Digital Government

FCC site to educate parents on the value Internet

The Federal Communications Commission yesterday unveiled on its World Wide Web site a page (www.fcc.gov/parents_information) aimed at educating parents on the value and potential of the Internet. The page also is geared toward teachers and anyone trying to chaperone kids as they venture online, according to an FCC spokeswoman.

Digital Government

Army to offer 'information survival' training

The Army this fall plans to offer an online graduatelevel training course on information systems survivability, teaching engineers to develop systems capable of surviving any kind of technical glitch and network attack.

Digital Government

DOD taking steps to secure secret network further

Looking to protect its classified information network from internal security threats, the Defense Department is considering a new policy that will limit strictly network users' access to information.

Digital Government

SAIC Wins Key California Security Contract

California's Independent System Operator, which operates the state's electric power grid, recently awarded Science Applications International Corp. a contract for security services and products. Under the contract, the San Diegobased company will provide publickey infrastructure and cryptographic goods and services a first step toward ISO's efforts toward electronic commerce.

Digital Government

IRS set to ask for first modernization funds

The Internal Revenue Service's top technology official today told a group of industry leaders that the tax agency next week will request its first set of funds from Congress to develop a business plan for the IRS' highprofile modernization project.

Digital Government

EPA picks Sprint as telecom provider

Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency this week notified the General Services Administration that the EPA had selected Sprint to provide its voice and data services under the FTS 2001 contract.

Digital Government

BSA's New Anti-Piracy Campaign

Concerned that students do not exercise ethical judgment when it comes to technology, the Business Software Alliance, teachers and elected officials yesterday launched a campaign to drive home the importance of ethical software use.

Digital Government

DOD's 'lousy' computers create financial mess

Defense Department officials told Congress today that installing new computer systems is key to improving the department's balance sheet, which has been kept so sloppily that auditors cannot render an accounting opinion on its accuracy.

Digital Government

Federal Government May Be a Culprit in Urban Sprawl Crisis

The General Accounting Office recently issued an assessment of the impact federal regulations may have on America's sprawling urban and suburban development. Specifically, GAO was looking to quantify the effect taxation, environmental regulation, federal highway expansion funding and other programs have on urban sprawl.

Digital Government

Feds misuse Y2K money, GAO says

Some federal agencies have not kept good records of how they have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in money that Congress allocated last year for Year 2000 fixes, with some agencies spending the money on unrelated projects, according to a report released today by the General Accounting Office.

Digital Government

Wang agrees to purchase by Dutch firm

The Air Force last week awarded three contracts for highpowered, rugged portable computers to Cytec Corp,. Government Technology Services Inc. and Inacom Government Systems.

Digital Government

Public-safety systems pose Y2K question mark

State and local governments on average know very little about the Year 2000 status of 911 call centers and law enforcement systems, but outreach efforts by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Justice Department are extensive, according to a recent audit.

Digital Government

Toddling Toward the Wired Schoolhouse

When Alice disappears down the rabbit hole, she finds a mushroom that can instantly make her grow bigger. In elementary education, there's a similar wish that dropping a networked PC into a classroom will produce equally rapid growth. But as any schoolchild can tell you, Alice in Wonderland is fict

Digital Government

Small enhancements give IE5 a big boost

With the release of Internet Explorer 5.0, Microsoft Corp. has not added any major features to its World Wide Web browser, but the company has made dozens of lesser enhancements that add up to a smoother ride on the Web for end users and fewer headaches for systems administrators. Among the most we

Digital Government

Eyeing Net Security

State and local government agencies may face a different kind of time bomb once the century date turns over. While they have been dealing with the Year 2000 crisis, many localities have not been able to keep pace with their network security needs, state and local officials said. The bad news is tha

Digital Government

News Shorts

The MultiState EMall, the prototype multiplestate electronic procurement platform, has been open for business at emall.isa.us since October, but officials have recorded only about 20 transactions from government buyers. 'Our plan is to ramp up purchasing volume, and ramp it up and ramp it up aga

Digital Government

A Fair Shake in the Digital Economy

The electronic marketplace is changing the way America shops. Today, a consumer or business can make a purchase with a keystroke. This innovation is exciting, dramatic and powerful, and it already has reshaped America and its economy. But electronic commerce also has implications for our traditiona

Digital Government

Agenda

MAY 1999 37 Conference on ObjectOriented Technologies and Systems. San Diego. This fifth annual conference is sponsored by the Usenix Association. For more information, call (949) 5888649; Web, www.usenix.org/events/coots99. 4 Electronic Filing: The Momentum Builds. Marriott at Metro Center. Was

Digital Government

GAO blasts design of HUD grant system

A 3yearold system used by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to distribute billions of dollars in grants and to collect information on the use of those funds is plagued with design flaws and could be a candidate for replacement, according to a General Accounting Office report release

Digital Government

Payne shows the depth of a salesman

Jim Payne, assistant vice president for FTS 2000 at Sprint's Government Systems Division, did not always want to be involved in sales. But it occurred to him that he had the knack the day he sold five pairs of shoes to a chimpanzee. In the late 1960s, Payne was working his way through Georgetown Un