Formerly known as Andersen Consulting [Arthur Andersen, the accounting firm that polished things for Ken Lay and the Enron team], Accenture is major provider of management and technology consulting. Social Services outsourcing for State and Provincial Governments, especially in the area of Welfare services, is one of Accenture�s focus areas and is the main focus of this profile. This outsourcing for government includes computer systems design and network creation and management. Accenture's history of social services outsourcing, which often amounts to privatization of major parts of social services delivery under a certain time period, has often been very problematic. The problems have been especially serious in the U.S. states of Ohio and New York and the Canadian Province of Ontario, as can be seen in this profile under "Social Profile"
Washington�s decision to introduce stricter entry procedures for visitors has drawn criticism from Swiss politicians and data protection officials.
The new rules come into force on September 30 and will apply to citizens from 27 countries who are currently permitted to travel to the US without visas for up 90 days.
Steven Yonkers, a US official in charge of privacy issues relating to the new regulations, told swissinfo that passenger data would not be released to third parties.
"We�ve carried out an extensive assessment of our security systems and [have imposed] very strict guidelines about what can be done with the data," said Yonkers during a video conference at the US embassy in the Swiss capital, Bern.
"We will use the data to create a complete travel history of visitors. [That way] we'll be able to start a programme for regular travellers, so they can travel more easily and rapidly to the US," he added.
But he also confirmed that the data could be stored securely for up to 100 years and accessed by US government offices.
U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) GAO said the first phase, or increment, of the tracking system at 115 airports and 14 seaports was largely on time, on budget and successful.
"However, DHS[Homeland Security] has not employed rigorous management controls typically associated with successful programs, such as test management, and its plans for implementing other controls, such as independent verification and validation, may not prove effective," the report stated.
The report added that testing of the implemented system wasn't well managed and was completed after the system became operational. Now that the second phase of the system is under way, such management controls still haven't been established.
California Treasurer Phil Angelides said July 25 that his office - which controls $45 billion in state and local funds - will stop doing business with Accenture and 21 other companies which headquarter offshore to avoid taxes and legal responsibilities.
Erik Olbeter, a technology analyst in Washington for Schwab Soundview Capital Markets who followed the bidding process closely, said the contest was unusual because instead of dictating requirements, the government left it to the companies to define "their vision of how to track foreign visitors." Homeland Security's guidance on the contract was so open that "one of the bidders told me, 'I'm not sure if I'm building a red firetruck or a yellow submarine,' " Mr. Olbeter said.link KWSnet Jun.06.04
Robert Block, Jonathan Karp, Joann S. Lublin/WSJ (reg.req.)
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What this story is evidence of, the underlying forces at work, the overall plan and purposeful direction of the men responsible for it, is much bigger than anything else in the current events landscape, including the US presidential elections in November.
