Digital Government

Primedia buys Federal Sources

New Yorkbased publishing giant Primedia Inc. on Friday acquired information technology consulting firm Federal Sources Inc., McLean, Va., for an undisclosed sum. Federal Sources will be part of a publishing conglomerate that includes magazines such as Chicago, Modern Bride, New York, Seventeen and

Digital Government

Making Year 2000 priority No. 1

With fewer than 500 days left until the turn of the century, the Defense Department is hauling out the big guns. Unless the agency shows substantial progress in its efforts to defeat the millennium bug, Secretary of Defense William Cohen has threatened to call a halt to all software development tha

Digital Government

Federal employees' rights infringed by inadequate EEOC complaint process

It's nice to have 'rights,' but only if they are enforceable. A recent General Accounting Office report casts doubt on the rights that federal employees have to prevent discrimination. Federal employees are protected by laws against discrimination because of race, color, sex, religion, national ori

Digital Government

Ingram, Comdisco launch leasing deal

Bowing to customer demand and a market trend, Ingram Micro Inc. and Comdisco Inc. last week announced a new leasing option for government resellers as an extension of Ingram Micro's Partnership America program. The new leasing program, Partnership America Leasing Solutions, expands Ingram Micro's r

Digital Government

Agenda

2428 Blacks in Government's 20th Annual National Training Conference. Washington Hilton & Towers. Washington, D.C. The theme of this year's conference is 'Maximizing Performance Through Excellence in Training.' More than 100 workshops, seminars and general sessions will be held featuring noted lec

Digital Government

MapInfo software ups accuracy

MapInfo Corp. this month released a new version of its desktop geographic software that should enable federal users to produce maps that convey data more accurately. The product, MapInfo Professional 5.0, comes only nine months after the company's last release of the product, which is used among fe

Digital Government

GAO suggests cuts in DOD '99 IT budget

The General Accounting Office this month sent a letter to Congress recommending a reduction of $181 million in the Defense Department's fiscal 1999 funding request for information technology. According to GAO, 'these reductions...can be made because schedules have slipped, requirements have changed

Digital Government

Intercepts

MONEY BETS ON THE NAVY. My Ering antenna site has picked up strong signals that Art Money, still awaiting confirmation as ASD/C3I, has tapped Rear Adm. Robert Nutwell, currently the Navy N6, as his new principal assistant for all C4ISR matters, according to one report. Another report says Nutwell

Digital Government

Industry Watch

Litton/PRC Inc. snags NORAD contract Litton/PRC, McLean, Va., last week won a 10year, $50 million contract to provide systems architecture analysis support to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), home of the operations center overseeing command and control of all air defense syste

Digital Government

LG monitors gain popularity with resellers

PC bargain hunters looking for a low total price on a new PC usually find resellers offering an offbrand monitor with the computer to keep the costs down. One such offbrand, LG Electronics USA Inc., has become the most popular monitor in reseller Government Technology Services Inc.'s inventory. M

Digital Government

Koskinen vs. Y2K: IT showdown

A year ago, John Koskinen was vacationing in Morocco with his wife when he received a telephone call from Washington, D.C., about a major opportunity that would consume his life for at least the next two years. A former deputy director of management at the Office of Management and Budget, Koskinen

Digital Government

HHS system flushes out 1M deadbeat parents

A Department of Health and Human Services computer system to track down 'deadbeat' parents is still several weeks from being fully completed, yet it already has identified more than 1 million parents who owe child support. In September 1996, HHS awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin Information Sup

Digital Government

SSDS secures schedule, hires fed sales force

Systems integrator SSDS Inc. has signaled a change in its federal marketing strategy by obtaining its first General Services Administration schedule contract and hiring a federal sales force. The Englewood, Colo.based company plans to use the schedule to sell network services, consulting, systems

Digital Government

IRS to upgrade service center phone system

A month after President Clinton approved legislation that requires the Internal Revenue Service to become more taxpayerfriendly, the agency is upgrading its telephone system with software that will make it easier to respond to customer service calls. The GeoTel Intelligent CallRouter software will

Digital Government

TRW delivers radiation-hardened satellite chips

TRW Inc. last week announced the final delivery to the Air Force of a highperformance, radiationhardened microprocessor capable of supporting military and commercial satellite and guidedmissile requirements. Completing a 1990 contract awarded by the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Dire

Digital Government

Bills propose fraud-buster

In an effort to crack down on fraud in the Food Stamp Program, new legislation introduced late last month would require the Agriculture Department to set up computerized matching of data with the Social Security Administration to weed out those ineligible to receive the benefits. Computerized match

Digital Government

Roster

Paul Cosgrave, former chief executive of Claremont Technology Group, Beaverton, Ore., was selected as the new chief information officer for the Internal Revenue Service. Cosgrave previously had served as a consultant to the agency. The appointment is the first of a series that IRS Commissioner Char

Digital Government

SEC forms office to fight Internet fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission last month stepped up its fight against securities fraud on the Internet with the creation of an office dedicated to finding and prosecuting cases and training other agencies and groups about the pitfalls of cyberspace. 'The Internet has made it so much easier

Digital Government

Are employees entitled to notice before a layoff?

A company official asked the following question: Our company has a major contract that will be coming to an end soon. Are we obligated to give any advance notice to our employees regarding possible layoffs? What are the consequences if notice is not given? This question raises a number of potential

Digital Government

EdgeMark opens 3-D lab near D.C.

EdgeMark Systems Inc. last month pioneered the creation of a collaborative 3D visualization lab in McLean, Va., aimed at fostering greater awareness of visual simulation technologies throughout the federal government. The RealityZone 3D is a joint effort between EdgeMark's Government Technology Gr