Gotta love government IT projects. When you want to randomly pick airline travelers for reduced security screening, it makes sense to use a random number generator to choose those people, so you can show there’s no discrimination involved.
What makes rather less sense is to pay $336k for the app. Or maybe even as much as $1.4M …
The TSA app randomly selects people to be directed into the TSA Pre line, which allows travelers to avoid removing shoes, belts and jackets, as well as leaving their laptop in their bag. The scheme is used to reduce queues at airports in what the TSA refers to as a ‘managed inclusion’ approach.
When developer Kevin Burke saw the app, which simply displays a left or right arrow to the TSA agent as a passenger approaches them, he got curious as to how much the government paid for it. He submitted a Freedom of Information request for the data – and was sent a contract showing that the TSA paid IBM $336,413.59 for the app. Such a precise number that you have to wonder whether IBM used its own random number generator to come up with it.
Self-proclaimed data nerd Pratheek Rebala then did some digging of his own, to find that this was one of a number of related transactions totalling more than $1.4M.
As Burke notes, it’s unclear what those related transactions cover, so it’s probable that the total includes the iPads as well as the software, but even $336k is a totally shocking amount to pay for such a trivial app.
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The government overpaying for something trivial? Who would have ever guessed? Government procurement procedures are a major hassle. I wouldn’t be surprised if IBM’s actual hourly rates were pretty low, but they probably had to design the app to some ridiculously complicated specifications to prove that it was truly random.
Ehh, it’s probably pseudorandom regardless. I don’t think that would have been a big deal.
This is why we NEED to get money out of politics in the USA.
Any competent iOS dev could have coded that app for 25 dollars!
But of course, the only companies who are even allowed to bid on these deals are the ones quoting these ridiculous rates; because campaign donations and lobbyists, you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.
This really burns me up inside, and I think this is one of the reasons why Trump is so popular right now.
TSA only hires the best and brightest. See video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDe_gk_f6oY
‘managed inclusion’
😂