People
More than text and talking
Given the shortage of people with technical skills in the United States, logic dictates that distance learning, or Internetbased training, will become a vital part of developing the technical work force of the future. Although most would agree that Internetbased training is no substitute for a good instructor in a classroom, the convenience and cost savings of the new method make it impossible to ignore.
Digital Government
Legislators seek to restrict use of Social Security numbers
Lawmakers are concerned that easy access to identification codes is contributing to the increase in identity theft
People
Intercepts
My mobile receiving station parked outside the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Md., reports that a woman will be leading the first effort to roll out the Navy/Marine Corps Intranet.
Digital Government
HP, NetSchools join in laptop deal
Companies will work together to make durable laptops a tool for students and teachers across the country
Acquisition
Let vendors profit
We should welcome higher vendor profits when the vendor has delivered excellent results.
People
Modern IRS on track
The Internal Revenue Service's modernization program is on track, with plans to phase in a master database that will enable the IRS to keep track of each contact the agency makes with taxpayers
People
FAA, Customs testing drug sniffer
Security officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Customs Service are testing a new document scanner that can detect minute traces of illicit narcotics on airline passenger boarding passes.
People
E-government watch
This is a roundup of news and commentary from conferences and speeches around Washington, D.C., last week.
People
Learning tech skills from scratch
To carry out the mission of Census 2000, the government had to raise and train a small army.
Digital Government
The Circuit
The security problem that put former CIA Director John Deutch in hot water may soon be a thing of the past. Chief information officers at various agencies are looking into supplying Cabinet secretaries with secure systems in their homes so that they can work on classified documents in the comfort of their own living rooms.
People
The cost of modernization
Medicare could lose $140 million a year in interest if the Health Care Financing Administration reduces the number of days doctors must wait for payment for services.
People
U.S. defends crowded spectrum
The United States has successfully blocked mobile satellite communications companies from laying claim to part of the radio spectrum allocated to the Global Positioning System, but the government now faces a threat from a new communications technology.
People
Addition by subtraction
Working with Computer Sciences Corp., the IRS has developed a plan to phase in a master database, put even the most complicated forms online and make it easier for taxpayers to talk to the IRS.
People
Agencies tap Fed Learn's online training
The demand for technology-based education is so rampant that the Federal Technology Service launched a contractual services program to help agencies sort through the multitude of offerings.
People
E-learning gets easier
For agencies setting up Internetbased distancelearning systems, the market is brimming with choices
People
A tall order for FirstGov
Everyone is talking about e-government. That's puzzling because no one can say what e-government really is and so no one really knows what's being talked about.
People
Letters to the Editor
As an agency information technology manager, I am strongly in favor of an overall federal chief information officer.
People
DOT becomes courseware carrier
Federal users have less reason every day to build their own World Wide Webbased training sites.
Acquisition
Solving the procurement shell game
Goals for the Federal Acquisition Management Information System
Digital Government