Digital Government
White House: E-forms bill impedes Y2K fix
The Clinton administration last week voiced concern that a bill calling for the government to distribute and accept forms electronically would delay agencies from completing Year 2000 fixes. The bill, called the Government Paperwork Elimination Act, would require the Commerce Department to create w
Digital Government
Net Associates ships Sniffer for high-speed nets
Network Associates Inc. last week started shipping the Sniffer Pro 98 analysis suite and the optional Gigabit Sniffer Pro to assist network managers troubleshooting applications and network devices, even on highspeed networks. Announced in June, Sniffer Pro 98 and Gigabit Sniffer Pro are part of
Digital Government
Critics question 'Star Wars' tech
While recent nuclear tests by developing nations have renewed calls for a secondgeneration 'Stars Wars' program, critics last week charged that the United States' proposed missile defense program cannot be deployed fast enough and may not work once fielded. The United States has been studying the
Digital Government
Roster
The Federal Aviation Administration last week filled four top posts. Steve Brown was named FAA deputy associate administrator for air traffic services. He will manage the country's 35,000 air traffic controllers, engineers, technicians and support personnel. Brown was most recently president of the
Digital Government
Vinca unveils DOS/NetWare net utility
Known traditionally for its data protection products, Vinca Corp. entered a different market recently with the introduction of a localarea network tool that improves LAN file administration and increases server availability. The product, called File Commander, allows network administrators to acce
Digital Government
USPS taps US Bank for purchase cards
The U.S. Postal Service last week chose US Bancorp's US Bank International Merchant Purchasing Authorization Card Government Services Division to provide the agency's purchasing card program, which will help the agency push toward paperless contracting. The taskorder contract was awarded under the
Digital Government
Treasury studies outsourcing ATM
The Treasury Department is studying whether to purchase highspeed Asynchronous Transfer Mode transport services from commercial carriers through its telecommunications contractor rather than build a private backbone network as initially planned for its $425 million Treasury Communications System (
Digital Government
PBS to outsource systems development
The General Services Administration's Public Buildings Service (PBS) plans to award in September one or more blanket purchase agreements for software development services serving its regional offices throughout the country. Paul Wohlleben, chief information officer at PBS, said the program, known a
Digital Government
Agencies should jump on PMAT wagon
In the book I wrote in the late 1980s about the problems with federal information technology procurement, I made a recommendation to partly base the performance evaluation of procurement on surveys of how satisfied IT and program customers were with the service they had received from contracting fo
Digital Government
Feds not IDing key systems for Y2K fixes, GAO says
Although the Clinton administration has directed agencies to focus on fixing missioncritical systems for the Year 2000 bug, many agencies still have not identified what systems are mission critical, a top General Accounting Office official said this month. Since February 1997, the Office of Manag
Digital Government
HP introduces Pentium II Xeon workstations
HewlettPackard Co. last week announced two new Windows NTbased workstations aimed at mechanical designers, software developers, financial analysts and multimedia authoring professionals who require maximum2D and 3D performance. The HP Kayak XW PC Workstation and the Kayak XU PC Workstation are
Digital Government
The expanding world of enterprise storage
The enterprise storage market has become an information technology boomtown as customers begin to extend the concept of 'enterprise' from the mainframe to other platforms outside the data center and as the amount of data on all platforms continues to grow. The change is happening as customers expan
Digital Government
Local exchange carrier lands AF contract
In a rare case of a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) beating out a major regional service provider, GST Government Systems Inc. late last month announced it defeated GTE Government Systems Corp. for a contract to provide local dialtone service to March Air Reserve Base, Riverside County,
Digital Government
The security champ
Richard Guida returned to his computer science roots three months ago when he took over the post of champion for security of the Government Information Technology Services Board. Although he spent the last 25 years working in the Navy's nuclear propulsion program, Guida simultaneously earned a bach
Digital Government
Intercepts
The Interceptor's antennas are folded again this week while he's off taking in the sights in foreign lands. The FCW staff who remain stateside, however, have set up dishes to intercept the latest IT scuttlebutt at DOD and civilian agencies. VIVE NIMA. For weeks, the buzz in geospatial circles has b
Digital Government
OAG unveils intranet-based travel planning software
OAG Worldwide has expanded its government business unit and launched a product to meet the growing federal demand for employee travel planning software to replace traditional paperbased methods. The government business unit of the firm, which boasts customers from almost every federal agency, has
Digital Government
Documentum unwraps EDMS 98
Documentum Inc. last week introduced a new version of its Enterprise Document Management System, called EDMS 98, that is designed to manage the entire 'life cycle' of a document, from its creation to its eventual destruction or permanent preservation. Larry Warnock, vice president for corporate mar
Digital Government
Life after buyouts
If you are looking for Patricia Phillips these days, you are likely to find her scouring church rummage sales for great deals on antique radios, toys and pottery, which she then takes home, cleans up and resells at auction on the World Wide Web. The dirty work often pays off: A customer recently pa
Digital Government
Navy spends billions on mine-detection IT
The Navy is undertaking a billiondollar research effort to apply cuttingedge information technologies to detect mines placed in the coastal waters of the world's oceans and seas, a move that some experts believe is critical to the success of future Navy and Marine Corps warfighting strategies. Si
Digital Government