When he became governor in 2019, Gavin Newsom promised to upgrade the state’s decrepit 911 system, which is a relic from the 1970s. So much has changed technologically that it’s “astounding” that California emergency services rely on “analog systems designed decades ago,” he said per a Sacramento Bee report. Newsom was correct to pinpoint this infrastructure problem in a state plagued by natural disasters. The governor proposed a Next Generation system to bring emergency services into the modern era.
Yet what unfolded is a tale that’s frustratingly emblematic. As that recent Bee investigation added, the state “paid four technology companies over $450 million” to build it. “But when the time came to turn that system on, it didn’t work.” Then the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) “decided to scrap the regional design and go back to the drawing board.” The newly proposed system will require many more millions of taxpayer dollars.
How often have we seen this scenario? California politicians dream big by offering ideas to upgrade infrastructure, improve the environment or revamp healthcare. These ideas start with grandiose rhetoric. The state then throws money at the projects, which become money pits. One obvious example: the California High Speed Rail system has morphed into a much-delayed, budget-busting boondoggle.
And why can’t the state competently handle major tech projects? In 2005, California launched its Financial Information System for California (FI$Cal) to improve state financial management “Two decades later, about a billion dollars has been spent and some state agencies have been incorporated into the system, but complete deployment is not scheduled until 2032,” CalMatters’ Dan Walters explained. That failure is common, not a one-off.
Back to the 911 system. Per the Bee again: “The new system will likely take years to build, and Cal OES hasn’t provided a cost estimate.” Newsom was right that California’s government needs to be on the cutting edge of new technologies rather than reliant on outdated systems, but the buck stops with him. He needs to figure out why doing so remains elusive.