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Technology; Court Systems; and Integrated Technology are involved      [PP44]
in delivering and supporting existing systems to Federal Courts;
and there is a Division for Automation Planning and Policy Formulation.

The Technology Enhancement Office (TEO) has functions which were part of the
Federal Judicial Center (FJC) until the late 1980s. Until then, the technology
group in the FJC did most research and development work on information
technology for Federal Courts, but the Administrative Office took over when
new systems were in production mode. This research and development work
consumed a significant portion of the FJC's resources. Schwarzer J., who
became director of the FJC at that time, wanted to change the FJC's
priorities. Responsibilities for research and development (and corresponding
funding) were transferred to the AO in 1990, and most of the staff (15) moved
to the AO at that time, forming the TEO. The Federal Judicial Center is now
establishing a new division to assess more effective uses of information
technology in courts, but it is not to 'become involved in system design or
software development activities to support court operations' (FJC Directions,
No 1 April 1991, p20).


Development of systems by the OAT


Almost all of the OAT's emphasis until now has been on the development of
court administrative systems. It is only now moving into the areas of text
retrieval for judicial support and imaging technologies. The OAT places a lot
of emphasis on doing pilot projects which the courts watch closely. The aim is
to test technologies before large scale adoption.

Some of the major current projects undertaken by the OAT are (Administrative
Office (1991)):

(i) Data communications network - All Federal courts are to be connected by a
   data communications network by 1996. It is expected that this will open
   many opportunities to provide distributed systems to the courts.
   
(ii) Office automation program - 'The goal ... is to equip the courts with
   locally supported, nationally standardised personal computer equipment
   that provides comprehensive office automation support to all court
   personnel who require such equipment', including word processing,
   electronic mail, spreadsheets and locally supported software development.
   Since 1989, 17,000 PCs and peripherals have been installed.
   
(iii) Public access to electronic records - Systems to allow members of the
   public to access information about court schedules, and for Electronic
   Dissemination of Opinions (EDOS) are under development.
   
(iv) Case docketing systems - Much of the OATs current work is still the
   development, installation and support of a wide range of case management
   systems designed for particular courts.

   
Other functions of the OAT


The OAT has a number of functions other than systems development:

(i) Systems integration:: The OAT has a specific role as a systems integrator,
   which role is not shared by the NCSC. Its goal is to put standard systems
   into Federal courts.
   

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