The federal government is a complicated behemoth that takes a long time to change course. With technology changing faster than ever, it’s no surprise that government regulation and human stubbornness are slowing the transition to new methods. In fact, one government agency still requires parts of the government to submit information on floppy disks.

The Federal Register is basically a daily update on the activities of the federal government. It aggregates all the orders, rule changes, and notices issued by various agencies and publishes them online and in paper form. This fulfills a requirement that the information be made available for public inspection, but the way the Federal Register gets all that information is odd.

Agencies are required to submit multiple certified copies of each document, which they can do multiple ways. Some still send over paper documents, but others provide digital files to the Register. However, the Register won’t accept a thumbdrive or SD card — it’s only floppy or CD, and a surprising number of agencies still send over 3.5-inch floppies. Where are they even finding floppy drives anymore?

There is also a much more modern secure email system for providing files, but moving to this platform is a big expensive change that many agencies haven’t made yet. The alternative, apparently, is to continue using technology from the 80s. There is hope that the issues surrounding the healthcare.gov website launch will prompt agencies to modernize, but it might take an act of congress to mandate the use of new tehcnology like the secure email system. So, all we need is for congress to come together and do away with floppy disks in the federal government. If there’s anything that can bring the two sides together, surely it is a disdain for floppy disks.