Digital Government

Soundbytes: Contracting, Medical Systems and More Missing Laptops

A weekly roundup of comments from Nextgov.com. All comments are presented in their original, unedited form.

Digital Government

Pentagon reassigns head of Defense Centers of Excellence

Army Col. Robert Saum has been reassigned within TRICARE Management Activity, which manages health plans for military personnel, pending the results of an investigation.

Digital Government

The future of FAA's NextGen depends on how it will deliver economically

Airlines, airports and pilots will weigh whether or not they use the new air traffic control system after considering if the benfits of the new network outweigh the cost of technology they must purchase.

Modernization

Army looks to Kindles, iPads and smart phones for the battlefield

To keep the power flowing to the handheld devices, the service also is experimenting with new lightweight solar and fuel cell systems that provide hours of energy.

Digital Government

Senator, first responders lay claim to open spectrum

Public safety officials say they need more so they can communicate without using multiple devices.

Digital Government

Stimulus Boosts EHR Sales

The 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) Act seemed to have given sales of electronic health records systems a pop.

Digital Government

Time to Get App Savvy

The apps culture is here, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Ideas

Drupal Finds More Converts

The Federal Communications Commission plans to rebuild its <a href=http://fcc.gov/>website</a> using Drupal, an open source content management platform, Steven VanRoekel, managing director of the agency, said in a <a href=http://reboot.fcc.gov/blog?entryId=784078>blog post</a> on Wednesday.

Ideas

Turbulence Ahead for FAA's NextGen

The Federal Aviation Administration acknowledges there is still a lot of work to do on its ambitious $20 billion program to replace the nation's aging radar-based air traffic control system with a satellite-based network by 2020.

Digital Government

Shinseki, IBM and Agent Orange Claims

In July, the Veterans Affairs Department <a href=http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/193853.php>awarded</a> IBM a $9.1 million contract to develop within three months a system to process claims for Vietnam veterans suffering from diseases stemming from exposure to the Agent Orange defoliant sprayed in that country by the Air Force. (The service's units had the motto: "Only you can prevent forests.")

Cybersecurity

Any Word on Zeus?

Earlier this year, the <a href="http://krebsonsecurity.com/2010/02/zeus-attack-spoofs-nsa-targets-gov-and-mil/">Zeus</a> banking Trojan infected hundreds of computers within the federal government leaving experts no choice but to prepare for a mass attack. The then e-mail campaign was designed to steal passwords, but at the time was only sent to government and military e-mail addresses.

Digital Government

DARPA aims for fiber-optic link between warfighters' minds, bodies

An award to Southern Methodist University will fund development of two-way, fiber-optic communication between prosthetic limbs and the wearer’s peripheral nerves, reports blogger Brian Robinson.

People

GSA launches online clearinghouse for federal alerts, notifications

The General Services Administration added a new site to its USA.gov Web portal that offers access to thousands of real-time federal notifications and alerts.

Digital Government

Internet doesn't replace traditional news outlets, survey finds

A Pew survey finds that people are consuming more news online, but that traditional outlets shouldn't be forgotten.

Digital Government

DISA moves data closer to the front lines

Alfred Rivera, director of DISA's computing services, discusses the Rapid Access Computing Environment, cloud computing and data center consolidation -- and how those efforts deliver content to the battlefield.

Digital Government

Attacks starting on newly announced Windows vulnerability

Microsoft issued a new security advisory about a vulnerability in the encryption system used with ASP.NET.

People

VA initiative aims to improve communications with veterans

The Veterans Affairs Department is taking a number of steps to maKe it easier for veterans to interact with the agency by phone or via the Internet.