Digital Government
Software makes e-mail available over the phone
Infinite Technologies unveiled a messaging product last week that will allow PC users working outside the office to listen and reply to email messages via the telephone. Called Infinite Voice, the product makes it possible to listen, forward and respond to email messages from any TouchTone phone
Digital Government
FERS not a better deal than CSRS
Recent preliminary guidance from the Office of Personnel Management urges federal employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) to decide whether to switch to 'the more flexible' Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). I am not certain I agree with OPM's characterization of FE
Digital Government
Future of procurement reform looks to past performance
When reading a recent issue of FCW I was struck by three articles that dramatically illustrate the revolution in the government/vendor relationship over the past few years. The first was a frontpage story headlined 'Raytheon backs off plan to sell AF IDIQ contracts.' Raytheon, the new owner of Hug
Digital Government
Can Congress direct who wins a contract?
A corporate official asked the following question: Agencies frequently base their requests for appropriations to Congress on particular contractors' products and services. Often committee reports, which accompany the appropriations, also identify specific companies. Can an agency rely on these repo
Digital Government
Clinton crafts new line of defense against cyberattacks
President Clinton today unveiled a new national security program that would requir
Digital Government
Commerce tapped to lead effort to protect national private infrastructure
A new national program would tap the Commerce Department as the lead agency in a massive interagency effort to take inventory of the federal government's critical assets and to coordinate with industry in efforts to protect of the nation's private infrastructures.
Digital Government
Koskinen: Proposed Year 2000 funding 'more than enough'
John Koskinen, chairman of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, said today that the federal government should have more than enough money earmarked in fiscal 1999 to fix the millennium bug.
Digital Government
DOD awards $200M pact to create information assurance center
The Defense Department ratcheted up its commitment to information assurance yesterday when the Defense Technical Information Center awarded a 10year, $200 million contract to BoozAllen?#038;Hamilton Inc. to man and operate an information assurance center.
Digital Government
Reports reveal weaknesses in systems security at State, FAA
A test of computer systems security at the State Department and the Federal Aviation Administration revealed pervasive weaknesses that could threaten the operation of the agencies, according to reports released today during hearings before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.
Digital Government
Navy's high-tech research ship to be named 'Heezen' or 'Coriolis'
As part of a year-long effort to show students the "towering grandeur" of the oceans, the Oceanographer of the Navy has chosen two finalists in a nationwide contest to name its new high-tech research shi
Digital Government
Air Force's Behler pilots Stratcom through high-tech 'virtual Cold War'
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. Brig. Gen. Robert Behler has spent the majority of his military career as a test pilot, having been the only pilot in the Air Force to have flown the world's fastest and slowest aircraft. In fact, he had limited experience with information technology before he became t
Digital Government
USDA 'unlikely' to meet Y2K deadline, GAO says
It is 'highly unlikely' that the Agriculture Department will fix all its computer systems in time for the Year 2000 date change, the General Accounting Office reported today. At a hearing before the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, Joel Willemssen, director of civil agencies in
Digital Government
Rep. Davis to renew push for co-op purchasing legislation
Rep. Tom Davis (RVa.) said last week he plans once again to introduce a bill that would allow state and local governments to buy information technology products and services off the General Services Administration schedule. But a push to open up the GSA schedule to state and local governments may
Digital Government
Agencies' IT spending nears $30B in fiscal '99
Federal agencies will spend almost $30 billion with private information technology contractors in fiscal 1999, according to a report released last week by consulting firm Federal Sources Inc. At its annual conference last week, Federal Sources, McLean, Va., estimated fiscal 1999 IT spending will to
Digital Government
In blame game, our leaders aren't running for cover
During my years in Washington, D.C., the single most common question I was asked by government procurement personnel particularly in the Defense Department went something like this: 'What happens when we use our best judgment and the inspector general comes in afterward and criticizes us for ma
Digital Government
HUD opens high-tech storefront
Department of Housing and Urban Development officials this month opened the first of several hightech 'storefront' offices that the public can use to explore housing options and issues. The new office, a former drug store located a few blocks from Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., includes an outd
Digital Government
Fedwire
Fedwire Litton wins pact for Smart Ship systems The Navy awarded last week a $138.6 million contract to Litton Integrated Systems Corp. to build two Smart Ship systems aboard the CG 47 class of Aegis cruisers. The Engineering Control System Equipment and Integrated Bridge Systems allow Navy personn
Digital Government
DOT, NIH partner for contract services
After competing headtohead with the National Institutes of Health's governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWACs) for two years, the Transportation Department plans to provide contract administration services for agencies that buy off those NIH contracts. The two agencies plan to sign the agreemen
Digital Government
Industry Watch
Anteon acquires Techmatics Anteon Corp., a Fairfax, Va.based engineering and services company, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Techmatics Inc., another services firm that is based in Fairfax and that works with federal and commercial customers, the two companies announced last week.
Digital Government