Digital Government
Interior picks MCI for telecom
The Interior Department has signed MCI WorldCom as its provider of longdistance telecommunications service through the General Services Administration's recently awarded FTS 2001 contract. Jim Dolezal, chief of telecommunications systems at Interior, said he made his decision after meeting separat
Digital Government
VA switches network business to FTS 2001
The Department of Veterans Affairs has decided to use the General Services Administration's FTS 2001 network as the vehicle that will replace the department's nationwide data network contract which expires later this year.
Digital Government
White House shifts Y2K focus to states
Because most federal missioncritical systems are ready for the new millennium, the next governmentwide Year 2000 progress report, due out next month, will focus on federal interfaces with state systems, which reportedly are dangerously behind in Year 2000 fixes. A spokesman for the President's Cou
Digital Government
Census OKs Web filing test
Despite early security concerns, the Census Bureau last week confirmed that it will allow people to file census forms over the Internet during the next national head count, following a successful pilot this spring. Census said it plans to offer citizens who receive the standard census form the opti
Digital Government
NOAA finalizes nine BPAs
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration finalized nine blanket purchase agreements last week to provide an easy and quick way for Commerce Department agencies to buy a variety of information technology services.
Digital Government
White House: Paperwork bill may confuse
The White House this month expressed concern about a bill the House recently passed that would require federal agencies to accept electronic forms from individuals and businesses.
Digital Government
Roster Change
Ron Hack, former director of the Office of Systems and Telecommunications Management at the Commerce Department, was appointed administrator of telecommunications and computer operations at the Patent and Trademark Office. Also, Hack's term as chairman of the Interagency Management Council, a group
Digital Government
Round Two
In the Jan. 11 issue, FCW incorrectly identified Tektronix Inc.'s Phaser 740N printer, which is a color laser printer. Due to an editing error, an article in the Feb. 8 issue of FCW incorrectly described Linux as 'public domain' rather than open source software.
Digital Government
Air Force BPA strategy draws fire
The contracting strategy used by the Air Force's Standard Systems Group to procure replacement blanket purchase agreements for its information technology product and service contracts is drawing fire from vendors claiming that the Air Force is violating the intent of competitive contracting. SSG ha
Digital Government
Feds face reality with new rule
The government's efforts to enhance its image as an employer of choice is getting a boost from the General Services Administration. A draft policy being developed by GSA would allow federal employees to use fax machines, telephones and computers for personal use if doing so results in minimal expen
Digital Government
Letters to the Editor
DSL requirement overlooked I was very interested to read the article 'Digital signature technology begins to take off in government' [FCW, Feb. 8]. However, I believe that there is one issue that was overlooked and deserves attention. While reporter Heather Harreld alluded to legal liability...she
Digital Government
Sprint, Qwest contend for Treasury traffic
In the competition to provide a highspeed telecommunications backbone to the Treasury Department, observers say marketing and customer service rather than technology may determine which firm captures more business: newcomer Qwest Communications International Inc. or established Sprint. The compani
Digital Government
What is share in savings?
Several government and industry representatives recently raised the following questions: What are shareinsavings contracts? What rules apply to them? This is another topic that shows how difficult it can be to discuss complex issues in general terms. Everyone seems to be in favor of shareinsavi
Digital Government
VBA taps two for training support
The Veterans Benefits Administration has awarded blanket purchase agreements to Computer Sciences Corp. and Interactive Media Corp. to support its information technologybased training programs, a Department of Veterans Affairs official said this week.
Digital Government
PeopleSoft, SAP approved for financial sked
Two major players in the enterprise business application arena are now offering their financials packages through the General Services Administration's mandatory Financial Management System Software schedule. GSA added the products from PeopleSoft Inc. and SAP America Public Sector Inc. to the Fede
Digital Government
Milking CIO role for success
Growing up on a dairy farm in the Midwest taught Roger Baker, the chief information officer at the Commerce Department, a thing or two about hard work. 'When you wake up at four in the morning and it's January and it's 20 below zero outside and you're going to be working for the next four hours bef
Digital Government
SBA issues draft rules to curb bundling
The Small Business Administration has proposed regulations to slow agencies' practice of combining small, individual contracts into one large contract, a increasingly common strategy in the postprocurement reform era of large government contracts. SBA announced last month that it wants to add its
Digital Government
IRS, CSC taking care to avoid past mistakes
The Internal Revenue Service and Computer Sciences Corp. are expected to unveil details next month on how they will manage a 15year modernization effort to replace the IRS' obsolete computer systems. Top managers from the IRS and CSC recently met for a fiveday, gettingtoknowyou planning sessio
Digital Government
Library puts history online
The Library of Congress' National Digital Library last week received a $3.5 million donation from the AT?#038; Amp;T Foundation to put two historical collections online. AT?#038; Amp;T's gift, which is the largest corporate donation to the NDL program, will support the digitization of documents belonging to Alexander
Digital Government