Digital Government
FEDERAL BYTES
A Few Choice Words?In keeping with its effort to become more userfriendly, the Internal Revenue Service recently began posting its proposed regulations on its World Wide Web site at http://www.irs.ustreas.gov and now offers links to an official comment page for readers to file their opinions on th
Digital Government
Apple unveils lower-priced models
Apple Computer Inc. may be taking its lumps these days, but government Macintosh fans have reasons to rejoice, with the recent introduction of faster, lowerpriced models and new additions to Government Technology Services Inc.'s General Services Administration schedule. The new Apple machines use
Digital Government
Digital Cameras Track Peace-Keeping Mission
Since Operation Joint Endeavor began in December, the Defense Department's combat photo journalists in Bosnia have dispatched thousands of images from the field in digital format. Digital photography began to take hold in the military during 1993's Operation Restore Hope in Somalia. But in Bosnia,
Digital Government
DOD seeks wide range of hardware and software
The Defense Department this month issued a solicitation for $595 million worth of new hardware and software destined for department hospitals, clinics and field medical facilities. The request for proposals for Support Hardware and Automation Related Products (Generic), known as SHARP(G), calls for
Digital Government
VA CIOs explore new focus for programs
Newly appointed chief information officers at the Department of Veterans Affairs are looking to change the focus and direction of major automation programs for benefits delivery and health care. Newell Quinton, CIO at the Veterans Benefits Administration, said his organization has begun to focus on
Digital Government
GPO drafts plan to boost electronic publishing
Under a draft strategic plan to expand its electronic publishing activities, two years from now the Government Printing Office would be distributing in digital form 10 times as many documents as it does today. The digital copies obtained as diskettes, CDROM discs or from online services wou
Digital Government
DOD Taps Current Pacts
The thirst for commercial offtheshelf hardware and software meant the Army and vendors had to scramble to fill rush orders, with the Army Information Systems Command's Army Small Computer Program office at Fort Monmouth, N.J., serving as the focal point for Bosnian orders. The office manages seve
Digital Government
Late deal dodges FGIPC/IAC split
An 11thhour agreement between leaders of two prominent governmentrelated information technology professional organizations resolved a damaging dispute that threatened the future of the Federation of Government Information Processing Councils (FGIPC) and the Industry Advisory Council (IAC), its ch
Digital Government
Subcommittee to monitor agency plans
The House Subcommittee on Government Management, Information and Technology will monitor how federal agencies manage the process to make their computers year 2000compliant. The subcommittee, which held a hearing this month on how the two digits "00" in 2000 will cause government computers to fai
Digital Government
Vendors blend workflow with forms automation
CHICAGO If an electronic form crosses your desktop, chances are that it's on its way somewhere else. Two new deals between workflow and forms processing software vendors announced at the Association for Information and Image Management trade show would integrate these two applications, making it
Digital Government
Bucking a trend, GAO report gives a thumbs-up to CHCS
After nearly 10 years of critical diagnoses, the General Accounting Office this month gave the Defense Department's Composite Health Care System a clean bill of health. "I think the management of the whole program at the assistant secretary level and the program management level has been very good
Digital Government
ROSTER
President Clinton nominated Air Force Maj. Gen. Ronald Kadish for promotion to lieutenant general, with assignment as commander, Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass. Kadish currently serves as program director for the C17 systems program executive office, WrightPatterson Air F
Digital Government
Consolidation management presents key IRM challenge
The Office of Management and Budget's Bulletin No. 9602, which instructs agencies to begin developing plans to close and consolidate small and midsize data centers, will drive a requirement for data and application audits on a scale never before imagined. The OMB initiative will force federal info
Digital Government
Forms ware links agency, bulk-mail customers
The U.S. Postal Service plans to test this summer forms software that will provide an electronic interface between the agency and some of its largest customers. The software will provide USPS with detailed information on bulk mailings before they enter the mail system. It will also give large maile
Digital Government
OMB issues CIO guides; critics consider them weak
The Office of Management and Budget this month provided agencies with preliminary guidance on appointing chief information officers, as required by the Information Technology Management Reform Act (ITMRA), which will go into effect Aug. 8. But congressional sources involved in drafting the law said
Digital Government
Agencies take a RAD approach to development
RAD consists of tools, techniques and methodologies designed to speed application development. RAD reduces paperbased documentation, automates code generation and facilitates user participation in design and development activities. The technology, in some cases, can allow a small development team
Digital Government
Systems integrators jockey for spots on DEIS follow-on
Six systems integrators leading massive teams of subcontractors last week submitted bids on the Defense Information Systems Agency's $3 billion DEIS II procurement. DEIS II is the followon to the $1.2 billion Defense Enterprise Integration Services contracts awarded in 1993 to BDM Federal Inc., Bo
Digital Government
PMC sets up performance measurements
Top Cabinet officials have agreed on a set of performance measurements for procurement that agencies will use to determine how well agencies serve users. The President's Management Council (PMC), whose members include department deputy secretaries, said last month that agency procurement offices sh
Digital Government
Unisys upgrades server, mainframe product lines
Unisys Corp. today upgraded its mainframe and server lines and launched a new multiprocessing server platform that the company plans to sell through the General Services Administration schedule. Unisys' barrage of announcements included the latest generation of its 2200 and A Series CMOS mainframe
Digital Government