US FDA to spend $2.5 billion on IT modernisation
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
The US FDAwill award 10 contractors up to a total of $2.5 billion for information technology and data centre management services over the next 10 years. The agency says the contracts are the cornerstone of its IT modernisation programme encompassing data management, data warehousing, IT infrastructure and security. "This contract sets the stage for the FDA to have IT to acquire, analyse and act on data critical for import protection, food protection and medical product safety plans," FDA commissioner Dr Andrew von Eschenbach said. The FDA's IT infrastructure has been widely criticised as inadequate and outdated for the agency's functions, particularly its ability to oversee foreign drug manufacturers.