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The following content is from an older version of this website, and may not display correctly. The agency that administers the US federal social insurance program has chosen the South Atlantic State of Maryland to locate its new 300,000 sq ft data center, according to local news reports. The Social Security Administration has zeroed in on two potential sites in the state, one in Urbana and one in Woodlawn, the Daily Record reports.
Two Maryland senators, Democrats Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, have been lobbying for the facility to be built in the state, expecting it to create about 250 jobs in whichever of the two communities the administration finally chooses. Most of the $750m project is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and is slated for completion by October 2013.
The new data center will replace the administration's existing National Computer Center in Baltimore, Md.
The project's site-selection process has not been smooth for the SSA. In April, the agency's Office of the Inspector General released results of an audit it had commissioned, which concluded that the site-selection process had been flawed.
The auditors identified problems in the way the list of potential locations was narrowed down. Site-selection criteria used in the process had also excluded too many locations from consideration. Namely, the selection criteria did not consider the fiscal impact exclusions would have in the area of power costs over the facility's life cycle.
Limited attention was also paid to telecommunications criteria.
Contractors retained by the OIG to conduct the audit were Strategic e-Business Solutions and Fortress International Group.
Two Maryland senators, Democrats Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, have been lobbying for the facility to be built in the state, expecting it to create about 250 jobs in whichever of the two communities the administration finally chooses. Most of the $750m project is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and is slated for completion by October 2013.
The new data center will replace the administration's existing National Computer Center in Baltimore, Md.
The project's site-selection process has not been smooth for the SSA. In April, the agency's Office of the Inspector General released results of an audit it had commissioned, which concluded that the site-selection process had been flawed.
The auditors identified problems in the way the list of potential locations was narrowed down. Site-selection criteria used in the process had also excluded too many locations from consideration. Namely, the selection criteria did not consider the fiscal impact exclusions would have in the area of power costs over the facility's life cycle.
Limited attention was also paid to telecommunications criteria.
Contractors retained by the OIG to conduct the audit were Strategic e-Business Solutions and Fortress International Group.