Digital Government
NetManage introduces host access suite
NetManage Inc. last week announced a new product line that will provide Microsoft Corp. Windows desktop users with direct access to information stored on different host computers. It also will provide the ability to centrally manage and administer users. The product suite, called ViewNow for Micros
Digital Government
Feds, states team on Y2K backup plans
The Clinton administration announced last week that it will develop contingency plans with states to keep federal/state social programs operational in case staterun computers fail because of the Year 2000 computer problem. John Koskinen, chairman of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion,
Digital Government
The skinny on thin-client technology
The plummeting prices of PCs has made it easier for federal IT managers to put fast, new computers on their users' desks. But Microsoft Corp., Citrix Systems Inc. and other vendors are presenting thinclient computing as an alternative to PCs that can reduce the overhead of maintaining desktop mach
Digital Government
Finding success in security
Security professionals, particularly those specializing in Internet security and critical infrastructure protection, learn quickly that maintaining a low profile is the key to success and the lifeblood of the information security trade. However, striking a balance between anonymity and the necessit
Digital Government
OMB tags ITOP contract for special treatment
The Office of Management and Budget has singled out the Transportation Department's $10 billion Information Technology Omnibus Procurement program for the way the contract handles competition, task orders and other sometimes controversial principles of governmentwide acquisition contracts. In Janua
Digital Government
Urban warfare tech may alter Corps
OAKLAND, Calif. The Marine Corps, the most traditionbound of the military services, this week launched a major exercise using advanced information networks that one day may fundamentally alter the way the Corps organizes its forces and carries out operations. The Marines' Urban Warrior experimen
Digital Government
GSA will refresh online ordering through Advantage
Later this year the General Services Administration's Federal Supply Service will unveil the newest version of its online purchasing site, bringing faster searching and ordering capabilities to customers and better posting features to vendors. GSA Advantage has been online for almost five years, an
Digital Government
What feds need to know to manage e-records
Federal agencies are scrambling to figure out what they should do about electronic records management.
Digital Government
Intercepts
INFODOCTRINE DEFENSE. Don't worry about those 80 to 100 cyberattacks that DOD 'routinely' experiences in a day: 'We've got the doctrine for it.' That's the curious message delivered last week by an Armed Forces News Service article on the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Aff
Digital Government
DOD upgrades system for tracking donated blood
An upgrade of the computer system that the Defense Department uses to manage the thousands of gallons of blood it collects each year should make it easier to plan for military missions and improve the quality of blood supplies.
Digital Government
Entrust to secure PeopleSoft ERP solutions
Security software vendor Entrust Technologies Inc. announced this month its certification by PeopleSoft Inc. to provide security solutions for PeopleSoft's widely used enterprise resource planning (ERP) products. Entrust develops technology to support publickey infrastructures, which secure digita
Digital Government
FAA's next Y2K hurdle: Reinstalling compliant systems
Although the Federal Aviation Administration has progressed in fixing Year 2000 problems, the agency faces a considerable challenge in installing Year 2000compliant systems, according to the General Accounting Office and the FAA's inspector general.
Digital Government
Report: Cyberattacks, computer abuse still rising
Federal information technology officials reported a significant increase in cyberattacks and unauthorized use of computers by federal employees last year, according to a report on computer security released this month. Seventy percent of federal agencies responding to a survey compiled by the San F
Digital Government
Bill proposes farm forms go digital
A recently introduced bill would require the Agriculture Department to create an electronic filing and retrieval system so that farmers could submit required paperwork via the Internet instead of on paper. Rep. Ray LaHood (RIll.) last month introduced the Farm Electronic Filing Report Act (H.R. 85
Digital Government
Coast Guard launches search/rescue site
The Coast Guard recently launched a World Wide Web site that highlights one of the agency's oldest missions: the search and rescue of boaters in distress. As the Search and Rescue (SAR) home page (www.uscg.mil/hq/go/gopr/sar.htm) explains, the Coast Guard's response to a boater in distress involv
Digital Government
Federal Bytes
PUBLIC AFFAIRS? Linda Tripp yes, that Linda Tripp began her first full day of work last week in a new Defense Department job, a federal government spokesman confirmed. Tripp will work as a public affairs specialist for the Defense Manpower Data Center an informationintensive operation that m
Digital Government
OMB issues draft electronic guidelines
The Office of Management and Budget set the stage for moving the federal government further into the Digital Age when it released this month proposed procedures for how agencies should interact with the public electronically. OMB issued the guidelines March 5 to help agencies comply with the Govern
Digital Government
MCI apparent winner of DOD telecom prize
The Defense Department last week tapped MCI WorldCom as its longdistance telecommunications service provider under the General Services Administration's FTS 2001 program, the company confirmed. Diana Gowen, executive director of DOD and national information infrastructure programs at MCI WorldCom
Digital Government
Misdeeds deserve demotion
Government supervisors carry certain responsibilities, one of which is to make sure subordinates comply with agency policies, whether the supervisors agree with them or not. One supervisor at the Labor Department recently decided not to comply with his agency's policies and, even worse, encouraged
Digital Government