Last week saw computer-related problems still plaguing California’s modernized unemployment insurance system, and warnings of potential problems with Florida’s new unemployment system that is now being rolled out. There were also widespread problems with the IT systems supporting the Affordable Care Act, but these will be discussed in detail in a Risk Factor post later this week. We start our review of IT Hiccups from last week with an outage over the weekend affecting the food assistance card payment system used in 17 states.
Problems with Electronic Benefits Debit Cards in 17 States on Saturday
Customers Experiencing Problems with EBT Cards
EBT Goes Down For Hours in 17 States during Routine Test of Backup Systems
EBT Glitch Exploited in Louisiana after Showing No Limits
Software Problem Takes Down Canada’s Rogers Communications Wireless Service
Software Glitch Blamed for Massive Rogers Outage
Rogers Apologizes for Canada-Wide Outage
Rogers Outage Highlights Canadian 911 System Issue
California Unemployment System Still Not Properly Fixed
California EDD Can’t Keep Pace with Unemployment Claims
EDD’s “Fully Functional” System Suffers More Problems
EDD $100 Million System: “Broken from the Start”?
Legislators Call for Investigation into EDD System
Fonterra Dairy’s New Software Systems Hides the Cheese in New Zealand
Software Issues Hits Milk and Cheese Supplies
Of Other Interest…
New Florida Unemployment System Rollout May Be Bring Benefits Delay
North Carolina Healthcare Providers Still Waiting to Get Paid by State’s New Medicaid System
NASA Jupiter Probe Now Fully Operational After Anomaly
Asda Supermarket’s Software Error Allows Free UK Shopping
Computer Problem Strands Universal Studios Roller Coaster Riders
Sydney’s Central Business District hit by Optus and Virgin Mobile Outage
Major College Online Application System Malfunctioning
Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo
Robert N. Charette is a Contributing Editor to IEEE Spectrum and an acknowledged international authority on information technology and systems risk management. A self-described “risk ecologist,” he is interested in the intersections of business, political, technological, and societal risks. Charette is an award-winning author of multiple books and numerous articles on the subjects of risk management, project and program management, innovation, and entrepreneurship. A Life Senior Member of the IEEE, Charette was a recipient of the IEEE Computer Society’s Golden Core Award in 2008.