Digital Government
3-D GIS System Throws Public Discourse in Relief
A few months ago Jason Kornoff was in a tough spot facing a room of citizens attending a public meeting about groundwater contamination in their east Los Angeles community.
Digital Government
New Offerings From Netscape and Microsoft
Government agencies looking to standardize on a common browser have two primary platforms from which to choose: Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer or Netscape Communications Corp.'s Communicator
Digital Government
Florida County Looks Ahead at One-Stop Information Shopping
The citizens of Pinellas County Fla. are ravenous for government information. Last year they dialed into 'Rlink' the county's mainframebased online information service 7 million times searching for information
Digital Government
Federal Networks
During the last decade federal agencies have installed networks at an astonishing rate linking people within departments connecting one department to another and bridging the distances that separate headquarters and remote users whether in branch offices or on the battlefield. The concept became kn
Digital Government
Deciding the future of telecom
Federal telecommunications users face daunting choices at the turn of the next century. They will no longer be required to use the General Services Administration's longdistance telecom services and they will probably be deluged with calls from vendors and even other agencies touting alternatives
Digital Government
DOD lays groundwork for network-centric warfare
The Defense Department did not plan the current hodgepodge of networks that has grown up with the decadelong evolution of client/server computing. But DOD now has embraced at the highest levels the concept of 'networkcentric warfare ' in which tactical intelligence and logistics information becom
Digital Government
DOD launches next logistics system
The Defense Logistics Agency is taking an unconventional approach in a contract to improve the logistics support provided to the military services' maintenance centers. From the beginning DLA's procurement tactics on its Virtual Prime Vendor (VPV) solicitation have departed from the traditional. Wh
Digital Government
Intercepts
* Bandwidth luxury tax. That's what Lt. Gen. Douglas Buchholz the J6 plans as a way to relieve the strain on Defense networks that just can't seem to keep up with the demand of highbandwidth applications. Buchholz speaking at last week's AFCEA Washington D.C.chapter lunch said he wants to "deap
Digital Government
ICEMAN-like contracts leave vendors out in the cold
Competition is as American as apple pie. In the information technology industry, competition has rewritten the rules of engagement for packaged software, desktop systems and much more. It has cut product prices and has caused hardware and software performance to improve dramatically. Intense compet
Digital Government
Procurement reform: A learning curve
The General Accounting Office's recent decision to uphold a protest against certain awards under the Transportation Department's $1.3 billion Information Technology Omnibus Procurement reminds us that procurement reform requires more than just new laws. The decision which concluded that some task o
Digital Government
Education halts $1 billion direct-loan program
Facing less demand than expected for its direct collegelending program the Education Department has pulled the plug on an estimated $1 billion fiveyear project to service student loans. Education awarded the Federal Direct Student Loan Program (FDSLP) in September 1996 to Electronic Data Systems
Digital Government
Virus infects communications with Mir
A month after the crew of the space station Mir was plagued by its computer shutting down three times in 15 days NASA last week found itself in a battle on the ground with a computer virus that spread from Houston to Moscow to infect workstations that are used for daily communications with the Mir
Digital Government
GSA pares required services in amended FTS 2001 RFP
The General Services Administration plans to amend the solicitation for the FTS 2001 longdistance network to classify as 'optional' 10 of the 19 network services previously specified as 'mandatory' for bidders. Bob Woods commissioner of GSA's Federal Technology Service said the 10 optional service
Digital Government
SMC chief oversees upgrades
LONG BRANCH N.J. If there is anyone in the Army who deserves the moniker 'Mr. Infrastructure ' it would be Col. Dean Ertwine commander of the new Systems Management Center (SMC) here. The service has consolidated all its information infrastructure programs under Ertwine who also is slotted to rec
Digital Government
Federal Bytes
New name same acronym GSA's Federal Telecommunications Service formally announced this month it is now the Federal Technology Service and will focus on providing a full range of technology solutions. On hand at the official ceremony commemorating the event were all the top FTS officials GSA's own r
Digital Government
Ten-year NARA plan could jeopardize preservation of government documents
The National Archives and Records Administration faces a long and difficult path to preserving the federal government's burgeoning computer records according to a 10year strategic plan published by the agency. According to the plan which was required by the Government Performance and Results Act i
Digital Government
IT tracks El Nino's path
El Nino the weather system that is creating waves in the Pacific Ocean also is creating a storm of activity among federal information technology practitioners and research scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its related agencies. From satellites to buoys to telecom
Digital Government
NASA fears Web server compromised
NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) last week shut down all accounts on its primary World Wide Web server after officials discovered the system's password directory may have been stolen. The possible security breach was detected this month by the space center's security team. According to an Oct. 9 e
Digital Government
Budget slashes threaten NOAA weather systems
T he National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is facing millions of dollars in cuts to programs that track everything from everyday weather to periodic systems such as El Nino. In its Commerce Justice State and the Judiciary appropriations bill the House cut $22 million from NOAA's Geostatio
Digital Government