Digital Government
SSA to quicken disclosures to states
To cut the time it takes the Social Security Administration to stop paying benefits once someone has died from months to days, SSA is changing the rules on when the agency can reveal a Social Security number to states.
People
Public/private standoff
Electronic business experts predict that the line between electronic services that should be provided by government and those that should be provided by business will continue to blur.
People
Pentagon revamps systems tests
The Pentagon is accelerating a sweeping initiative to improve joint operations among the services by ensuring that their key systems can exchange information seamlessly.
People
Online court records under review
The most personal information lies carefully cataloged in the nation's courthouses
Digital Government
'Big Bertha' improves scientists' view
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have a new highresolution desktop monitor to study 3D models
Digital Government
Tool offers self-help to site users
RightNow Technologies is delivering an improved tool to help agencies strengthen service to online customers
Digital Government
Reps calm IT industry
Two days after the most chaotic presidential election in U.S. history, two members of Congress assured the information technology community that the election impasse would have no long-term impact on high- technology policies or federal funding for IT programs.
People
A primer for what government should do online
Three economists offer 12 rules of the eservices road.
People
NMCI gains momentum
At least one management headache is out of the way. Despite spending millions of dollars on the Navy Marine Corps Intranet procurement, none of the three losing bidders protested the Navy's Oct. 6 award to Electronic Data Systems Corp.
Digital Government
The Circuit
Technically, her sixyear term as chairwoman of the House Science Committee's Technology Subcommittee is up, but Rep. Connie Morella (RMd.) may not have to vacate her post.
People
FDIC pilots online auction
Following a successful pilot, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. may be near the end of the line with its traditional method of selling loan pools through sealedbid, offline auctions.
Acquisition
SBA gives agencies more 8(a) buying power
The Small Business Administration wants to streamline the way agencies award contracts to socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses
People
NTIS hiring freeze draws ire
The National Technical Information Service workforce is dwindling under a hiring freeze imposed by the Commerce Department, according to an advisory commission.
Digital Government
Optical drives: A clearer future
Departments and agencies looking for faster, more accessible storage for backing up data on servers or even critical workstations should take a look at the latest generation of CD and DVD drives.
People
Pay raise particulars
Who: Computer specialists (GS334), computer engineers (GS854) and computer scientists (GS1550) in the GS5 through GS12 grades.
Digital Government
How it happens
A disk drive creates and saves a file by laying it in contiguous clusters on the disk drive. When that file is later read, the head in the disk drive moves directly from one cluster to another on a single track. The head stays in one place over that track and reads the file as the disk moves beneath it. As more files are written to the disk, they are also laid out in contiguous clusters.
People
Keep the 'e' in e-gov
As federal agencies hurtle headlong into digital government, industry leaders and economists have begun to raise questions about what services are and are not appropriate for agencies to offer online.
Acquisition