Detroit’s municipal computer systems are “beyond fundamentally broken” and holding back the city’s recovery, its chief information officer testified, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The antiquated desktop computers can take 10 minutes to start up, and basic software is “generations behind,” Beth Niblock, the official, told a federal judge today as the city started its second week of a trial over a plan to reduce its $18 billion debt burden. Niblock was Detroit’s third witness in favor of the plan. All three said old technology is hampering recovery. Under emergency manager Kevyn Orr, the city is pouring millions into new systems that will take years to install and make fully operational. The city’s debt-cutting plan would help fund new computers, buses, police cars and fire equipment by paying creditors, including bondholders and retired city workers, less than they are owed. Detroit plans to spend more than $80 million on information technology by 2023, according to court documents.
