Several staff members have left their jobs at Belgium's State Security department over frustrations about the rollout of a new database.
The national intelligence service, responsible for collecting information on threats to the country, has been in a state of transition for several years with a focus on specialisation. It has increased its staff and developed a new database in an effort to improve how large quantities of data are processed or how audio and video files are stored.
But despite functionality issues with the old system, it kept all information in one place and anonymous sources have said that it was user-friendly, well-organised and logical compared to the new system, which works with several linked systems. They describe a chaotic system as the new database has been implemented with various technical challenges.
"Despite years of preparation work and spending millions, this system is simply unusable. It lacks logic, clarity, traceability, control mechanisms, speed – in short, everything an intelligence agency's database needs," one source told Het Nieuwsblad. Some staff members who had tested the system warned top bosses of these malfunctions, but the response was to "sweat it out."
Security concern
One of the sources noted that one month into using the system, it has only caused chaos. "Information gets lost, and data is displayed incorrectly. Moreover, the system keeps faltering constantly and one is confronted with a bug every few minutes."
The person added that addresses are showing up incorrectly, which can have serious consequences. "Due to the chaotic operation of the new database, we have to work with information that is potentially incomplete and even potentially wrong."
Some of the staff, meanwhile, have dejectedly quit as a result of the issues. A spokesperson for State Security confirmed that there is a problem with the new database, adding that a task force is "working hard" to get the problems fixed as soon as possible and that measures are being taken to ensure erroneous data doesn't creep into the intelligence the service shares.
