Digital Government
GSA builds online sked search tool
Federal buyers now have a single point of contact for the most uptodate information on the more than 5,000 commercial vendors offering products and services through the General Services Administration schedule. This month GSA unveiled the Schedules ELibrary, a complete listing of schedule contra
Digital Government
Intercepts
OUT OF THE BOTTLE. The Pentagon probably won't meet the oneyear deadline set by CINCPACFLT Adm. Archie Clemins to develop a worldwide intranet. But Defense Department deputy CIO Marv Langston is paying attention. He recently set up a senior steering group to 'look at the policies and procedures fo
Digital Government
FileMaker aids shuttle missions
More than 350 users at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi are using a desktop database software application from FileMaker Inc. to manage and document repairs to all space shuttle main engines and to verify approvals of these repairs before the engines are fired up for use. NASA is using Fi
Digital Government
New MetroBook packs features into tiny case
Imagine opening your daily planner, but instead of endless sheets of appointment pages, you have a keyboard, screen and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 98 at your fingertips. That's what you get with MetroBook Computer Corp.'s latest offering, a mininotebook called the SLT. For a notebook this small, th
Digital Government
Smart cards break through
After more than a decade of experimentation, smart card technology appears poised to break through the final barriers to broad deployment within the federal government. Technical advances in the past two years have helped push smart cards to wider acceptance. The industry has settled on standard op
Digital Government
Raise credit card buying limits, but lower fees
There arguably is no aspect of procurement reform that has positively influenced the everyday life of the average government employee more than the credit card. It has made the difference between getting everyday products and services quickly and conveniently and the old perhaps almost forgotten
Digital Government
Software makes NT 4.0 servers redundant
The new version of Vinca Corp.'s CoStandby Server for Windows NT offers an efficient and reliable way to provide fault tolerance for critical resources in a Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT 4.0 environment. Vinca's product lets agencies create twoserver clusters, where a mirror copy is created of the
Digital Government
Federal Bytes
REINDEER RADAR. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the Defense Department organization that watches for manmade objects in space, this month launched a Santa Claustracking World Wide Web site located at www.noradsanta.org. The command has been informing the world of Santa's pro
Digital Government
Marines embrace new IT strategy
The Marine Corps plans to pursue an enterprisewide information technology strategy over the next several years based on a standard set of products and services extending from a servicewide intranet to the desktop. Debra Filippi, deputy chief information officer for the Marine Corps, said the servic
Digital Government
Bell Atlantic tweaks pricing, ordering for DOD telecom
Bell Atlantic Federal last month revised the pricing and ordering procedures on the Defense Department's Telecommunications Modernization Project contract a move DOD officials said will save $3.7 million a year and shave weeks off procurement cycles. The company announced its Tempo Affinity Progr
Digital Government
Integrators shop for acquisitions
Former executives of CACI Inc. and Computer Sciences Corp. have formed a company that aims to reach critical mass in the federal information technology services market by buying and consolidating small contractors. SI International Inc., based in Gaithersburg, Md., will be headed by chairman and ch
Digital Government
What is a preferential procurement source?
A government employee raised the following topic: All government agencies are required to purchase certain items from designated 'preferential procurement sources.'
Digital Government
Roster Change
Keren Cummins has been hired by Digital Signature Trust Co., Salt Lake City, as vice president of government services. Cummins was director of FedWorld information technologies at the National Technical Information Service. Universal Systems & Technology Inc. has appointed Ronald Cournoyer as vice
Digital Government
Critics: DOD Web policies too strict
This month's release of the Defense Department's longawaited policies and procedures for posting official information on DOD World Wide Web sites puts unprecedented discretion in the hands of local commanders and marks a significant departure from past Web guidance. DOD's 'Web Site Administration
Digital Government
Intel licenses Pentium to federal agencies
Intel Corp., the world's leading manufacturer of microprocessors, recently announced an unprecedented agreement with the Energy Department under which the government will use the Pentium processor design to develop radiationhardened chips for spacecraft, satellites and other defense systems. Under
Digital Government
DOJ's Boster to retire in February
Mark Boster, who for the past five years has guided the Justice Department's $1.1 billion information resources program, said last week that he will leave the agency in early February and look for a new job in the private sector. News of the pending departure of Boster, the deputy assistant attorne
Digital Government
Hill questions NASA online souvenir shop
The chairman of the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics last week asked the NASA Office of the Inspector General to determine if the agency has violated federal procurement rules and internal agency Internet policy by operating an online souvenir shop. In a Dec. 16 letter to NASA's Office o
Digital Government
Agentics tackles online catalog searching for EC
Startup company Agentics Inc. this month unveiled an electronic commerce product that allows users via a single query to easily search for and place an order for products located in disparate online vendor catalogs. SupplyChannel is designed to simplify the process of searching multiple catalogs b
Digital Government
Where's the check?
Despite its emphasis on making electronic commerce a central component of its business operations, the federal government is about to miss a major deadline to issue payments electronically. With less than two weeks before agencies are legally required to send federal payments via electronic funds t
Digital Government