Digital Government
FAA pact to cut flight times, costs
The Federal Aviation Administration last week decided to forge ahead with a software tool that should reduce the cost and duration of crosscountry flights, providing a key ingredient of the FAA's vision of air traffic management in the 21st century. The User Request Evaluation Tool (URET) will giv
Digital Government
Iowa Internet strategy earns award
Vice President Al Gore bestowed Iowa with the Hammer award for its IOWAccess Internet strategy, which gives state residents greater access to information services and provides connections to federal, state and local governments.
Digital Government
E-commerce group partners with DOD
Hara The nascent Federal Electronic Commerce Coalition last month announced that it has formalized a relationship with the Defense Department to help promote electronic business between industry and the government. The Federal EC Coalition, an alliance of 18 industry organizations, wa
Digital Government
Virginia to outsource management of computers
Virginia last week became the first state to adopt a plan to outsource the management of desktop computers at all levels of government.
Digital Government
Cracking Down on Identity Theft
It sounds like something dreamed up by a science fiction writer, but the practice of identity theftusing a person's driver's license or Social Security number to gain access to his or her credit accountshas become the country's fastestgrowing method of fraud.
Digital Government
Letters
R?#038; Amp;D centers offer fresh air I'm surprised you would put a blatant opinion piece by someone like Robert Elliott [on the OpEd page] of your publication ['R?#038; Amp;D centers growing too fat on federal dole,' FCW, Sept. 20]. He comes across as someone who has some unstated bone to pick. He gives no data to s
Digital Government
When cyberwar comes of age
New reports analyzing the Defense Department's efforts to conduct electronic warfare during military operations in Yugoslavia last spring give much cause for hope and some cause for concern about U.S. capabilities on this emerging front. Of course, DOD officials are not s
Digital Government
Schools As Information Businesses
As schools become increasingly wired to the outside world, they are busy testing the innumerable educational applications the new information infrastructure is bringing to the classroom. But school administrators would do well to heed the financial implications of the advancing classroom network. A
Digital Government
Federal Bytes
WHAT'S THIS THING CALLED SEAT MANAGEMENT? After all the buzz surrounding the General Services Administration's Seat Management program, it's disheartening to realize how many people still have no idea what the concept of seat management is all about. In fact, Chris Wren, who runs GSA's program, sai
Digital Government
A new reality
Visit soldiers at any Army infantry division outside Washington, D.C., and they will relate a universal complaint: The people who designed their gear and computer systems typically do not build equipment that can survive the rough terrain, choking dust and thundering vibrations of the battlefield.
Digital Government
Digital Signatures Key to Cross-Governmental Biz
The General Services Administration last month awarded the first in a series of contracts for publickey infrastructure services and products that states will be able to use in their dealings with the federal government.
Digital Government
DOE office reviews, tightens security
The Energy Department, which suffered some of the most damaging computer security breaches in government, has begun to tighten security through a newly established office, according to government auditors and DOE security experts.
Digital Government
...and Internet Access for All
In the Midwest, a large urban police department has set up an online hot line for people to report drug activity. But what if residents in the target neighborhoods don't own PCs? Well, they can go to the library. One Southern California city allows residents to apply for lowincome housing over th
Digital Government
FTS 2001 snafus irk agencies
About nine months after the General Services Administration awarded the final contract for the FTS 2001 telecommunications program, the highly anticipated transition to the nextgeneration longdistance network has been hampered by excessive bureaucracy, limited vendor staff and procrastination by
Digital Government
Breaking Down the Language Barrier
By default, the city's World Wide Web site comes up in the predominant language of the region, but with a click of an easytolocate button, viewers can switch to a version of the site in another language.
Digital Government
Identity Theft
They could have been anybody's grandparents: a sweet couple in their 70s happily enjoying their golden years. Instead, this retired Air Force officer and his wife spent at least part of 1999 sitting in front of the Maryland legislature, testifying about a crime so traumatic that they refused to pro
Digital Government
Army studying IT recruitment
The Army has kicked off a yearlong study to help determine how to better recruit and maintain its information technology work force, with an emphasis on how the service can use financial inducements to attract workers.
Digital Government
Going with the flow
Responding to the federal government's move toward a paperless environment, workflow automation vendors are moving to tap the need to manage and store the massive amount of electronic documents generated by agencies. As electronic documents increasingly supplant the paper forms that traditionally h
Digital Government
Changing Gears
Thanks to a comprehensive new accounting rule, state and local IT shops finishing up Year 2000 compliance work soon will find themselves faced with a fresh challenge as they help to implement a whole new approach to the process of governmental financial reporting.
Digital Government