Digital Government
Customs improves system to track drug smugglers
During the next six months, the Customs Service plans to complete a threeyear, $17 million upgrade to the computers it uses to track airplanes flown by suspected drug smugglers, creating what the agency claims is the most modern air surveillance system in the country. The Domestic Air Interdiction
Digital Government
A new angle on network management
A new class of network monitoring tools based on the World Wide Web has given administrators a window into the health of their networks. Having a browserbased interface makes network device management easier because it enables network managers to log onto a system from anywhere on the network and
Digital Government
Tune Up Your Site With Web Server Monitoring
As World Wide Web sites have become more mission critical, Web servers have grown increasingly powerful, with such advanced capabilities as clustering and loadbalancing. Nevertheless, most of the best Web server packages lack a critical feature: selfawareness. Where are the bottlenecks that are s
Digital Government
Bill targets logistics outsourcing
The House has hogtied the Army's $1 billion program to modernize its logistics operations, with obscure language tucked into its version of the fiscal 1999 Defense authorization bill. The story of the Wholesale Logistics Modernization Program (WLMP) highlights the political battle that sets those w
Digital Government
Feds mount telemed expedition on Everest
When veteran mountain climber Rob Hall and seven others realized they were about to perish in a fierce snowstorm on the south summit of Mount Everest in 1996, their last hope was a satellite phone that Hall had carried with him during their ascent. Although it allowed Hall to say his last goodbye t
Digital Government
California East
On its own, Northern Virginia has become a national technology center for communications and commerce, with some 1,800 companies specializing in Internet services, electronic commerce, software development, telecommunications and systems integration.
People
Companies Trim Sails for E-Rate Trade
Ingram Micro Inc., a giant computer distributor, has set up a special program to funnel sales leads, bid support and product discounts related to the federal government's $2 billion ERate program to its education resellers.
Digital Government
BLM moves land records to Web
The Bureau of Land Management went online last month with a World Wide Web site of land records that individuals researching family history can use to find information on their ancestors. The public can access BLM's 'land patents,' which record the transfer of land from the federal government to pr
Digital Government
INS plans to award two more pacts for records management
The Immigration and Naturalization Service this week plans to award two contracts as part of a $170 million project to better manage the agency's millions of records, with the possibility of developing automated workflow and imaging capabilities. The two awards one to Ahtna Development Corp., Anc
Digital Government
Remote Windows NT, 95 features flawed
A Minneapolis firm has discovered multiple flaws in Microsoft Corp.'s use of an Internet Protocol that could lead to security breaches for remote access and virtual private network (VPN) users of Microsoft's Windows NT and Windows 95. The flaws could allow a hacker to access passwords and private i
Digital Government
New Y2K Supplier Audit Services
ILM Corp. is offering custom Year 2000 supplier audit services to agencies looking to accurately gauge their suppliers' readiness for the millennium.
Digital Government
DOD launches high-tech command post project
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) last week kicked off a fouryear, $20 million project to develop interactive decisionsupport information technologies that military commanders will use in future wars. The socalled Command Post of the Future initiative will transform today's c
Digital Government
Active Software expands integration offering
Active Software Inc., which is part of the emerging enterprise application integration market, announced last week 23 new 'adapters' that allow organizations to integrate information from various applications and other data sources. The adapters are readymade system interfaces that run as part of
Digital Government
Making the case for performance-based service contracting
The same day back in 1994 when President Clinton signed the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act, senior agency officials gathered in a meeting room nearby to sign a pledge for a pilot program on performancebased service contracting (PBSC). Almost four years later, the results are in: PBSC is a wi
Digital Government
Sterling Software acquires DOD-centric services firm
Sterling Software Inc. today announced plans to buy Mystech Associates Inc. in a $25 million stock deal that will give the Dallasbased company a stronger position in the command and control and simulation markets.
Digital Government
Intellisource, RMS merge operations
Intellisource Inc. and RMS Information Services Inc. announced today that they will merge their operations into a new services integrator concern under the name The Intellisource Group.
Digital Government
Can Congress direct who wins a contract?
A corporate official asked the following question: Agencies frequently base their requests for appropriations to Congress on particular contractors' products and services. Often committee reports, which accompany the appropriations, also identify specific companies. Can an agency rely on these repo
Digital Government
Future of procurement reform looks to past performance
When reading a recent issue of FCW I was struck by three articles that dramatically illustrate the revolution in the government/vendor relationship over the past few years. The first was a frontpage story headlined 'Raytheon backs off plan to sell AF IDIQ contracts.' Raytheon, the new owner of Hug
Digital Government
FERS not a better deal than CSRS
Recent preliminary guidance from the Office of Personnel Management urges federal employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) to decide whether to switch to 'the more flexible' Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). I am not certain I agree with OPM's characterization of FE
Digital Government