Digital Government
Mechling schools current, future leaders on IT role in government
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Jerry Mechling, director of Harvard University's Strategic Computing and Telecommunications in the Public Sector program, recently experienced firsthand how information technology can help individuals deal with government agencies. He was driving to a conference in upstate New Yo
Digital Government
Census relies on IT for faster, low-cost count
Faced with the task of counting hundreds of millions of people and delivering those results in just months, the Census Bureau last month began a dress rehearsal for the 2000 census by testing computers ranging from digital imaging systems to an online system that will disseminate customized census
Digital Government
Raytheon backs off plan to sell AF IDIQ contracts
Concerned about damaging its relationship with the Air Force, Raytheon Co. has decided, at least for the present, to continue to service the contracts it acquired when it purchased Hughes Electronics, including the Desktop V and Air Force Workstations contracts. The company reportedly abandoned eff
Digital Government
Intercepts
* Rocket mail. Not every PC vendor in the federal market develops a marketing campaign that gains the instant attention of a fourstar general. Raytheon did so last month with a mailing designed to convey in a dramatic way its acquisition of the former Hughes Data Systems and the Air Force Desktop
Digital Government
FEDWIRE
AmEx dumps federal charge card biz American Express Co. last week said it plans to drop out of the competition to supply agencies with the next generation of charge cards. In February, the General Services Administration selected five banks and American Express to compete for the federal government
Digital Government
Koskinen offers policy tools for Y2K fix
Describing the Year 2000 computer fix as 'a management challenge, not a technical fix,' John Koskinen, chairman of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, last week said he will press for a wide range of policy and legislative initiatives to help agencies meet the Year 2000 deadline. Koski
Digital Government
OMB calls for a halt to sole-source tasking
The Office of Management and Budget last month asked federal agencies to stop designating a preferredvendor source for multipleaward task and delivery orders. In an April 21 memo to agency procurement executives, OMB acting director for management G. Edward DeSeve said the Office of Federal Procu
Digital Government
Bay's switch 'tunnels' over Internet
Bay Networks Inc. this week will introduce an extranet switch that gives smaller agencies a less expensive alternative to more traditional remoteaccess equipment and dialup services. Bay's Extranet Switch 1000 connects remote users to an organization's internal intranet over the public Internet.
Digital Government
12 agencies piloting VeriSign's PKI products
VeriSign Inc. has garnered 12 agency customers for its publickey infrastructure (PKI) products as the federal government moves to experiment with the technology needed to secure electronic commerce and public access to internal networks. The agencies nine civilian and three military are using
Digital Government
IDIQs must work for everyone
Contracting shops across government should pay attention to how the Air Force's Desktop V contract was transformed in less than two years from hot commodity to hot potato. Desktop V, the latest iteration of the Defense Department's flagship PC procurement vehicle, apparently has delivered lackl
Digital Government
Fed Data building on acquisition spree
Few companies in the federal information technology market beat Federal Data Corp. at the acquisition game. In a little more than a year, the Bethesda, Md.based systems integrator quietly has acquired five companies and a division of a sixth, growing to 2,000 employees and annual revenue between $
Digital Government
Drag FMS schedule into the '90s
As the House Government Management, Information and Technology Subcommittee begins the messy task of sifting through agencies' mistakeriddled audit reports, it is abundantly clear that procurement reform has left untouched one of the most critical management concerns for every agency: the acquisit
Digital Government
GAO gives Y2K council advice
The recently formed President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion is not receiving enough information to make informed decisions on how well federal agencies are managing the Year 2000 progress, according to a General Accounting Office report that was released last week.
Digital Government
System to speed victims' disaster aid
The Federal Emergency Management Agency this month plans to roll out a new system that will speed up the process of issuing grants and other types of assistance to victims during a disaster.
Digital Government
3 agencies doubt they can meet Y2K deadlines
A group of inspectors general from several federal agencies last month told Congress that their agencies are seriously behind in efforts to fix computer systems so that they can properly process dates after Dec. 31, 1999, which could threaten to disrupt large government programs. The officials told
Digital Government
FBI taps Harris for mobile radios
The FBI this month awarded an estimated $105 million contract to Harris Corp. to supply federal agents with mobile radios so that they can share data such as digital fingerprints and criminal records with one another and with other agencies. The award comes as the FBI and other law enforcement agen
Digital Government
Set-Asides
GAO denies EIA protest The General Accounting Office has denied a protest against the Energy Information Administration by McNeil Technologies Inc. The company had charged that it should have been awarded a contract as part of the $75 million EIA Omnibus Procurement, which is a package of contracts
Digital Government
Clinton signs bill giving agencies Year 2000 money
President Clinton on May 1 signed a supplemental appropriations bill that will earmark close to $86 million for some agencies to pay for Year 2000 fixes in this fiscal year. The 1998 Supplemental Appropriations and Rescissions Act will set aside $40.8 million for the Treasury Department and the Int
Digital Government