Digital Government
Northrop Grumman wins $170M super deal
Northrop Grumman Corp. last week won a $170 million contract to run a highperformance computing center at the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO) at Stennis Space Center, Miss.
Digital Government
Ex-WAAS vendor Wilcox challenges award to Hughes
Wilcox Electric Inc., recently removed as the prime contractor for the Federal Aviation Administration's Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), last week challenged the agency's decision to award the contract to subcontractor Hughes Aircraft Co. without soliciting new bids. According to Wilcox, WAAS
Digital Government
FEDERAL BYTES
NOAA Goes H'wood What do Hollywood and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have in common? Well, tornadoes, for one thing. The premise of the hit movie "Twister" is based on a program undertaken by NOAA's Severe Storms Lab in the mid1980s. The lab rigged a 55gallon drum with ins
Digital Government
Fore tackles 25-megabit/sec ATM
Fore Systems Inc., the leader in 155 megabit/sec desktop Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) installations in the federal government, last week unveiled its first 25 megabit/sec product. Company officials hope the new switch will attract users of PCs and lowerend workstations. Jeffrey White, product
Digital Government
Rules set limits on race-based methods
Newly proposed rules for contracting with minorityowned businesses would sharply limit setasides and other "race conscious" procurement methods agencies could use to hire such firms. Under the Justice Department plan released last week, statutory contracting goals would still apply, but agencie
Digital Government
Interagency panel backs away from proprietary security policy
In a move seen as inevitable, the Clinton administration has dropped its demands for a proprietary federal encryption policy and has proposed allowing agencies greater latitude in choosing offtheshelf solutions from industry. The proposal was made by an interagency working group cochaired by the
Digital Government
Nexar picks GTSI as exclusive reseller
Nexar Technologies Inc., a new PC maker run by former Leading Edge Products Inc. executives, has tapped Government Technology Services Inc. as its exclusive federal reseller. The company's products are designed to make a PC's processor, memory and hard disk drive the most expensive elements of a
Digital Government
DISA buys $3M in licenses from Transarc and TriTeal
The Defense Information Systems Agency has purchased nearly $3 million in software licenses that it will distribute at no cost to Defense program managers developing command and control systems that comply with the agency's requirements for commercial software components. As part of its effort to b
Digital Government
ELVIS to tour with GCCS
The Defense Information Systems Agency plans to distribute World Wide Web browser software, dubbed "ELVIS," that will allow "almost ubiquitous access" to the common operational picture carried on the Global Command and Control System (GCCS). Unlike commercial Web browser software, which present
Digital Government
SGI slashes prices, targets wider market
Silicon Graphics Inc., a major player in the military simulation and imaging markets, is taking aim at a broader user base for highend graphics systems, slashing prices on two Onyx products by up to 45 percent. Effective immediately, SGI's Onyx RealityStation is priced at $59,900, a 45 percent red
Digital Government
Radnet debuts low-cost,Web-based groupware
Targeting users who want a less expensive, easiertouse alternative to Lotus Development Corp.'s Notes, Radnet Inc. has introduced WebShare, a groupware product based on World Wide Web technology. "If people within your organization already have a network, then anyone with a standard Web browser
Digital Government
IC4I vendor addition protested
A recent Air Force decision to add a third vendor to a $929 million smallbusiness contract that provides security products and services surprised and upset the current contract holders and their industry partners. The Air Force announced its decision to add Systems Research and Applications Corp.
Digital Government
USGS, Caltech seismic data rocks the Internet
Here's a Java applet with a great name: the SeismoCam. Codeveloped by the California Institute of Technology and the U.S. Geological Survey, this applet emits realtime seismic data on the Internet. Point your browser to http://scec.gps.caltech.edu/seismocam/SeismoCam.html and watch the tremors (s
Digital Government
Bill pushes private sector for gear donations
Rep. Anna Eshoo (DCalif.) introduced legislation last week that is aimed at increasing the number of computers the private sector donates to public school systems and local and state government agencies. Eshoo's bill follows, though is not related to, an executive order that President Clinton sign
Digital Government
GE Capital to buy AmeriData parent
GE Capital Services was expected late last week to make a cashtender offer for the parent company of AmeriData Federal Systems, the secondranked General Services Administration schedule reseller. GE Capital Services, a Stamford, Conn.based subsidiary of General Electric Co., announced last Monda
Digital Government
Qui tam suits: A division of camps
The Washington Legal Foundation, a freeenterprise, publicinterest law and policy center, recently came out in strong opposition to federal employees acting as private plaintiffs in qui tam suits. Qui tam suits are legal actions taken by private citizens against government contractors who they bel
Digital Government
Pausing to reflect on Desktop V
The longawaited award of the Air Force's Desktop V contract has occurred, as has the inevitable protest halting the entire process, so once again, Air Force users find themselves moving into the summer buying season without their primary PC IDIQ contract. Perhaps because the Desktop series is so h
Digital Government
Consortium stumps for tech use
A federal consortium formed to promote use of the World Wide Web among U.S. agencies is positioned to become a major global player in the proliferation of Web technology and applications. The National Science Foundation's Federal Web Consortium, which was started three years ago, is growing rapidly
Digital Government
Earthquake system faces budget woes
The U.S. Geological Survey, together with the California Institute of Technology and the state of California, have begun building a firstofitskind computer system that will warn Southern Californians of impending earthquakes while at the same time broaden seismologists' understanding of the phen
Digital Government