Digital Government
Budget cuts, culture hurt NASA systems
Despite an increasing number of hacker attacks, NASA's computer and communications systems remain critically vulnerable to outside manipulation because of budget pressures and cultural bias, agency officials concede. Hackers have already attached password sniffers to NASA systems and used the space
Digital Government
Inconsistent criteria hurt fed disability claims
You'd think that if someone met the stringent eligibility requirements for disability benefits under the Social Security Act, that individual would also qualify for disability benefits under the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS). However, a recent court decision says the two are not necessa
Digital Government
Bell Atlantic upgrades WITS users to Sonet
Bell Atlantic Federal Systems last weekend began to move users of its Washington Interagency Telecommunications Service (WITS) to a Synchronous Optical Network (Sonet) ring offering connections to federal sites of up to 155 megabit/sec. The upgrade to fournode Sonet represents a recognition by Bel
Digital Government
FEDWIRE
GAO denies Sprint DCTN protest The General Accounting Office denied a protest Sprint filed against an extension of the Defense Commercial Telecommunications Network contract with the Defense Information Systems Agency. It also threw out DISA's request to dismiss AT&T's protest against the ongoing D
Digital Government
AWARDS
Severn Companies Inc. A $627,017 award for directaccess storage devices. Division of Acquisition Management, ADP Acquisitions Branch, 5600 Fishers Lane, Parklawn Building, Room 595, Rockville, Md. 20857. Silicon Graphics Inc. A $193,450 award for a nextgeneration reality engine. NCCOSC, RDTE Div
Digital Government
SET-ASIDES
Tech hearings planned Rep. Steve Horn (RCalif.) plans to launch a series of six hearings on federal information technology policies later this month. Topics will include best practices, management issues, financial systems, public access to information and measuring the benefits of information sys
Digital Government
Ex-GSA exec looks back with pride
William Cunnane, former General Services Administration deputy assistant administrator for FTS 2000, left his 35year career of government service last month with a sense of tangible accomplishment in helping shape today's advanced, as well as lowcost, federal telecommunications system. In a post
Digital Government
Novell links GroupWise to the Internet
Novell Inc. last week unveiled an extension to its groupware product line designed to provide collaborative computing over the Internet. Novell's GroupWise WebAccess is a serverbased product that allows users to access their GroupWise mailboxes through any PC with an Internet connection and a Hype
Digital Government
INDUSTRY WATCH
DOJ Withdraws GTSI Probe The Justice Department has withdrawn its Civil Investigative Demand (CID), which sought information relating to Government Technology Services Inc.'s sales on the General Services Administration schedule dating back to 1988. Now GTSI is working with GSA to provide the infor
Digital Government
Oracle offers product for mobile applications
Oracle Corp. plans to tap the growing market for mobile applications with a new version of its relational database management software (RDBMS) that is slim enough to run on a laptop computer. Personal Oracle Lite, now available, fills out the low end of racle's RDBMS offering. The product fits in l
Digital Government
Kendall, others opt for DOD buyout
Cynthia Kendall, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Defense information management, is retiring at the beginning of March. One of several highranking DOD executives taking an early buyout, Kendall plans to take several months of personal leave before making any plans, according to a DOD spo
Digital Government
Bosnia support nets to get upgrade
The Defense Information Systems Agency plans to upgrade by spring the communications networks that now support U.S. and multinational forces of Operation Joint Endeavor in Bosnia with advanced bandwidth on demand and Global Broadcast Services. According to DISA director Lt. Gen. Al Edmonds, in the
Digital Government
ROSTER
The FBI named Charles Archer assistant director of its Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS), the national repository for criminal justice information and fingerprint services. Archer, a former FBI legal attache in Ottawa, Canada, replaces Steven Pomerantz, who retired in June. Arch
Digital Government
SCO unveils Internet products
The Santa Cruz Operation Inc., the leading provider of Unix operating systems in the federal government, today unveiled a new strategy to deliver a family of Unixbased Internet products. "We're bringing out a family of Internet products that will provide government users [with] a solution that is
Digital Government
Council seeks software strategy
A Defense Department council this month will begin shaping a strategy to improve DOD's management of software programs in command and control, information management and weapons programs. The Software Management Initiative, more than a year old, has already had an impact in a number of areas, inclu
Digital Government
Corel buys WordPerfect; new release due in April
Federal WordPerfect users have to ride out another sale of their beloved word processing package. However, the new owner said an upgraded version of the package and its companion office suite will be issued on time in April. Novell Inc., which bought WordPerfect in June 1994, last week sold it, al
Digital Government
Hire Your Own Internet Coach
Feeling out of it because you don't know how to navigate the Net? Don't have time to read an Internet manual even one for dummies? Then try this new online user guide. Internet Coach from Apte Software, Evanston, Ill., is an interactive guide to the Netscape browser and the World Wide Web. It i
Digital Government
Apple/Sun dealings continue
Talks between Apple Computer Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. continued last week regarding a possible sale of Apple to the workstation vendor. The negotiations, which came to light two weeks ago, follow Apple's announcement last month of losses and layoffs. Apple has been struggling to maintain mark
Digital Government
Presidential Technology Team sets sights on problem programs
The Office of Management and Budget wants the government's "best and brightest" information technology experts to become part of a roving consulting team that will help agencies rescue troubled projects and prevent the most difficult IT programs from developing problems in the first place. The id
Digital Government