Officials hope to select the new system within a month, said OMV Commissioner Bryan Adams, adding that the OMV currently uses an operating system that was built in the 1970s.
"It's a similar program that I used when I was working in the oil fields in the '80s," Adams said.
Problems with the computer system became abundantly clear in recent weeks, when constant outages hamstrung public tag agents and OMV offices trying to issue driver's licenses and registrations. The outages caused long wait times for services, frustrating Louisianans.
The Louisiana Public Tag Agent Association tracked outages during the week of March 31, finding that the system was down for more than three hours a day, according to Adele Dauphin, that organization's president.
For now, that problem appears resolved, thanks to a fix implemented on Thursday. On Friday, there were just 13 minutes of downtime, Dauphin said.
"Last Thursday evening we implemented one of the solutions that (the Office of Technology Services) believed would remedy the problem, and we have seen significant improvements in performance and stability in that time," Landry announced in his press conference Wednesday. "We have gone four straight days with no issues, which is a record over the past few months."
Officials will continue to improve the current system, Landry said.
Still, officials say Thursday's fix was a band-aid. The long-term solution will involve replacing the operating system.
"The system's broke. It's been kicked down the road way too long. This governor, this administration and this commissioner are not kicking it down the road. We're going to fix it," Adams said.
Two weeks ago, Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency related to the OMV outages, waiving the procurement process for the OMV's system, a process that can take six to nine months. Still, it could take up to three years to fully install a new system.
State Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, who plays a key role in the budget process as chair of the Appropriations Committee, vowed to find the funding for the new system.
"I have committed to finding the dollars as well to solve that problem long-term," he said.
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