Digital Government

DISA unveils new plans for DMS

The Defense Information Systems Agency last week confirmed two changes to the Defense Message System that respond to concerns voiced by the nuclear community and to directions from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to insert commercial products. DISA will operate three Defense Message Transition Centers to

Digital Government

GPS Plots the Public Sector

During the Age of Exploration, the difference between a good map and a bad one often meant the difference between a successful voyage and ending up feeding the fishes.

Digital Government

GAO questions success of Census test

Before undertaking the next national head count in 2000, the Census Bureau must fix software bugs in the imaging system designed to process the billion pages of census forms it will receive, according to General Accounting Office officials testifying before a Senate committee last month. Speaking t

Digital Government

Get good legal help for appeal

A recent decision by the Merit Systems Protection Board points out the necessity of good legal representation when attempting to appeal an adverse action. The case involved a postal employee who was fired for being absent without leave one time too many. USPS removed this employee Nov. 10, 1994, fo

Digital Government

Task force to make IT accessible to disabled

The Clinton administration has convened a new public/private task force to help design products that would enable people with disabilities to use technology more easily. Responding to criticism that the government has not done enough to help disabled individuals gain access to information technolog

Digital Government

IEEE picks Lucent wireless proposal

An international standards organization last month chose a proposal by Lucent Technologies Inc. and Harris Corp. as the standard for sending wireless data at more than five times the speed of many existing wireless networks a development that should bode well for the military and other agencies.

Digital Government

IT at core of mission

Debra M. Filippi entered a brave new world 10 months ago when she accepted the post of deputy assistant chief of staff for command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) systems integration for the Marine Corps. But the 42yearold Arlington, Va., native brought more than two de

Digital Government

War College embarks on 'golden age'

Vice Adm. Arthur Cebrowski officially took over as president of the Naval War College last month, amid plans to take on new missions to develop warfare concepts and doctrine as well as to place more emphasis on networkcentric warfare. At a changeofcommand ceremony, Adm. Jay Johnson, chief of nav

Digital Government

CBD Watch

Army. Personal Computer3. Sol. DAAB0798RV004. (CBD, Aug. 4) The Army's CommunicationsElectronics Command Acquisition CenterWashington intends to acquire for the Army, the Defense Department and other federal agencies commercial PCs, related peripherals, office automation software items and in

Digital Government

NASA to put Net in the stars

NASA last week announced plans for a new initiative to extend its research efforts to the stars by developing an Internetlike network in space for future missions and potential human colonization on other planets. Researchers soon will begin exploring ways that commercial Internet research can com

Digital Government

VA project lets workers do self-service HR

The Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a $1.6 million contract to Talx Corp., St. Louis, to develop an internal World Wide Web site that will allow VA employees to view and update their personal employment information. The contract is part of a VA project to streamline the often timeconsum

Digital Government

LAN-based videoconferencing now on GSA

Intelect Visual Communications Corp. announced this month that Klein Technologies Inc. would carry IVC's localarea networkbased videoconferencing products on the General Services Administration schedule. Many videoconferencing products are based on the H.320 protocol for transmitting data across

Digital Government

A Long Road to Health for Failed California Child Support Project

A Long Road to Health for Failed California Child Support Project

Digital Government

DLA data errors let tech gear out

Problems with the Defense Department's system for tracking excess military equipment have resulted in the inadvertent sale to the public of electronic components containing classified and highly sensitive technologies, according to a report released last week by the General Accounting Office. Betwe

Digital Government

SmartDB upgrades app integration tool

SmartDB Corp., a Palo Alto, Calif.based provider of enterprise application integration software, last month announced a new and improved version of its SmartDB Workbench tool for enterprise application integration. The move to distributed networks and data warehousing has created a need for applic

Digital Government

Small biz snags $1.25B FAA pact

In an effort to silence criticism that it does not give more business to small and minority businesses, the Federal Aviation Administration last week awarded 14 contracts exclusively to small and disadvantaged businesses under a $1.25 billion information technology services contract. The Broad Info

Digital Government

FAA reports two-thirds of systems Y2K-compliant

The Federal Aviation Administration, criticized for its tardiness in fixing computers for the Year 2000 bug, said late last month it is one step closer to fixing its missioncritical systems to properly process dates occurring after 1999. At a press briefing held at FAA headquarters, Jane Garvey, F

Digital Government

GSA's MAS program: Look before you leap

It seems that lately everyone in the information technology community is looking to secure a General Services Administration multipleaward schedule contract. Like a small tidal wave, the rolls of the MAS program have swelled to include 1,435 IT vendors up 534 from just last year. According to GS

Digital Government

Scouting out Year 2000 solutions for the desktop

Many of the software products released in recent weeks to make Year 2000 fixes easier are aimed squarely at the desktop, as vendors scramble to capture business in an area that is not as saturated with millennium bug products as the mainframe arena. According to Infoliant Corp., nearly every major

Digital Government

Expanded CBDNet falls apart

A multipleagency effort to enhance the Commerce Business Daily online listing of government contracting opportunities has unraveled over the past two months, underscoring once again how difficult a task it is for agencies to agree on how to create a single face to industry for electronic commerce.