Digital Government
Letters
Qwest's big challenge I want to wish Jim Payne the best of luck in his new position as chief of the federal division at Qwest Communications International Inc. ['Payne leads fed Qwest,' FCW, Aug. 23]. He indeed faces a challenge in light of a general federal telecommunications procurement policy th
Digital Government
Oklahoma District Plugs in to E-Rate
The Western Heights School District in suburban Oklahoma City has one of the most advanced computer networks in the state. Every teacher has access to equipment that can broadcast lessons to students throughout the district, and last year a class participated in a live videoconference with U.S. sen
Digital Government
Beating the ERP Learning Curve
For the past year, city, county and state governments have been implementing enterprise resource planning software suites to repair, upgrade and streamline business and technology operations. Spurred initially by the need for Year 2000 compliance, civic agencies have leveraged financial management,
Digital Government
Norton SystemWorks upgrade big on safety
A seat belt can save your life, but only if you buckle up. In similar fashion, a PC protection program antivirus, anticrash and disk utilities can save your department or agency from unnecessary downtime and lost productivity. But the program will only work if you use it. The key enhancements
Digital Government
Marketplace
Market Trends Automated Fingerprinting Comes of Age In Philadelphia, police officers no longer have to wait and wonder about the true identity of the person they've arrested. Using digital fingerprint systems, police can get an ID in just six minutes, so they can make speedy bookings and get back o
Digital Government
GSA to add telecom to multiple-award sked
The General Services Administration plans to expand the multipleaward schedule (MAS) program to offer more telecommunications services by including voice, video and data teleconferencing services. GSA's Federal Supply Service last week issued a notice asking vendors to comment on the agency's plan
Digital Government
Air Force to expand IT2 program
MONTGOMERY, Ala. The Air Force's Standard Systems Group this fall plans to ramp up its procurement of information technology products and services by adding a throng of new contracts to a recently created streamlined computer procurement program. SSG plans to add more products to its Information
Digital Government
Russians ask for Y2K help with nukes
Russia lags far behind in its efforts to fix potential Year 2000 problems that threaten its command and control systems and nuclear warhead storage facilities, according to a Pentagon message that details highlevel talks between the U.S. Defense Department and the Russian Ministry of Defense. The
Digital Government
NSF grants set stage for IT research initiative
The National Science Foundation doled out $50 million in information technology grant money to research institutions nationwide last week as a precursor to the Clinton administration's initiative to support basic research in computer technology, a program that faces an uncertain future in Congress.
Digital Government
Linux-Mandrake user-friendly
W e have long been a fan of opensource software in general and Linux in particular. Until recently, however, we felt that the difficulty of getting Linux up and running on a typical PC would prevent the typical nonUnix user from enjoying the benefits of Linux. With the current crop of Linux relea
Digital Government
Oops. There Goes the Plan
Murphy's Law rules the world. What can go wrong will go wrong. It seems that as soon as you start implementing your hardwon plan, the world shiftsor, at least, your microcosm shifts. For instance, the mayor decides the civic administration should reorganize. A global vendor sells the line of busi
Digital Government
Back to School.com
Our cover story this month on commercializing the classroom tells the story of how some K12 educators are grappling with whether to barter for services. In this case, the swap is free or lowcost hightech tools and online services in exchange for access to a captive audience of 6 to 17yearolds
Digital Government
Sounding the alarm
The Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate, Rome, N.Y., last month tapped Litton/PRC Inc. to build a system that will collect information on cyberattacks or other unauthorized users throughout the Air Force as part of a Defense Departmentwide effort to stem the increasing number of i
Digital Government
Unix Choices Up, Prices Down
There never has been a better time to be in the highperformance workstation business. Workstation users once had only a few options, primarily based on expensive Unix systems. Now, however, the choices seem endless. In particular, the expanding presence of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows and Windows NT
Digital Government
Agencies virtually lure job seekers
As the Internet swiftly becomes important to finding and hiring employees in the private sector, some federal agencies also are aggressively going online to lure job seekers, while others are doing little on the World Wide Web to sell themselves. Agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service and th
Digital Government
USGS, map company team on digital national atlas
The U.S. Geological Survey announced last week that it will team with private industry to develop an electronic National Atlas of the United States, an exhaustive and detailed catalog of maps of the country. USGS wants to develop CDROM, DVD and Internet products, National Atlas managing editor Jay
Digital Government
Cylink expands PrivateWire VPN reach
Cylink Corp. last week announced the new version of its PrivateWire virtual private network solution with enhancements that provide increased information security within a network while speeding up data transmission. PrivateWire 2.0, which combines data encryption and digital signatures to create s
Digital Government
Cold War bunker made Y2K post
Montgomery, Ala. In a facility once used to track Soviet bombers and missiles at the height of the Cold War, the Air Force last week opened a command post to monitor and engage the last threat of the millennium: Year 2000 datecode bugs that could infect the service's worldwide computer systems a
Digital Government
Industry Watch
Anteon expands ERP consulting Anteon Corp. has announced an expansion of its enterprise solutions consulting unit ahead of an expected growth of enterprise resource planning (ERP) packages in the federal market. The expansion follows plans announced by the General Services Administration's Federal
Digital Government