Digital Government
NetSonar scouts out your network flaws
Your network probably is not anywhere near as secure as it needs to be. If you subscribe to any security alert services, you know how difficult it is to keep up to date on security holes that hackers ferret out. Network security scanners take the burden off you by searching the nooks and crannies o
Digital Government
FAA pushes back GPS
The Federal Aviation Administration has delayed by 15 years its ambitious plan to begin phasing out its last ground navigation systems and to leave the satellitebased Global Positioning System as its sole means of air navigation, according to a forthcoming Transportation Department report. The FAA
Digital Government
Study: IT increases terrorist threat
A study released last week by a senior group of national security experts concluded that the spread of advanced cyberweapons and weapons of mass destruction will enable terrorists and other groups to target large populations of U.S. citizens. According to the report conducted by the U.S. Commissi
Digital Government
White House shifts encryption strategy
The Clinton administration last week released the details of a new information security and privacy strategy that loosens export controls on encryption technology and provides law enforcement agencies with powerful tools to read encrypted messages by criminal suspects. The strategy would be carried
Digital Government
GSA waits for FIDNet funding
The General Services Administration last week said it has put on hold the next step in its part of the national plan to protect critical federal information systems from cyberattacks until a $10 million amendment to the agency's fiscal 2000 budget is approved. The $10 million will provide funding f
Digital Government
NAI crafts security appliance
Network Associates Inc. last week released its Eppliance architecture, a series of network security solutions using a combination of hardware, software and services from several different companies. Network Associates partnered with Sun Microsystems Inc. and HewlettPackard Co. to offer the basic
Digital Government
Revamped GSA Advantage eases e-commerce
The General Services Administration's Federal Supply Service last month unveiled a new and improved version of its World Wide Web shopping site, GSA Advantage, which will enable federal buyers to perform more accurate searches, build a purchasing history and track all purchases. The site (www.fss.g
Digital Government
Ohio ready to launch ECom-Ohio project
The state of Ohio will launch its EComOhio project Sept. 21, the first project of its kind aimed at assessing the state's readiness for global electronic commerce.
Digital Government
Nebraska to hold first-ever e-gov conference
Nebraska will hold its firstever EGovernment Conference later this month to help state agencies best use electronic government, electronic commerce and the Internet to improve public services to Nebraskans.
Digital Government
DOD commercializes Kosovo comm
The Defense Department has begun rapidly commercializing the communications infrastructure for U.S. peacekeeping troops in Kosovo, with satellite links, localarea networks and voice and data communications in forward base camps. The Army also wants to quickly install commercially based cellular t
Digital Government
Federal Bytes
DOOR NO. 2. Believe it or not, it can be heartbreaking to read General Accounting Office protest decisions. Take the case of Integrated Support Systems Inc., which protested the award of the Commerce Department's Commerce Information Technology Services acquisition. On the day bids were due, the co
Digital Government
Kolodney returns to lead Washington IT
Steve Kolodney, former director of Washington's Department of Information Services (DIS), who left June 30 for a job in the private sector, will be returning to his former post on Oct. 4.
Digital Government
Industry gets shot at face recognition
Officials at the federally funded Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization (OLETC) are seeking a private company to commercialize a 3D facial recognition technology that might someday be coupled with airport security cameras to catch terrorists. The technology, called the Integrated
Digital Government
Navy deploys mobile HQ to support East Timor peacekeeping
The Navy has deployed a mobile command post packed with computers and equipped with longhaul communications systems to Darwin, Australia, in support of the United Nations peacekeeping operation in East Timor.
Digital Government
Intercepts
RETIRING WITH STYLE. Adm. Archie Clemins, who changed the face of Navy computing with unprecedented commander in chief support for the Information Technology for the 21st Century project, will complete his naval service in a retirement ceremony on the USS Missouri, moored at pier Foxtrot5, on Ford
Digital Government
State: Y2K threatens E. Europe
A State Department official last week pinpointed Eastern Europe as a potential highrisk area for Year 2000 problems and told members of Congress that the department has its own Year 2000 problems fairly well fixed. John O'Keefe, special representative for the Year 2000 problem at State, said the '
Digital Government
Round Two
An article on Page 26 of this issue, headlined 'Sharing map data moves closer,' has an incorrect World Wide Web address for the Open GIS Consortium Inc. The correct address is www.opengis.org. An article in FCW's Aug. 16 issue contained an incorrect phone number for Esprit Development Corp.'s Wipe
Digital Government
What's involved in arbitration?
A company representative raised the following topic: We are a subcontractor on a large government contract. Our subcontract states that any disputes that we may have with the prime contractor must be submitted to arbitration before we can initiate a court action against the prime contractor. What p
Digital Government
Performance-based contracting out of reach
Performancebased contracting for information technology in the federal government contracting for results to which a vendor commits when it signs a contract has a long way to go. Although the government is making progress in asking for specific performanceoriented results, the typical requGMT
Digital Government