People

Obama CTO may lack sufficient influence

Without policy-making and budget authority, the new chief technology officer position may not be as effective as hoped, former federal executives said.

Acquisition

GSA awards Alliant Small Business contract

Seventy-two small businesses get slots on the information technology contract.

Acquisition

Agencies must share details about noncompetitive contracts

Regulators require agencies to post online their reasons for awarding a contract with no competition.

Digital Government

House stimulus plan packed with $45 billion in technology spending

Funding for homeland security, health IT and broadband could turn around a flat year for government IT spending.

Digital Government

Reps rip VA over glitch in medical record system

Department IT chiefs say despite error, mistakes at health care facilities are down 86 percent.

Ideas

What One Doctor Thinks of EHRs

Electronic health records got a lot of attention on Thursday, with House Democrats putting $20 billion in their stimulus package to help pay for digitized medical records and Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., holding a hearing on the subject. During the hearing, Mikulski warned about a "techno-boondoggle" if a network of health records isn't managed properly. What could possibly go wrong? Ask your doctor next time you go in for a visit about electronic health records. I did, and I didn't hear what I expected.

Digital Government

Court moves to preserve White House e-mail messages

A federal court today ordered the Bush administration to take more steps to preserve millions of e-mail messages that were sent during critical times for the administration.

Modernization

GSA, YouTube discuss posting government videos

The negotiations focus on the terms of service that will govern posting government videos on YouTube.

Digital Government

Thompson: Disease reporting systems inadequate

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee says the government's disease-reporting systems are unprepared for pandemic flu.