Digital Government
Project management?portal-style
Agencies that want outside help for project management, but don't want to pay high consultants fees, have a new alternative: an Internetbased project management portal. RobbinsGioia Inc., a management firm in Alexandria, Va., has launched PM Boulevard, an online project management tool that combi
Digital Government
Feds to push security from talk to action
A program started at an agency as a way to collect and teach information security best practices will be spread across the federal government with the backing of the CIO Council and the General Services Administration. The U.S. Agency for International Development's Model Information Systems Securi
Digital Government
USGS seeks seismic network bid
The U.S. Geological Survey is sending out for bid again a contract to run and maintain a network of computers that collects seismological data from around the world. The network, called the Global Seismographic Network, gives scientists and governments quick information about the size and locations
Digital Government
SQL Server gains ground on Oracle
Microsoft Corp. is not used to playing second fiddle, so you can imagine how strange the mood must have been around the software giant's federal division during the past few years knowing that 75 percent of the government market would not touch your database product. But things started to change fo
Digital Government
OPM gives break to Y2K workers
Faced with the prospect of using or losing vacation days, government employees who must stay on the job because of the Year 2000 problem will be able to carry over annual leave days, the Office of Personnel Management said last week. Fixing the Year 2000 problem requires government employees to wor
Digital Government
Dell offers software/hardware bundles
Dell Computer Corp. announced last week that it now offers multiyear volume licensing agreements on Microsoft Corp. software bundled with Dell hardware. The government integration agreement (GIA) with Microsoft, available via Dell's General Services Administration schedule, allows an agency to set
Digital Government
Intercepts
Y2K DEFENSE. The Pentagon's Joint Task Force for Computer Network Defense, headed by Air Force Maj. Gen. John Campbell, and the FBI's National Information Protection Center plan to hold a toplevel conference called 'Preparing for Cyberwar' in early October. I don't know if this means the two outfi
Digital Government
Visitors can be G-men at FBI's FOIA site
Elvis Presley wanted to help Nixon combat drug crime. John Wayne was eager to help J. Edgar Hoover duke it out with communists. Frank Sinatra blatantly offered his services to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, although bureau officials wanted 'nothing to do with him.' Those are not exactly shock
Digital Government
NTIS: A relic that led feds into cyberspace
The Commerce Department has announced its intention to close down the National Technical Information Service. Secretary William Daley said he would submit legislation to Congress for this purpose, and the department announced that it had started talks with the Library of Congress about taking over
Digital Government
Maryland studies tech to childproof handguns
Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening met with members of his Task Force on Childproof Handguns last week and called on them to develop a strategic plan to ensure that all handguns sold in the state are childproof.
Digital Government
Air Force BPA sales double
Sales continue to skyrocket on the Air Force Standard Systems Group's premier contract covering desktops, laptops and servers, with the volume of business more than doubling since June. Dell Computer Corp., Gateway Inc. and Micron Electronics Inc. to date have sold $64 million worth of standard com
Digital Government
Campaigns seek Web guidance
The use of the Internet by political campaigns has created new challenges for the Federal Election Commission, which next month plans to formally seek comment on how a campaign finance law affects candidates who use the Internet to raise funds.
Digital Government
Education taps IT partner
In a firstofitskind move, the Education Department last week chose Andersen Consulting to oversee a modernization project for the troubled computer systems the agency uses to manage billions of dollars in federal student aid programs. As the modernization partner for Education's Office of Studen
Digital Government
Foundry, HP offer copper-based switches
Foundry Networks Inc. and HewlettPackard Co. announced a suite of copper Gigabit Ethernet products based on a new standard that enables Gigabit Ethernet to run over copper cabling. The new standard, which was approved by the Institute of Electrical Electronics Engineers in July, allows Gigabit Eth
Digital Government
DOD scripts war games
An Air Force jet jockey and a man who once helped design attractions at Disneyland have joined forces to help train military officers to react better during crises that pop up in the world's hot spots. Col. Kenneth 'Crash' Konwin, head of the Defense Modeling and Simulation Office (DMSO), and Larry
Digital Government
Roster Change
Bell Atlantic Federal this month announced three promotions: Randy Lucas, former director of program management, was named vice president of sales and marketing; Daniel Felder, who previously oversaw the company's Army and Air Force accounts, was named director of marketing and channel management;
Digital Government
Extensive security gaps persist in DOD networks
Despite countless warnings dating to 1996, the Defense Department's information networks continue to be plagued by serious security flaws and weaknesses that have opened up almost every area of the department to cyberattacks and fraud, according to a new General Accounting Office report.
Digital Government
DOE's nuclear Y2K tests shaky
The nation's stockpile of nuclear weapons will not be affected by the Year 2000 bug because the warheads do not rely on any datedependent systems or processes to operate properly, according to a recently released General Accounting Office report.
Digital Government
Wisconsin spreading word on Y2K
Wisconsin's Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) launched a marketing campaign to let the state's consumers know that their financial service providers are ready for the Year 2000 date change and are on the lookout for Year 2000 scams.
Digital Government