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Bob Brewin

Editor at Large

Bob Brewin joined Government Executive in April 2007, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience as a journalist focusing on defense issues and technology. Bob covers the world of defense and information technology for Nextgov, and is the author of the “What’s Brewin” blog.

Results 1-10 of 2577

S. Korea Plans Navigation System to Defeat the North's GPS Jamming

June 18, 2013 Faced with relentless jamming of GPS signals by North Korea, South Korea has decided to install a type of land-based radio navigation system abandoned by the United States in 2010. The country’s plan to deploy an enhanced Long Range Navigation System, known as eLoran, as a complement to GPS, was ...

Senate Panel Backs More Money for VA Claims Hardware and Overtime

June 18, 2013 The Senate Appropriations Committee panel that handles funding for the Veterans Affairs Department and military construction added $20 million to VA’s 2014 budget request to buy additional hardware for the Veterans Benefits Management System, its automated disability claims processing system, and $10 million in overtime for claims personnel, Sen. Barbara ...

Pentagon Awards Microsoft and Oracle Software Contracts Valued at Nearly $700 Million

June 18, 2013 While smartphones and tablets may represent the future of computing, the Defense Information Systems Agency and the Navy just invested $679 million in old-fashioned software from Microsoft and Oracle Corp. Yesterday, DISA awarded Microsoft a five year contract with a total value of $412.2 million for technical and support services ...

More Spectrum for Everyone -- Except Feds, Apparently

June 17, 2013 That seems to be the thrust of the spectrum sharing memo issued by President Obama last Friday. He wants to open up federal spectrum to commercial carriers so they can support more iThing users (my favorite are the iPad-wielding toddlers I’ve seen in strollers) while sharply restricting federal users. The ...

Goodbye Paper: VA Installs Automated Claims System in All Regional Offices

June 17, 2013 The Veterans Affairs Department finished installing its paperless Veterans Benefits Management System last week in all 56 of its regional offices. VBMS is key to helping the department eliminate its backlog of disability claims, senior officials have said. “Now that the system is in place, much work continues to be ...

China Wins the Supercomputer Crown

June 17, 2013 If there’s a supercomputer arms race, China just won. A new machine developed by the country’s National University of Defense Technology performs just under 34 quadrillion calculations per second, or almost double the speed of the previous record holder, a Cray system installed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In a ...

Special Ops Command Extends Booz Allen’s IT Management Deal

June 13, 2013 The folks in the Special Operations Command’s contracting shop evidently have no intention of letting the largest leak of top secret intelligence in history keep it from extending a contract with Booz Allen Hamilton, the employer of the now on-the-lam leaker, Edward Snowden, to help run its global information technology ...

Forest Service Fights Massive Colorado Fire With its Largest Airtankers

June 13, 2013 The Forest Service has deployed its heaviest airtankers to battle a massive forest fire 20 miles northeast of Colorado Springs, Colo. The 15,000-acre blaze has destroyed 360 homes since it started Tuesday and led to a mandatory evacuation of 13,000 homes and 38,000 people over a 147-square mile area. On ...

VA Reaches ‘Tipping Point’ in Processing Backlogged Disability Claims

June 12, 2013 The Veterans Affairs Department has reached the “tipping point” in clearing up its massive backlog of disability claims, a top VA official told a hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on Wednesday. Thomas Murphy, director of the VA Compensation and Pension Service, said the department has made “significant progress” ...

Senator Slams Pentagon for Its Electronic Health Record Strategy

June 12, 2013 Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., opened today’s Senate Budget Committee hearing on the Defense Department’s 2014 spending plan with sharp criticism over the Pentagon’s decision not to develop an integrated electronic health record with the Veterans Affairs Department. The Pentagon pursued the iEHR for four years, but on May 16, Defense ...