, digital 
cell phones, encryption and the Internet.   

"It narrows our front and allows us to focus the energies of the 
agency on the things that only the agency can do," it  quoted 
him as saying.   

NSA officials said the initiative, dubbed "Project 
Groundbreaker," could save the government as much as $1 billion  
over the 10-year term of the contract and provide much faster  
modernization of the agency's desktop computers, servers,  
computer networks and telecommunication systems.   

Once in place, the contract would eliminate the jobs of 1,200 to 
1,500 NSA employees and an additional 800 contractors.  However, 
all NSA employees affected by the change will be  guaranteed 
jobs by the winning bidder, the Post reported.   

The Post said three private-sector consortiums led by major  
U.S. corporations have been assembled to bid on the contract,  
but officials declined to name consortium members.   

The bids are due in late November and the contract is scheduled 
to be awarded in April 2001.  

[: It would be fun to put together a bid... ;)  :]


[: hacktivism :]
[: for unsubscribe instructions or list info consult the list FAQ :]
[: http://hacktivism.tao.ca/ :]