A system that's actually running is more useful than one just planned. Really though, current paper records are "document oriented databases", where each record is self-describing (at the cost of redundancy) and access latency is the biggest issue. Upgrading to electronic document oriented databases would actually be a very natural fit, whilst still leaving open the possibility of further relational optimization in the future.
"A system that's actually running is more useful than one just planned"
Absolutely. To go back to the original point, I don't think it's document-centric or not that causes the massive cost overruns. Instead it's that big consulting companies know that they can absolutely ROB the government blind and get away with it. Here in Canada we've seen the same farce with the long gun registry, with the health records here in Ontario....just about any government-related project is a boondoggle.
I'm not quite following, however the projects I am talking about have pissed away hundreds of millions to over a billion dollars. That is what makes them significant.
