Digital Government
Commerce site combats pending IT worker shortage
To help combat a shrinking hightech work force, the Commerce Department last week unveiled a new Internet site that provides a single source for information on information technology training programs. The move is in response to a report the department's Office of Technology Policy released last f
Digital Government
Rational ships Apex 3.0
Rational Software Corp., a provider of application development tools for Unix environments, last week began shipping Rational Apex 3.0, the latest version of its Adabased programming language environment. Company officials said Rational Apex 3.0 provides an integrated, teamoriented programming en
Digital Government
Chipping away
The home PC explosion has indirectly pushed down the prices of machines federal agencies are buying for their desktops as many costcutting components developed for the cutthroat consumer segment are finding their way into business boxes. Specifically, the microprocessors that vendors designed to c
Digital Government
Building the digital library
While the World Wide Web has given federal agencies unprecedented access to historical, scientific and reference data, it has also created a new challenge: finding the tools that make sense of that information. Whether they are homing in on key intelligence data or supplying educational materials f
Digital Government
State looks to IT after bombings
In the aftermath of terrorist attacks against U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania this month, experts are calling for a renewed focus on information technologies that may help deter future attacks. After bombs ripped the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, killing 257 people, includin
Digital Government
Better management needed for 21st-century defense
As information technology companies continue to churn out new technologies, the key challenge for the Defense Department in the dawning of the 21st century will not be to acquire more and better technology to support the warfighter but to better manage that technology. The federal agencies in charg
Digital Government
Ph.D proves DOD on right procurement track
Doctoral dissertations on government procurement are not exactly a dime a dozen. I was therefore interested to see that a Ph.D thesis in public policy recently completed at Carnegie Mellon University, one of the country's most academically rigorous public policy programs, was an empirical study of
Digital Government
Pentagon taps GTE for telecom pact
GTE Government Systems last week won a 10year, $110 million contract to upgrade the telecommunications system at the Pentagon, providing the Defense Department headquarters with advanced, wideband multimedia technology to manage land, sea and air forces worldwide. Col. Scipio deKanter, the Army's
Digital Government
Micron unveils new strategy, products
SUN VALLEY, Idaho Joel Kocher, chairman and chief executive officer of Micron Electronics Inc., said last week that a new management team with a new strategy and new products has the Idaho manufacturer of computers back on course after five stalled quarters. Figuring prominently in the new plans
Digital Government
GSA plans to boost Y2K vendor database
It is never too late to deal with the Year 2000 issue. That is the message the General Services Administration wants to get out to federal agencies and commercial vendors. The GSA's Office of Information Technology and the CIO Council's Year 2000 Committee have worked together to create a database
Digital Government
OMB seeks better Y2K cost tally
In an effort to calculate a more accurate cost of fixing federal computers for the Year 2000 problem, the Office of Management and Budget this month asked agencies to prepare more detailed reports on Year 2000 costs. OMB issued a memorandum Aug. 13 that directed agencies to submit by Sept. 1 with t
Digital Government
DOD reports more systems need Y2K fix
Amid numerous internal reports that are critical of its management of the Year 2000 problem, the Defense Department last week released a report indicating that it is further behind schedule in fixing computer systems for the millennium than previously reported. In its quarterly Year 2000 progress r
Digital Government
Federal Bytes
ALL TALK, NO ACTION. Talk about a day late and a dollar short. More than one month after President Clinton gave his first public speech on the Year 2000, the Executive Office of the President (EOP) finally announced last week that it will get its own house in order, Y2Kwise. The White House said i
Digital Government
Roster
President Clinton has nominated Charles Groat, a professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, to serve as director of the U.S. Geological Survey. In addition to his professorship in geological sciences, Groat serves as the university's associate vice president for research and sponsored project
Digital Government
House OK'd to use purchasing software
The inspector general of the House of Representatives has given approval for a product that will automate the procurement process for the House's IT purchases. The IG told the House chief administrative officer he could roll out Procurement Desktop, which is manufactured by American Management Syst
Digital Government
SMI's new smart card chip improves security, memory
Siemens Microelectronics Inc. (SMI) has begun shipping a new 16bit chip for smart cards that adds more security and memory to better enable multiple applications on a single card. Company officials said the product is the industry's first 16bit cryptocontroller chip that is specifically designed
Digital Government
Comark to offer Fujitsu handhelds on GSA sked
After the successful pilot tests of Fujitsu ICL's handheld systems at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Comark Federal Systems will offer Fujitsu's entire handheld line through its General Services Administration schedule. In June, HUD launched the Public Housing Assessment System, a
Digital Government
Center finds IT workers are costly
When Congress returns from its August recess, officials at the Consumer Information Center (CIC) will be waiting anxiously to see if appropriators give them an extra $200,000 to hire computer specialists. The center, which is part of the General Services Administration, distributes more than 200 fe
Digital Government
Air Force's CAESAR finds the perfect fit
The Air Force has embarked on a project to collect detailed data on human body measurements using a fullcolor, 3D laser scanner that leaves the traditional tape measure in the dust. The Air Force hopes the Civilian American and European Surface Anthropometry Resource (CAESAR) project improves th
Digital Government