Digital Government
Force XXI, satellite comm big winners
The Senate strongly backed key Defense Department information technology programs, including the Army's Force XXI and Warfighter Information Network (WIN) as well as Air Force and Navy satellite communications projects, with increased funding when it passed its version of the 1997 DOD authorization
Digital Government
Panel sets sights on infrastructures
Securing the nation's critical infrastructures including the national telephone and computer networks from attack will be the task of a new presidential commission. The commission, formed last week by executive order, will be staffed mainly with representatives of law enforcement and Defense ag
Digital Government
Downsizing strategy warrants closer look
Has the Clinton administration really downsized the government across the board, or has it simply cut jobs in the Defense Department, an easy target? The Federal Workforce Restructuring Act of 1994 part of the Clinton government "reinvention" process called for a sharp reduction in federal fu
Digital Government
ROSTER
Four of this year's 12 outstanding airmen selected by the Air Force work in the computer or communications fields. The annual award recognizes enlisted personnel who demonstrated "unique, unusual or outstanding individual involvement and achievement during the preceding 12 months." The winners wi
Digital Government
Memo addresses 'fair opportunity' guidelines
An Office of Federal Procurement Policy memorandum issued last week aims to simplify the purchasing process on multipleaward, indefinitedelivery, indefinitequantity product contracts. The memo, drafted by OFPP administrator Steven Kelman, noted that some agencies may be creating an "unnecessary
Digital Government
USPS to unveil details of new services
Certificate authority and electronic postmarking on the horizon The U.S. Postal Service later this month is expected to release details on its plans to conduct market tests for its certificate authority and electronic postmarking services. The Federal Register will publish for comment an announceme
Digital Government
INTERCEPTS
DMS dates. DISA's doing the DMS rollout as fast as possible, but Tom Clarke, the agency's DMS honcho, no longer will give specific dates for the initial operating capability, originally slated for this month. Clarke told the Interceptor that while DISA and Lockheed Martin are "moving ahead to put
Digital Government
Pictures from Galileo are over the moon
Gaze at the aweinspiring images of the Jupiter moon Ganymede made available by NASA at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo. The site, which gives an ongoing account of Galileo's voyages through space, also brings to light images of the Comet ShoemakerLevy 9 and its spectacular crash into Jupiter. Nex
Digital Government
Olicom USA launches federal sales program
Olicom USA Inc. is launching a federal marketing program targeting the General Services Administration schedule; indefinitedelivery, indefinitequantity contracts; and the open market. The Plano, Texasbased company plans to approach the federal sector through relationships with resellers and dist
Digital Government
Vendors revving up red-hot sales vehicle
In this age of deregulation, the General Services Administration has become a kind of hightechnology bazaar in which vendors and customers can wheel and deal much as they might in the commercial arena, and spot pricing in particular has become a hot issue. In recent months, holders of GSA multiple
Digital Government
Training spells Doom for Marines
You know the government is serious about commercial offtheshelf software when the popular video game Doom becomes a training tool for the Marines. Point your Web browser to http://138.156.15.33/doom/doom.html to access the Marine Doom home page. A project of the Marine Corps Modeling and Simulati
Digital Government
MCI wins $35M VA phone deal
MCI has once again proven adept at obtaining federal telecommunications business that falls between the cracks of the FTS 2000 contract, winning a $35 million contract for operatorassisted longdistance services to patients and visitors to Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals. The award, annou
Digital Government
Cordant, DynCorp up for sale
Consolidation intensified last week in the federal information technology market with Cordant Inc. and DynCorp seeking buyers. Cordant, a Reston, Va., integrator, reportedly has been conducting an auction, using the approach employed by PRC in its recent sale. Sources familiar with the discussions
Digital Government
GSI faults cost evaluation on DSSG
Government Systems Inc. said the Defense Information Systems Agency ignored its own evaluation criteria, which gave the most weight to price, in awarding a $2 billion network support contract last month to Boeing Information Services. GSI's charge is contained in a protest the company filed with th
Digital Government
INTERCEPTS
Messaging wars. Microsoft has targeted the federal messaging market and plans to push its Exchange software heavily this year in an attempt to wrest IBM's Lotus Development Corp. from its 65 percent share of the market. Bruce Weber, Microsoft Federal's Exchange marketing manager, said the company p
Digital Government
New encryption plan to be tested in federal pilots
Vice President Al Gore last Friday announced a plan to encourage the widespread use of encryption that can be decoded by law enforcement with a court warrant. The move clarifies the emerging outlines of a new administration encryption policy. The vice president also announced that federal agencies
Digital Government
Survival in competitive IT environment demands teaming deals
Having good, strong teaming relationships has never been more important in the federal information technology market than it is today, especially for smaller companies. Most of us understand this, but we've never really looked closely at why it is happening or at the longterm implications. A quick
Digital Government
Rapid-fire criticism hits upcoming FAST launch
As the General Services Administration last week announced a new acquisition program expected to produce $1 billion a year in sales, a group of small businesses and their congressional supporters attacked the agency for its decision to terminate the regional program that served as the model for the
Digital Government
FTP adds security to its TCP/IP suite
FTP Software Inc. today announced a new version of its Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol connectivity suite, which the company says is the first to support Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 and also offer Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), a de facto standard for sending secure
Digital Government