Digital Government
ITAA: Feds' outsource lists light on IT jobs
An information technology industry association last month accused several agencies of failing to fully comply with a federal law that requires agencies to identify government jobs that could be contracted out to the private sector. The Information Technology Association of America, after analyzing
Digital Government
Y2K freeze
After spraying for bugs, you don't open the doors and windows. That's the advice the federal government has decided to follow with the Year 2000 bug. Many agencies, having spent billions of dollars fixing missioncritical systems for the Year 20000 computer problem, have barred or severely restrict
Digital Government
Intercepts
NewAge Army? In the process of reinventing itself into a lighter and more quickly deployable force, the Army has decided to use the troops at Fort Lewis, Wash., as the test bed for new concepts, equipment and tactics. The Army named Maj. Gen. James Dubik to spearhead the effort and gave him a titl
Digital Government
RIF game coercive, not voluntary
A federal employee who was set to lose his job because of a reduction in force decided to take a new job at a lower grade to stay employed. However, when he decided to appeal the original RIF notice, he realized that he had few rights. The case involved Army employee Steven Johnson who, on July 22,
Digital Government
Biz criticizes contract bundling
Congress and industry have become concerned about the increasingly popular trend in the Defense Department and other agencies to combine numerous small information technology contracts into one larger contract because it makes it more difficult for small businesses to compete for government work. S
Digital Government
Win2000 gives security boost
Federal systems administrators and users who have long bemoaned the security, or lack thereof, in Microsoft Corp.'s operating systems will have something to look forward to next year in the release of Windows 2000. Administrators in particular have had problems with the current default configuratio
Digital Government
Navy missile range taps Sun to prevent data loss
The Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility, which relies on advanced instruments to test missiles at a range located off a Hawaiian island shore, recently purchased a faulttolerant Sun Microsystems Inc. computer system to prevent the loss of valuable test data. The missile range, headquartered at t
Digital Government
States institute Y2K freeze, too
Some states, including California, have barred any changes on their information technology systems well into the Year 2000 to avoid the introduction of untested and potentially bad date code.
Digital Government
Give 'czar' proposal its due
The initial reaction to the proposed creation of a federal IT czar cautious and supportive at best, but generally ambivalent only highlights how influential federal agency chief information officers have become and how vital the IT czar might be. Commerce CIO Roger Baker pitched the idea this m
Digital Government
Making order out of chaos
Working in information technology, your world is getting more and more complex, and your role in the enterprise is becoming more and more strategic. In short, it's an exciting time to be involved in the technology business. That's the good news. The hard part is that instead of simple and homogenou
Digital Government
Feds consider Microsoft trial 'what ifs'
Should the government's antitrust case lead to a breakup of Microsoft Corp., some fear the world's leading software company may find it difficult, if not impossible, to lend direct support to federal agencies during times of crisis. The 'findings of fact' handed down Nov. 5 by District Judge Thomas
Digital Government
Roster Change
Anne Reed, chief information officer at the Agriculture Department, said she plans to retire from government Feb. 1. Reed, who took over as the USDA's CIO in 1996, did not disclose her future plans. Commerce Secretary William Daley and U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky have received the
Digital Government
Picture this: Visio 2000 logical, intuitive, fun
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a welldesigned diagram may be worth several thousand. That's where Visio comes in. We looked at Visio 2000 Standard Edition, a package designed for general business diagramming needs and the successor to Visio Standard 5.0 [FCW, Jan. 25]. You don't need
Digital Government
Federal Bytes
The real power of PowerPoint. During the recent Milcom '99 conference in Atlantic City, N.J., Army Gen. John Coburn, commander of the Army Materiel Command, borrowed a word of advice from legendary Gen. George Patton when he warned the crowd of onlookers about the dangers of presentation fatigue wh
Digital Government
Internet on the go with the Palm VII
If you thought previous versions of 3Com Corp.'s Palm organizers were useful and fun, just wait until you get your hands on the Palm VII, the latest offering in this popular series. For the first time, you can access the Internet including email from the Palm device.
Digital Government
Pacom to build digital radio net
The U.S. Pacific Command (Pacom) plans to develop interagency digital radio networks for an emergency response network to serve the federal government and state and local police and fire departments in Alaska and Hawaii making it the largest project of its kind. Pacom decided to develop the Pacif
Digital Government
Maryland Department Weathers Paper Storm
Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulations, which is responsible for issuing occupational licenses, was lost in a paper storm including a backlog of about 30,000 renewals, according to a department official. But that all changed after it took its renewal processes online.
Digital Government
Survey: Y2K, Funding and Credit Cards Are States' Top E-Commerce Challenges
The Year 2000 problem, funding issues and credit card fees are the top three challenges to states' electronic commerce policies, according to the results of two surveys released at the National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council conference.
Digital Government