Digital Government
Live Video Is Coming to a Local Government Site Near You
When the CSPAN cable TV channel debuted in the 1980s, supporters declared there was nothing as politically intimate as bringing governmentinthemaking into your living room. In 1999, live, local government is getting intimate enough to fit comfortably in your lapor laptop, at least. Pluggedin
Digital Government
Unix choices up, prices down
In today's federal market, the expanding presence of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows and Windows NT operating systems is hard to ignore. However, some federal organizations, particularly NASA and the Defense Department, have opted to use Unix systems for computing power and stability. We are taking our a
Digital Government
Sun to offer Java-based remote access
Sun Microsystems Inc. plans to offer a Javapowered remoteaccess solution to the Defense Department and other federal agencies that need a secure, costeffective way to support remote users. Known and used internally throughout Sun's corporate structure for more than a year before its public relea
Digital Government
Tadpole-RDI offers a 'luggable' Unix
Our theme in the accompanying workstation comparison is choice, which for Unix systems does not end at the desktop. If you need portable Unix, you have choices as well. TadpoleRDI Inc. offers several options for users who need portable, binary compatibility with Unix hardware. The bill is large, h
Digital Government
Digital Commerce
In what could serve as a model across government, Commerce Department Secretary William Daley last week announced that he plans to move Commerce from a 'paperbased bureaucracy' to an alldigital department by 2002. 'I want to build a department that conducts personnel actions, procurement and as m
Digital Government
Agenda
JULY 1999 1315 Automated Review Management System Prospect Course. Hawthorne Hotel. Salem, Mass. Call (916) 5577999; Web, www.armstcx.spk.usace.army.mil/html/arms_prospect_course.html. 15 Unlocking the Federal Market: Using GSA Schedules as the Key. Boston. Web, www.globalservicesinc.com; or call
Digital Government
Commerce makes commitment to small biz
Before procurement reform, using 8(a)s was almost the only game in town for government agencies to use to award contracts quickly and with a minimum of red tape. This encouraged too many 8(a)s to develop the unfortunate 'business model' of seeking work on the back of an inefficient procurement syst
Digital Government
Most agencies not complying with Results Act, officials say
Agencies still have much to do to comply with a 6yearold law that requires them to show what they accomplish with the money they spend, according to federal officials speaking at a congressional hearing last week. Many agencies still have not complied with the Government Performance and Results A
Digital Government
OPM flub threatens fed's refund
The Office of Personnel Management recently tried to penalize a federal employee for a mistake that the agency itself had made in collecting contributions to a retirement account. The employee took the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals, which had an entirely different interpretation of the events t
Digital Government
DOD receives low marks for IT training tools
While the Pentagon has made computerbased training programs and other technologies a centerpiece of its mammoth acquisition reform initiative, a large percentage of the Defense Department's acquisition work force lacks adequate access to those tools, according to a recent survey. Over the last sev
Digital Government
IT helps protect endangered whale
The Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were among the organizations that late last month unveiled a new system to help ships avoid colliding with and killing an endangered whale in the North Atlantic Ocean. Starting this month, most commercial ships entering two imp
Digital Government
Office 2000: Looking sharp and ready to go
Microsoft Corp.'s Office which overwhelmingly dominates the office suite market has never focused on bells and whistles. Instead, the suite has made its reputation through tight integration of its core industryleading applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access. Office 2000, released June
Digital Government
Intercepts
FEEDING FRENZY. An industry briefing that will kick off the acquisition process for the Naval Intranet (NI) this Wednesday should attract a huge crowd of systems integrators, telecom providers and PC vendors. The Navy has booked the commodious (despite its name) Little Hall at the Quantico, Va., Ma
Digital Government
Senate OKs bill to restrict public access to chemical-risk info
The Senate last month unanimously passed a compromise version of a bill that would restrict public access to information about the risks of chemical accidents, especially data in electronic form. The measure, an amendment to the 1990 Clean Air Act, would prohibit for one year the disclosure under t
Digital Government
Small firm wins Army MTS pact
Comtech Mobile Datacom, which has 18 employees and annual revenues of $40 million, has bested a competitive field of bluechip aerospace companies and systems integrators to win a $418 million contract to develop the Army's Movement Tracking System (MTS). Comtech Mobile Datacom, a Germantown, Md.,
Digital Government
Health Passport
When Bismarck, N.D., held focus groups earlier this year to gauge how disadvantaged mothers and pregnant women would react to using a smart card that gives them access to Medicaid, Head Start and food subsidy programs, their concerns about privacy and technology were almost nil. Instead, recipients
Digital Government
USPS site gives direct mail help
To a lot of people it is junk mail, but at the U.S. Postal Service it is called direct mail, and it contributes about $15 billion to USPS coffers every year, or about 25 percent of its annual revenue. That kind of money, combined with USPS' need to protect its turf, is a good reason to promote dire
Digital Government
Security, smart card tools take center stage at E-Gov
Security and smart cards highlighted last month's Electronic Government show in Washington, D.C., as vendors showcased products designed to protect data and make it safer for agencies to conduct business over the Internet. In addition, vendors seized the opportunity to preview their newest technolo
Digital Government
Managing through the stacks
Network management is one of the most vital, encompassing areas of information technology and is one that requires a lot of training. As networks expand globally and support more users and more applications, network management systems are growing more complex, more automated and, by necessity, easi
Digital Government