Digital Government
StorageTek debuts tape WORM
Storage Technology Corp. last week introduced the industry's first nonrewritable tape product, called VolSafe, which is designed for federal agencies and other customers that need to ensure the preservation of data or electronic documents. Agencies that need the ability to protect documents from b
Digital Government
GSA constructs site for vendor guide; Treasury page offers wealth of data
The General Services Administration has launched a new electronic version of its Federal Supply Service vendor guide that is designed to give commercial companies an easy way to access tips and other information about the service. The guide, previously available only in paper format, can now be fou
Digital Government
GSA to test commercial/federal smart-card apps
The General Services Administration this fall will begin a pilot program to put government applications on the same smart cards that are used for commercial applications. Marty Wagner, associate administrator for GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy, said the pilot represents one way that credit c
Digital Government
HHS mulls health care ID system
The Department of Health and Human Services last week issued a white paper on a plan to create a standard identification code for health care patients so that patient records could be stored in a central database, a project that critics fear could result in a new nationwide ID card that could compr
Digital Government
GAO: DOD work force cuts saving little
The Defense Department is well on its way to accomplishing a 25 percent reduction in its acquisition work force by fiscal 2000, but expected savings from the cuts may prove to be elusive, according to a recent report from the General Accounting Office. DOD slashed almost 60,000 acquisition jobs fro
Digital Government
Federal Bytes
FOIA FOULUP. There are hazards to responding to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act, as the Peace Corps found out last month. Seems the agency mistakenly released presolicitation information on its upcoming procurement for financial management software in its response to a FOIA req
Digital Government
Charges sustained, but fees can be recouped
Federal employees who believe they have been treated unfairly by their agencies can under some circumstances recoup their attorney's fees and expenses even when the agency's charges against the employee have been sustained. A recent case (Michael B. Matthews v. U.S. Postal Service; May 22, 1998; Do
Digital Government
Intercepts
The Interceptor has folded his antennas for the month to take some muchneeded R&R overseas. In the interim, the FCW staff has erected new dishes to intercept the latest talk on the street at the Defense Department and civilian agencies. VICE GRIP. It wasn't many months ago that retired Adm. Willia
Digital Government
National Finance Center closes gap on Y2K compliance
The Agriculture Department's National Finance Center, which processes payrolls for numerous agencies and manages the government's multibilliondollar Thrift Savings Plan, is one step closer to making its computer systems Year 2000compliant. On June 30, the NFC finished renovating more than 23 mill
Digital Government
Treasury tests smart cards
The Treasury Department and eight vendors last week launched a pilot to test the use of a smart card security application for World Wide Webbased financial transactions. The new pilot, announced last week at the EGov 98 conference in Washington, D.C., is the first joint Secure Electronic Transact
Digital Government
Force XXI oversight revisited
The Defense Department is considering whether to upgrade the level of oversight of one its key programs the Army needs to field the first 'digitized' division by the end of fiscal 2000. The program, called the Force XXI Battle Command, Brigade and Below (FBCB2), will constitute the primary command
Digital Government
GSA: Protect Web users' privacy
The General Services Administration last week signed off on a governmentwide memo urging agencies to place a high priority on protecting the public's privacy on federal World Wide Web sites. The July 9 memo from Joan Steyaert, GSA's deputy associate administrator for information technology, outline
Digital Government
Video communications: Getting a strong reception
The outlook for the desktop video communications market is becoming clearer as PC users upgrade to a new generation of computer and network technology that can handle the huge streams of data needed for such applications as videoconferencing and video messaging. PC users like these applications bec
Digital Government
Magazine of the Year
I want to take a moment out from the usual business aired here to blow our own horn a bit.
Digital Government
Public-key committee to meet with CIOs
The Federal Public Key Infrastructure Steering Committee has approved its action plan to develop an interoperable publickey infrastructure (PKI) for governmentwide use. Members of the committee, which is composed of representatives from all federal agencies either using or considering the use of p
Digital Government
Smith Corona pitches PC wares to fed market
Smith Corona Corp., a company that has supplied everything from armaments to fax machines to the government in its 112year history, has retooled once again and is entering the competitive PC manufacturing business, hoping its brand name and experience will combine in a successful venture of sellin
Digital Government
Fedwire
DOD delivers DMS 2.0 The Defense Department last week expected to begin delivering a new version of the Defense Message System software to eight beta sites, according to DMS program manager Jerry Bennis. Speaking last week at the EGov 98 conference in Washington, D.C., Bennis said DMS Version 2.0
Digital Government
DOD preps office for cyberdefense
The Defense Department plans to create a new military organization to spearhead DOD's effort to protect the nation's critical computer systems against information warfare attacks, marking the first time DOD has taken responsibility for protecting infrastructure within the United States. Under the p
Digital Government
Industry Watch
Five vendors nab $135 million Navy contract The Space and Naval Warfare Command in San Diego last month awarded contracts to five vendors totaling more than $135 million for engineering and technical support services to the Navy's submarine and satellite fleet. Spawar made the awards under the Prec
Digital Government