Digital Government
GAO wants USDA to finish Y2K contingency plans sooner
The General Accounting Office has pushed the Agriculture Department to cut its deadline for completing and testing its Year 2000 business continuity and contingency plans by three months.
Digital Government
House urges upgrade
The inspector general of the House of Representatives last month released a report that concludes that upgrading computer systems that track information on lobbying activity and congressional members' financial holdings would help eliminate security risks and human error, but advocacy groups said t
Digital Government
Census seeks more IT funds for 2000 head count
Legally blocked from using sampling in the 2000 census to apportion congressional seats, the Census Bureau last week asked Congress for an increase of millions of dollars to beef up information technology programs it plans to use to support the national head count. The increase, which is part of a
Digital Government
Announcing Daily Departures
Like most of you, we at civic.com are working to take advantage of the speed, versatility and popularity of the World Wide Web to improve the services we provide. Of course, we also must keep a foot in the print medium, in which most of our business still is conducted. Most of you probably are plan
Digital Government
OMB orders feds to post privacy notice
The Office of Management and Budget last week directed agencies and departments to post clear privacy policies on the home pages of their World Wide Web sites by Sept. 1. The policies must inform visitors to federal Web sites what information the agency collects, why it is collected and how the age
Digital Government
Market emerges for piecemeal 'seat' services
As federal agencies turn to seat management to get control of their expanding desktop computing environments, they must navigate a dizzying array of federal contract vehicles and pricing options to determine which best suits their needs. The federal outsourcing market took shape last year with the
Digital Government
WordPerfect Office 2000: Powerful, easy to use
The justreleased Corel WordPerfect Office 2000 is not likely to lure many users away from marketleading Microsoft Office.
Digital Government
Moving Beyond 'Low-Bid' Wins
Recognizing a need to move beyond traditional 'lowbid' procurement in its information technology buys, North Carolina has moved to a 'bestvalue' approach to IT acquisition. The shift represents more than just a change in thinking; it also recognizes the particular hazards of acquiring electronic
Digital Government
What If It Doesn't Work?
So what do you do when you're in the fourth year of your Year 2000 remediation program? What else can you tackle after you've spent more than $40 million to fix 292 systems for the county government? What's left to recommend after preaching that the Year 2000 date change is not a technical problem
Digital Government
EPA site makes smog data clearly accessible
Summer may be the season for sunshine and sandals, but it's also the season for smog. If you want to know more about this form of air pollution that creates haze and makes it hard to breathe, you can find a wealth of information on the Environmental Protection Agency's AirNow World Wide Web site (w
Digital Government
IRS inks electronic software delivery deal
In one of the largest deals of its kind by a civilian agency, the Internal Revenue Service last week signed a $120 million deal for the electronic delivery and upgrade of Microsoft Corp. software across 130,000 desktops nationwide. The IRS signed the blanket purchase agreement with ITC (formerly In
Digital Government
NASA employs 3-D images in collaborative clinic
Scientists at two NASA centers and four medical facilities last month demonstrated the possibilities of collaborative medicine, using the Internet to enable doctors and scientists at different sites to view 3D medical images simultaneously. Unlike traditional telemedicine, in which two parties pas
Digital Government
House panel boosts military IT funding
The House Armed Services Committee last month beefed up funding for key military information technology projects and information security programs, and it passed language that could derail the Army's outsourcing plans for a large program designed to modernize its logistics systems. In its fiscal 20
Digital Government
House bill lets FAA use tax money for new IT
A House committee last month passed a reauthorization bill that would allow the Federal Aviation Administration to use money collected from taxes on passenger tickets and other sources to pay for modernization programs. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee sent to the full House fo
Digital Government
Graphics Powerhouses
Last year, most socalled Windows NT workstations were little more than soupedup PCs. They just couldn't hold a candle to Unixclass machines. But what a difference a year makes. Today's NT workstations are screaming graphics performers, running applications created especially to take advantage of
Digital Government
Remote-comm vendor enters fed market
Anyware Technology Inc. has begun an initiative to bring its secure remotecommunications technology to the federal market, creating a federal business unit and addressing federal standards. Anyware's flagship product, EverLink Suite, is designed to allow users working remotely to transmit Microsof
Digital Government
Street-Smart Tech
In city work, having as much information as possible on the history of criminal activity at a particular address could be a matter of life and death, especially for police officers, building inspectors and other city workers whose jobs involve entering properties uncertain about the risks inside. T
Digital Government
Cisco debuts stackable workgroup switches
Cisco Systems Inc. late last month unveiled its first family of stackable 10/100 Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet switches, which are designed to ease the management of complex workgroup networks. The new Catalyst 3500 Series XL switches support new Cisco software that allows network managers to manag
Digital Government
Digital Budget Wars
Should Santa Monica, Calif., build a new skateboard park? Or should money be spent on better policing for Main Street and the Ocean Park neighborhood? Rick, Jim and Marilyn think the skateboarders should get the nod. Michael wishes the city would just clean up the neighborhood. And Derek thinks San
Digital Government