Digital Government
Feds, industry find GWACs to their liking
Earlier this month, I chaired two breakout sessions with Bob Dornan, senior vice president of Federal Sources Inc., at the Industry Advisory Council's annual government/ industry meeting in Richmond, Va. The sessions, called 'GWACs: Reform or Regression,' used interactive technology that allowed al
Digital Government
EDS reorganizes government group, cuts top-level jobs
Electronic Data Systems Corp. earlier this month revamped its Government Services Group and eliminated about 10 senior management positions as part of a restructuring that reflects changes in the way federal, state and local governments procure information technology services. As part of the restru
Digital Government
Network Associates ramps up after buying spree
Network Associates Inc., the world's largest independent information security company, has seen its federal government business grow faster than the company as a whole, with the company's chief executive officer setting an even loftier goal for future growth in the federal arena. Fueled by a recent
Digital Government
IBM debuts smart card-based notebook security
IBM Corp. this week plans to announce a smart card security system that is designed to prevent unauthorized access to data stored on a notebook's hard drive even when the computer is stolen. The Smart Card Security Kit comes with a smart card and smart card reader/writer, along with security softwa
Digital Government
IBM upgrades NWS supercomputer
In a move that will significantly improve the accuracy of weather forecasts, the National Weather Service awarded IBM Corp. a $35.6 million contract to supply the agency with a faster supercomputer. IBM will lease the agency its massively parallel RS/6000 SP supercomputer, replacing the current Cra
Digital Government
Document management moves to the Web
In the past few years, the World Wide Web has become a standard means of outreach for federal agencies, a multimedia bulletin board for items ranging from public service announcements to tax forms. Now, however, agencies are looking for the Web to do more than simply post documents for public consu
Digital Government
Government needs EC game plan
Like the Washington Redskins' first win of the season, the government's search for a singlefacetoindustry electronic commerce solution is proving to be elusive. But it is not for a lack of options. The Defense Department has announced it will test a new EC system designed to tie together a multi
Digital Government
Smith Corona PCs target government buyers
Tested by Joshua Dean and Ross Armstrong Government users now can buy PCs and notebooks from the company whose name is famous for those early word processing tools: typewriters. Smith Corona Corp., which even manufactured rifles during World War II, is marketing computers specifically to the federa
Digital Government
Stage set for first ODIN pact
NASA is set to award in the next two weeks the biggest portion of its groundbreaking desktop PC outsourcing contract, a project vendors say will be a crucial step in determining whether agencies consider desktop outsourcing in the federal market. The Outsourcing Desktop Initiative for NASA (ODIN) i
Digital Government
Deadline set for security plans
The Clinton administration this month tapped the General Services Administration to lead the federalsector effort to protect critical infrastructures and designated 14 lead agencies and eight secondary agencies to design a plan to protect the government's critical assets from cyberattacks and phys
Digital Government
FY '99 IT budgets set in White House/Hill deal
Congressional leaders and the White House agreed late last week on a budget deal that will provide funding for major information technology initiatives. The budget deal has been delayed for weeks as Congress wrestled over issues such as whether to use statistical sampling for the 2000 census and ho
Digital Government
House may weaken bill to give USDA CIO new authority
The House may curtail some of the unprecedented budget authority over departmental information technology spending that a Senate bill would give the Agriculture Department's chief information officer. The USDA IT Reform and Year 2000 Compliance Act of 1998 would give USDA CIO Anne Thomson Reed cont
Digital Government
NIMA digital chart to set sail with Navy
The National Imagery and Mapping Agency is preparing a database that could replace the paper charts sailors use to navigate, although some seamen have concerns about the accuracy of NIMA's new digital chart. NIMA officials hope to make the Digital Nautical Chart (DNC) available to about 600 Navy ve
Digital Government
Treasury BPAs bridge contract gap
The Treasury Department this month awarded four blanket purchase agreements potentially worth a total of about $125 million for software and major namebrand desktop computers, laser printers, notebooks and servers. ComTeq, Government Technology Services Inc. and Presidio Corp. each won BPAs worth
Digital Government
AT&T, GSA fight over millions
Officials from AT&T Government Markets and the General Services Administration believe each owes the other millions of dollars as a result of contract disputes arising from changes in service during the last price and service recompetition of the FTS 2000 contract. Sources close to the negotiations
Digital Government
NetWare 5.0: Worth the upgrade
With last month's release of NetWare 5.0, Novell Inc. raised the bar in terms of functionality delivered out of the box. The popular network operating system offers faster performance, several new and useful Internet features, and enhanced administration tools that together put it a notch above the
Digital Government
Trouble-shooting from the field
In 1973, 18yearold Terry Shatzer charted a course that would take him on a 25year journey across every continent and to a rewarding military career in command, control and computers. Shatzer, now an Air Force master sergeant serving as communicationselectronics superintendent at the Air Combat
Digital Government
DNA database initiative raises privacy fears
The FBI last week unveiled a system that will let state and local criminal investigators share DNA information to solve crimes, but some observers fear that the information is open to abuse. The new system, called the National DNA Index System (NDIS), will tap into existing DNA databases maintained
Digital Government
Industry Watch
Five companies snag FDA support services contract The Food and Drug Administration last month awarded a network acquisition support and services contract valued at a total of $83 million to five firms. This indefinitedelivery, indefinitequantity contract requires support services for telecommunic
Digital Government