Resignation After NYC 911 Problems

The head of New York City’s technology and telecom agency has announced his retirement at year’s end, saying he’s finished a commitment he made to the mayor. But critics say Paul Cosgrave has been unable to manage the city’s Emergency Communications Transformation Project (ECTP), which is over-budget, way behind schedule and lately has produced several critical errors in dispatching fire units. The ECTP was intended to unify and streamline the city’s 911 system, three dispatching operations, and individual radio communications for the police, fire and EMS agencies. It also included the creation of a back-up 911 center in the Bronx, now scheduled for completion in 2013. The project’s $1.2 billion budget has grown to over $2 billion and is months or years beyond its project completion date. Read background information here, and then read about Cograve’s retirement here.