Digital Government
GSA awards $99 million contract for IT support to combat drug trafficking
Booz Allen Hamilton will explore functionalities that will enhance an information sharing system for law enforcement agencies.
Modernization
Official: Despite budget cuts, NASA to continue spending on IT
Key areas for the space agency include supercomputing and data mining, and integrated modeling techniques such as structural, optical and thermal simulations.
Digital Government
FCC votes to move forward with proposed net neutrality rules
The FCC voted today to authorize a notice of proposed rulemaking that would set limits on how Internet carriers can interfere with traffic in the name of network management.
Ideas
The Hoping it Fails Syndrome
Something you hear quite often when covering government is the concern among top managers that some, or sometimes many, federal employees want executives who are trying to change government to fail. Most often, it's not politically driven. The change involves business processes and strategic shifts, ideas that are not ideologically spawned or driven. Mangers I have talked to say these employees just don't want to change the way they have worked for years, or they see the change as a threat to their control over a specific detailed process or policy, or they fear the change threatens their livelihood.
Digital Government
Check Your Paycheck
The Office of Personnel Management <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20091021_4165.php?oref=topnews">announced</a> on Wednesday that they had successfully consolidated 26 payroll systems into four. At the pres conference about the consolidation, Linda Pena, associate deputy assistant secretary at Veterans Affairs Department, where employees had to replace a 1960s era payroll system, said most VA employees didn't realize the system had changed until they saw a different name on their paychecks.
Digital Government
White House uses social media to get green ideas
White House officials want federal employees and military members to submit ideas for clean energy.
Cybersecurity
Senate passes biil that would increase DHS' IT funding
The Senate has passed legislation to fund the Homeland Security Department that would increase spending for major information technology programs. The House also approved the measure.
Modernization
Windows 7: Readers respond to our review
Federal Computer Week readers had a variety of reactions to John Breeden's review of Microsoft Windows 7, which judged the new operating system to be solid but not all that much of an advance over its predecessor, Vista.
Cybersecurity
Federal student aid data isn't secure, IG says
The Education Department's student aid program risks unauthorized data loss or access problems if the department doesn't improve its information security, a new report says.
Cybersecurity
Wireless medical records system comes to Indianapolis
Emergency medical workers in Indianapolis and its suburbs now have access to electronic health records.
Modernization
Coast Guard's example could aid agency communications integration efforts
The Coast Guard could be the leader as agencies and military organizations adopt integrated communications networks, according to the Guard's commandant.
Ideas
GovLoop Expands
Last month I <a href="http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090928_8720.php">reported</a> that GovLoop, the unofficial "Facebook to the Feds," was acquired by GovDelivery, partly so founder Steve Ressler could devote all his time to nurturing and expanding his pet project. Yesterday Steve sent me some news: He's made the first addition to the GovLoop team and it's someone who should be familiar to the Gov 2.0 crowd. <a href="http://twitter.com/krazykriz">Andrew Krzmarzick</a>, formerly senior project coordinator at the USDA Graduate School.
People