ASSEMBLY PASSES CHIVUKULA MEASURE REQUIRING STATE TO REVIEW EFFICIENCES OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS

(TRENTON) - The Assembly today passed legislation Assemblymen Upendra J. Chivukula sponsored to direct the state to evaluate its existing high-volume, basic computing (HVBC) systems to determine whether they should be replaced with more cost-effective alternative systems.

"Using an antiquated system to perform crucial state functions can be extremely costly in terms of time, productivity, and performance," said Chivukula (D-Somerset). "By switching to more efficient, modern computer systems, we could boost performance and productivity, while delivering long-term savings to the state."

The measure (A-2492) would direct the state's Chief Technology Officer to review the costs and benefits of replacing existing HVBC hardware systems with a new generation of large-scale computing systems.

The legislation also addresses the loss of institutional knowledge as state employees trained in the antiquated computer systems continue to leave the work force.

"We should act now to pre-empt a possible erosion in the workforce trained to handle older systems by switching to newer systems in which present employees are trained," said Chivukula.

HVBC systems have been used for many years by both private sector and governmental enterprises to handle critical operations that involve tens of millions of transactions per hour and the storage of trillions of bytes of data.

Governmental agencies use HVBC systems to manage motor vehicle records, tax returns, Medicare transactions, employee benefits and similar types of transactions.

"We live in a time of cutting edge technology and the continued use of computer systems that are inefficient in terms of time, productivity and energy use is a terrible mistake," said Chivukula.

The Assembly passed the measure with a vote of 78 to 2 with zero abstentions. It now heads to the Senate for further consideration.

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