Digital Government
NASA Mac users resist the switch
Organizations resist change so it is no surprise that parts of NASA's Johnson Space Center are resisting the move to a desktop standard based on an Intel/Microsoft platform. Although the objections have focused on process the disagreements go far beyond process to the deeply held beliefs of many Ma
Digital Government
Profile Hits the Mark
Congratulations! Bob Brewin's Dec. 2 profile of Air Force 2nd Lt. Chad Lynch was perfect...right person right words right focus. We read a lot about the silverhaired technology warriors out there who have done great things and certainly deserve every plaudit. But it's all too uncommon to see a ris
Digital Government
Mapping moves toward Internet
The National Imagery and Mapping Agency has begun working on a project that during the next four years will seek to deliver more maps over the Internet. Under the $21 million Data Architecture and Gateway Services (DAGS) project awarded to Harris Corp. last month NIMA plans to produce fewer CDROM
Digital Government
Massachusetts Uses Radnet Software for IT Administration
Massachusetts Uses Radnet Software for IT Administration
Digital Government
VA chooses 23 vendors for $50 million contract
The Department of Veterans Affairs tapped 23 vendors last month for a $50 million services project aimed at making its ADP center more costeffective. The Multiple Award Requirements Contract for Information Technology Services (MARCITS) will offer a broad range of services. The large scope of the
Digital Government
Shuttle site a space odyssey
NASA launched the space shuttle Atlantis along with a new shuttle World Wide Web site on Jan. 12 the birthdate of the mythical HAL computer in Arthur C. Clarke's 2001. While the Web site (shuttle.nasa.gov) does not sing "Daisy Daisy Give me your answer do... " it does have other bells and whistle
Digital Government
Round Two
An article in the Jan. 6 issue of Federal Computer Week incorrectly reported that PRC Inc. had won a $46 million contract from the Defense Intelligence Agency. That contract was awarded by the Air Force's Rome Laboratory.
Digital Government
IT not tied to budgets
The Defense Department still fails to include in its plans for new information technology projects an accompanying budget to pay for the new systems DOD comptroller John Hamre said last month. In a speech to the Washington chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Hamre
Digital Government
Portable-2 protested
International Data Products Corp. and Commax Corp. late last month protested the Army's Portable2 contract a development that could delay shipments under that program for months. IDP delivered a protest against the $236 million Portable2 contract the day before Christmas with Commax Corp. filing
Digital Government
Agencies find Year 2000 tools market still growing
Over the last year federal agencies have become acutely aware that the approaching millennium Year 2000 may wreak havoc with software programs and cause untold headaches throughout their organizations. As these agencies scramble to fix Year 2000 problems they will find the tools market is eithe
Digital Government
DOE spurns GSA cell pact
The Energy Department has issued a request for technical proposals for agencywide cellular service turning its back on a recently awarded General Services Administration wireless contract designed to cut most federal users' cellular bills by more than half.
Digital Government
Product leasing gains ground in fed market
Information technology leasing a popular strategy in the commercial market for many years is emerging as an option for agencies faced with budget constraints and rapidly changing technology. To date IT leasing has been used sparingly if at all in the federal sector. In the commercial market leasing
Digital Government
ROSTER
Claudia Bennett assistant commissioner for strategic and program planning at the General Services Administration's Federal Telecommunications Service withdrew her application for retirement last month and will begin this month on detail at GSA's Office of Personnel. She will serve as acting directo
Digital Government
FAR interim rule spells out Year 2000 compliance
The General Services Administration last week issued an interim rule that elevates its "recommended" Year 2000 warranty language to the level of a governmentwide regulation. The interim rule is contained in a new Federal Acquisition Regulation Federal Acquisition Circular 45. The interim rule eff
Digital Government
EFOIA: Mixed bag of access benefits and legal loopholes
Last fall Congress passed the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996 or EFOIA as it is commonly known.
Digital Government
NASA to outsource all desktops
NASA officials have begun planning for a massive agencywide desktop procurement that would eventually encompass all of the agency's 50,000 PCs. Although NASA chief information officer Ron West said it is too early in the planning process of the desktop initiative to place a value on the contract, h
Digital Government
The most valuable resource: people
The Los Angeles Times in December published a threepart special report on the state of the federal government's computer systems.
Digital Government
PRC wins $46 million DIA deal
The Defense Intelligence Agency last month awarded a $46 million contract to Litton/PRC Inc. to modernize databases and related applications across the intelligence community and to bring new database technology into the field. The intelligence community like other components of the Defense Departm
Digital Government