Digital Government
GTE's JCON given a new life
GTE Government Systems Corp. has won a fourth year of business on a key Justice Department contract for office automation, despite a major change in program strategy. The department originally awarded the contract in March 1996 under its Justice Consolidated Office Network program, only to scrap th
Digital Government
Letters to the Editor
Scrap SDB preference I wish to comment on your editorial ['Preference cutoff handcuffs DOD,' FCW, March 15] on the Defense Department's preferences given to small and disadvantaged businesses (SDBs) and how Congress has suspended this policy for one year. FCW wrote, 'Congress has said society benef
Digital Government
Adobe, Cardiff join forces on forms project
ATLANTA Cardiff Software Inc., which makes data capture software, and Adobe Systems Inc., which makes electronic publishing software, announced last week that they will offer a solution for processing data from forms created in Adobe's popular Portable Document Format. Adobe Acrobat makes it pos
Digital Government
DOD hands over PKI responsibility to NSA
The Defense Department this month officially transferred to the National Security Agency responsibility for the department's program overseeing the use of publickey encryption technology to secure internal and external DOD communications. DOD plans to release April 19 two documents that lay out th
Digital Government
Industry Watch
Intergraph unveils new servers Intergraph Computer Systems last week introduced two new servers designed for highend and workgroup customers that want to integrate future storage and networking technology. Intergraph designed the InterServe 9400 enterpriseclass server and the InterServe 90 workg
Digital Government
Fedwire Briefs
Privacy neglected on fed Web sites Most federal agencies do not adequately protect the privacy of individuals on their World Wide Web sites, according to a report released last week. The Center for Democracy and Technology, an advocacy group that follows IT issues in Washington, D.C., found that ne
Digital Government
FAA calls Y2K test a success
The Federal Aviation Administration last week declared that air traffic control systems will successfully transition to Jan. 1, 2000, based on initial results of an endtoend test at Denver International Airport. The test, which took place April 1011, included tracking live air traffic with some
Digital Government
Correct use of past performance key
I recently received a phone call from a friend who works for a vendor that had just lost a big award. Company executives learned during the debriefing with the agency that a major reason why the company had not won was that it did not score as well as others on past performance. My friend was somew
Digital Government
Graphics powerhouses
Tested by Andreas Uiterwijk and Pat McClung When we last looked at Windows NT workstations [Government Best Buys, March 1998], we found that many vendors were billing soupedup PCs as workstations rather than offering true workstationclass machines. Those socalled workstations just could not comp
Digital Government
IRS data project boosts debt collection
Since the last tax season, the Internal Revenue Service has brought online one of the largest data warehouses in the federal government to store tax information that will help the agency collect debts from taxpayers. The Compliance Data Warehouse, which cost the IRS only $2 million, already has gen
Digital Government
HUD may ask for Y2K help
Over the next few months, the Department of Housing and Urban Development may ask Congress for additional funds and legislation to ensure that HUD's local housing authorities and business partners are prepared for the Year 2000 date change. Pending final testing of its computer systems and business
Digital Government
Small biz goes after fed e-commerce
Apogee Computer Solutions Inc., a small, disadvantaged business and valueadded reseller, is beefing up its electronic commerce presence in an effort to become a onestop shopping World Wide Web resource for government purchases. ApogeeOnline, the company's online ordering system, specifically targ
Digital Government
Federal IT community 'gives something back'
The federal information technology community is becoming more civicminded, if a recent series of charity events serves as an indication. The industry has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars this year through blacktie gala receptions, silent auctions and a fashion show. Recipients of the givin
Digital Government
Two vendors look for breakthrough in federal market
Several vendors offering products that focus on specific agency needs instead of wideranging solutions have entered the federal marketplace since the beginning of the year, and each is finding ways to tackle the problem of gaining awareness in a notoriously tough market. Cognet Corp., which starte
Digital Government
Rep. pushes for National Y2K Test Day
Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (DTenn.) last week introduced a bill that would require federal agencies to conduct a widescale, endtoend test of key computer systems to determine if they are prepared to handle the Year 2000 computer date change.
Digital Government
Hoodwinked on outsourcing
This administration is playing fast and loose with the lives of federal employees through its efforts to downsize government. It has undertaken this effort based on the assumption that outsourcing creates a more efficient and less expensive government. In fact, federal managers have no way of deter
Digital Government
'Melissa' a sign of problems to come, panelists told
The government's encounter with the widespread 'Melissa' macro virus late last month should serve as a warning to agencies without adequate system security practices in place, government officials told a House subcommittee last week. Melissa is a 'symptom of broader information security concerns ac
Digital Government
High-tech classrooms need boost
Teachers and students told a congressional educational panel last week that great strides have been made toward integrating technology in the classroom, but more support from policymakers and teachers will be necessary to make American classrooms truly hightech.
Digital Government
NIH awards four networking pacts
The National Institutes of Health on Thursday awarded four networking contracts that together are worth up to $100 million over the next five years. These awards complete a trio of procurements to modernize and support the agency's computing infrastructure. The winning vendors Digicon Corp., Inte
Digital Government