Social Security’s IT modernization lacks a strategic plan

The Social Security Administration has invested more than $5 billion in information technology modernization over the past decade without effectively measuring how each reform would improve its services, a watchdog testified before members of a House subcommittee on Wednesday.

As a result, the agency does not have reliable data on how a number of major reforms -- including the 2011 consolidation of the entire Office of the Chief Information Officer with the Office of Systems -- has affected its performance, Valerie Melvin, director of the Government Accountability Office’s information management and technology resources issues division told the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security.

Melvin didn’t criticize the effects of SSA’s modernization initiatives, several of which have accelerated operations and improved services, such as death registrations. She focused, instead, on the agency’s lack of strong performance metrics. Melvin’s office released a report Wednesday that made similar claims.

SSA has spent years modernizing its legacy systems, which rely heavily on outdated technology and obsolete computer languages.

On May 1, the agency launched a program that allows people to access their Social Security statements online. That site has already had 150,000 visitors, agency CIO Kelly Croft told committee members.