Digital Government
GTSI offering seat management services
Government Technology Services Inc. last week announced the addition of seat management services on its General Services Administration schedule and through the National Institutes of Health's Electronic Computer Store (ECS) II contract. The new offerings are intended to fill the gap left by depart
Digital Government
Satcom price war brews
Government will pay 'the most favorable rates in the world' for phone calls placed over the $5 billion Iridium LLC mobile satellite system (MSS) that starts operation this September, according to the company's top government and industrial marketing manager. Meanwhile, a top executive of Qualcomm I
Digital Government
Protest delays N.Y. telecom buy
The General Services Administration's procurement for telecommunications services around New York City will be delayed at least a month by a protest charging the program is not sufficiently competitive. WinStar Communications Inc., a wireless communications service provider, filed the preaward pro
Digital Government
Roster
Carl Schellenberg, a senior executive with the Federal Aviation Administration's Air Traffic Services Office, was named assistant administrator for financial services and chief financial officer of the FAA. Rich Efford, a senior staff member on the House Appropriations Committee's Transportation Su
Digital Government
Fedwire
WITS 2001 deadline extended The General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service this month extended the deadline for commenting on the WITS 2001 draft request for proposals to June 24, setting the program back about a month. GSA personnel plan to meet individually with vendors to discu
Digital Government
Keeping Marines out of the danger zone
In December 1992, Marine Lt. Col. Carl R. Bott was walking the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia. He was there as part of a small, special operations team that was assigned to reconnoiter the city before the main landing force of Operation Restore Hope arrived to deliver food and water to the wartorn
Digital Government
Letters
VA ranking As the Department of Veterans Affairs' Year 2000 project manager, I am writing to correct serious factual errors contained in an article by L. Scott Tillett on the Office of Management and Budget's Year 2000 draft report [FCW, June 8, Page 1] and in Rep. Steve Horn's report card [FCW, Ju
Digital Government
Cyberattacks leave feds chasing 'vapor'
Top administration officials last week warned that the United States lacks the capability to quickly identify the nature and scope of a continuing series of cyberattacks against both federal and private systems that support the country's telecommunications, financial and energy critical infrastruc
Digital Government
Kodak debuts Nikon-friendly digital camera
Eastman Kodak Co. has introduced a highperformance digital camera aimed at professional photographers who have been waiting for a way to begin using a digital camera without having to retire all their expensive Nikon lenses. Kodak collaborated with Nikon on the body design of the DCS 315 camera, i
Digital Government
CUSTOMS MAKES $165M DEAL FOR MOTOROLA RADIOS
The Customs Service this month awarded Motorola Inc. a contract to supply radios for voice communications as well as ones that the agency can use to transmit data, such as digital photographs and reports. The contract, worth an estimated $165 million over five years, will help Customs replace radio
Digital Government
SET-ASIDES
NSF group settles on privacy package After almost a year of collaboration, researchers with the National Science Foundation (NSF) Partnerships for Advanced Computational Infrastructure program have developed a plan to eliminate cleartext passwords for the users of their systems. The National Compu
Digital Government
Cooperation key to Y2K efforts
Even just a year ago, it would have been inconceivable that the United States would share information about its nuclear earlywarning and missile systems with Russia and other nuclear powers. But the Defense Department has proposed just such an exchange as a way to mitigate the risks of a nuclear m
Digital Government
Report: Feds snub NIST's standards
Fourteen civilian agencies are using a commercial security technology that is not allowed under federal standards for encryption and digital signatures, according to a report released last week by the company that designed the technology.
Digital Government
Federal Bytes
BARRY DOES TECHNET. Humorist, columnist and selfprofessed computer nerd Dave Barry kept the standingroomonly crowd entertained last week at the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association TechNet show, which he said should be renamed 'TheGuysWhoLikeStuff' show. Some of his quips:
Digital Government
TechNet focuses on better communications
WASHINGTON, D.C. Industry vendors displayed a wide range of new technology at the TechNet '98 Conference, sponsored by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, ranging from Defensespecific solutions to commercial products. But the focus clearly was on better communications. '
Digital Government
Contractors believe the GSA schedule is necessary for government business
Bowing to the wishes of their longstanding federal customers, information technology vendors have flocked to the General Services Administration's multipleaward schedule (MAS) this year in record numbers. Bill Gormley, assistant commissioner for acquisition at GSA's Federal Supply Service, said t
Digital Government
House recoils at FBI gun-check fee
An FBI proposal to charge gun dealers for running computer background checks on potential customers drew heated opposition from Congress and lobbyists last week. Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, FBI officials said the fees are necessary to cover the overhead
Digital Government
Visiting Naval Observatory page is time well spent
To synchronize your watch to official U.S. time, visit the home page of the Time Service Department at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.
Digital Government