Digital Government
We haven't achieved acquisition nirvana
Before acquisition reform, procurements often were conducted in an atmosphere of industry ignorance and government hostility. Agencies that issued complex and ambiguous solicitations often would not answer reasonable industry questions. Companies submitted bids that were designed to win the contrac
Digital Government
Examining the Lessons of a Regional Partnership
It can be tough to get everyone in one organization on the same page, much less 20 organizations with competing agendas and priorities. But that's what a group of business and political leaders from California's Silicon Valley undertook in 1993 in an effort to reverse an economic downturn bedevilin
Digital Government
Commerce taps 29 for small-biz IT work
In an effort to funnel more government information technology work to small businesses, the Commerce Department last week awarded the first governmentwide IT services contract specifically for small businesses. The department awarded 29 contractors pieces of the estimated $1.5 billion Commerce Info
Digital Government
USGS to replace CIO with GIO
In what it says represents an increased departmentwide emphasis on coordinating instead of collecting geographical data, the U.S. Geological Survey plans to hire the firstever geographic information officer, a senior executive job that will replace the agency's position of chief information of
Digital Government
Navy takes common-sense tack
The Navy once again has proven itself to be in the forefront of the federal information technology community with its rare ability to design programs that combine innovation and pragmatism. In the latest case, the Navy has decided to make what it calls a 'sweeping shift' in information management a
Digital Government
Set-Asides
Top 10 digital list wanted A pair of nonprofit advocacy groups last week called on the public to help identify the 10 most wanted government documents that should be available online but are not. The Center for Democracy and Technology and OMB Watch have teamed up to send virtual 'Wanted!' signs to
Digital Government
AF postpones software strategy
The Air Force has delayed devising a strategy for buying a single enterprise management software package, a decision that could profoundly affect the Defense Department's future enterprise network plans. The Air Force still plans to award a contract for EMS by the end of September, but the service
Digital Government
DOD advances e-business plans
Two of the Defense Department's largest communities recently turned their attention to the Internet and electronic commerce solutions as a way to exchange information more effectively with their customers while taking the department one step closer toward its goal of creating a paperless environmen
Digital Government
E-bookmaker makes fed push
The Defense Department is exploring whether to use electronic books to distribute training materials under a pilot project with digital bookmaker SoftBook Press Inc. If the department moves forward with the project, it would become the second major federal customer for SoftBook, Menlo Park, Calif.
Digital Government
Federal Bytes
ROCKIN' WITH BILL. Last week the Commerce Department awarded governmentwide IT services contracts to 29 small businesses. The contracts were awarded under the auspices of the Commerce Information Technology Solutions program, called 'Commits.' However, Commerce officials tell us that the acronym is
Digital Government
Vendors team on certificate management
Security Dynamics Technologies Inc. and subsidiary RSA Data Security Inc. last week announced their entry into the digital certificate management market with their new Keon Certificate Server 5.0. This is the first full move for the companies into the publickey infrastructure arena, which uses di
Digital Government
Growing Your Own Skilled IT Work Force
Tucson, Ariz., like many cities, is experiencing a surge in its hightechnology sector. Because Tucson is my home, I am happy to see the local economy thriving. On the other hand, prosperity has brought some problems.
Digital Government
Proposed agency no threat to DOE research
The head of a presidential advisory panel told the House Science Committee last week that a proposal to create a new nuclear weapons agency would not disrupt unclassified scientific research performed at Energy Department laboratories. Former Sen. Warren Rudman (RN.H.), who now heads the President
Digital Government
B-2 soars, proving report wrong
Despite the release last month of yet another scathing report by the General Accounting Office on the capabilities of the B2 stealth bomber, the NATO air campaign over Kosovo may have put to rest concerns about 'significant flaws' in the plane's missionplanning and defensive avionics systems. Whi
Digital Government
White House Kicks Off 'Y2K Community Conversations'
The White House is convinced that Americans want 'straight talk' on the Year 2000 computer problem, so it has assembled a toolkit aimed at communities struggling to develop public outreach campaigns. Dubbed 'Y2K Community Conversations,' the project is spearheaded by President Clinton's Council on
Digital Government
StorageTek offers data outsourcing
Storage Technology Corp. last week launched a new service that will allow customers to outsource their data storage, rather than buying equipment and managing it onsite. Through its new Storage Utility solutions program, StorageTek, Louisville, Colo., will manage customers' data either onsite or
Digital Government
IRS expands TeleFile options to lure more users
During a recent meeting held by the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee, Internal Revenue Service officials decided to give taxpayers who file electronically by telephone a wider range of payment methods. Currently, TeleFile taxpayers file their returns via telephone and then mail in t
Digital Government
DOD Health Affairs awards Lot IV of D/SIDDOMS II
The Defense Department Health Affairs office late last week awarded contracts to Planned Systems International Inc. (PSI) and Puma Systems Inc. under a potential $500 million program that seeks to replace the agency's homegrown computer systems with offtheshelf products.
Digital Government
DOD begins FTS 2001 switch
The Defense Department last month made the government's first significant transition to FTS 2001 when it moved 8,500 users in the Washington, D.C., area off AT?#038; Amp;T's FTS 2000 network. MCI WorldCom will handle all of DOD's FTS 2001 voice traffic, and Sprint will carry the department's FTS 2001 framer
Digital Government