Digital Government
Customs spearheads move toward automated trade
The Customs Service working with more than 50 other federal agencies and hundreds of private companies this month installed a prototype of a system designed to speed up trade by merging data needed for the import and export of products into a single system. The system dubbed the North American Trad
Digital Government
NLM awards $42M in research grants
The National Library of Medicine has injected $42 million into telemedicine research awarding 19 contracts this month to vendors who will demonstrate the possibilities and pitfalls of using highspeed telecommunications networks to transmit medical information in reallifesituations. The awards par
Digital Government
Protest delays $50M NYMA award
NASA's Langley Research Center was slapped with a second protest on a oneyear $50 million services contract awarded to NYMA Inc. Greenbelt Md. Work under Langley's Systems Analysis and Engineering Research Support (SAERS) contract has been delayed until the protest filed Oct. 11 with the General A
Digital Government
Compaq unveils new midrange model
Compaq Computer Corp. this week will introduce the successor to its popular ProLiant 1500 network server a machine designed to offer new levels of performance and scalability for departmental network users. The ProLiant 2500 which runs on single or dual Pentium Pro 200 MHz processors will boost per
Digital Government
Agencies still in need of better IT management
If a new report by the General Accounting Office is any indication federal agencies have a long way to go before they fully comply with new laws designed to improve management of their information technology investments. The report 'Information Technology Investment: Agencies Can Improve Cost and M
Digital Government
INS jump-starts student mentoring program
The Immigration and Naturalization Service this month kicked off a new mentoring program to train high school students particularly those in underprivileged areas on computers. The agency also plans to make available next month a howto handbook for other federal agencies interested in starting suc
Digital Government
Outsourcing no place for politics
The Defense Science Board's recent report on outsourcing takes a nononsense approach to moving many Defense Department support activities to the private sector. This recommendation has a familiar ring to it for this is not the first time it has been suggested that good business practice mandated m
Digital Government
Bill creates new venue for protests
Congress this month passed an amended version of the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996 (H.R. 4194) that will allow vendors to take postaward protests to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in addition to established protest venues such as the district courts or the General Accounting Offi
Digital Government
Netscape bids to dominate fed intranets
Netscape Communications Corp. which has dominated the federal browser market with its Navigator product has revamped both its browser and client/server products as part of a move to capture part of the blooming intranet market. The company's newest browser dubbed Communicator has integrated Naviga
Digital Government
FedCIRC emerges to halt leaks
To help stem an exploding number of computer security breaches the first governmentwide computer security response team begins offering this week services to civilian agencies. The Federal Computer Incident Response Capability (FedCIRC) part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology wi
Digital Government
Sysorex, BTG land PC-2 pacts
BTG Inc. and Sysorex Information Systems Inc. captured the Army's PC2 procurement for 133 000 highpowered Pentium PCs with what one industry source described as "astonishingly low prices for very advanced computers." Sysorex according to industry sources won with a bid of $217 million while BTG
Digital Government
NIH pacts offer goods via DLA Internet mall
The National Institutes of Health next month will let agencies order products and services over the Internet from its three governmentwide contracts. The Defense Logistics Agency will be the first venue as the agency has agreed to give NIH a 'wing' in its forthcoming 'DLA electronic mall ' accordin
Digital Government
AGENDA
OCTOBER 2 2 Second Annual Fiscal 1997 Civilian Agency Forecast: A Look at the Opportunities Trends and Challenges Facing the IT Community in Fiscal 1997 and Beyond. Tower Club. McLean Va.Call Pam Barkley at (703) 8277080.2224 Federal Imaging '96. Washington Convention Center. Washington D.C.This
Digital Government
CBD WATCH
Library of Congress. C onnection to the Internet. Sol. RFP972. (CBD Oct. 9) The Library of Congress requires a connection to the National Science Foundation Internet. The purpose of this connection is to perform remote login file transfer and electronicmail communications with academic governmen
Digital Government
SET-ASIDES
Electronic FOIA demands A gencies would be obligated to release documents to the public in electronic format if requested and make newly created public documents available online or by some other digital means under recently enacted amendments to the Freedom of Information Act. The Electronic FOIA
Digital Government
Lotus nabs largest software acquisition under DMS
Lotus Development Corp. recently completed the largest software sale to date on the Defense Message System contract a 15 000seat purchase of the Notes DMS product by the Naval Supply Systems Command (Navsup). The acquisition was made under an earlybuy program introduced earlier this year by Loc
Digital Government
Presidential candidates use Web as forum for platforms
Despite Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole's bumble while plugging his World Wide Web page during the first presidential debate this month the Dole campaign's home page has been a popular stopover for those wishing to get more information on the former senator and his policy positions.Accordi
Digital Government
Exide wins $625 million Air Force contract
Exide Electronics Group Inc. late last month said it won an Air Force contract to provide up to $625 million worth of uninterruptible power systems (UPS) and other equipment to any military or civilian agency. The contract awarded by the Air Force's Air Logistics Center in Sacramento Calif. will ru
Digital Government
INDUSTRY WATCH
ITAA announces Y2K certification program The Information Technology Association of America last week took the wraps off a program that certifies vendors' approaches to Year 2000 date conversion. ITAA 2000 consists of a questionnaire that analyzes a vendor applicant's processes and methods in 11 are
Digital Government