Digital Government
Records management goes commercial
ANAHEIM, Calif. Seven months after a federal judge spurred agencies to start accounting for their electronic records, records management solutions are hitting the software mainstream. Here at the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) '98 trade show last week, vendors began showc
Digital Government
Waivers are no cure for bad agency rules
As part of his initiative to reinvent government, President Clinton has directed federal agencies to establish methods to streamline the granting of waivers, allowing personnel to sidestep internal agency rules. This process appears to treat the symptoms of government inefficiency rather than the i
Digital Government
DOD must step up to fix IT links
Many agencies fail to create seamless links between computer systems that reside in different offices, divisions and bureaus. The lack of interoperability may be a nuisance or, at worst, slow down work, but never has incompatibility endangered lives. However, a General Accounting Office report has
Digital Government
GSA, vendors near legal battle over universal service fees
The General Services Administration appears headed for a legal confrontation with AT&T and Sprint over $6.6 million that the companies have charged users of the FTS 2000 contract to fund the Clinton administration's universal service plan. AT&T and Sprint have been charging agencies a 4.9 percent u
Digital Government
Intercepts
IT21 sticker shock. The estimated cost of upgrading a Navy Carrier Battle Group and Amphibious Ready Group has jumped from roughly $50 million to between $80 million and $100 million and that covers only the major ships, according to Monica Shepherd, Atlantic Fleet N6. Shepherd said the Navy f
Digital Government
Bell Atlantic gets jump on Pentagon overhaul
While the Defense Department evaluates finals bids on the longawaited contract to provide the aboveground communications infrastructure for the Pentagon renovation project, Bell Atlantic Federal Systems has been working for months on the new infrastructure in the basement and mezzanine levels of
Digital Government
NSA concerns could hamper DOD Y2K fix
The National Security Agency has slapped a security blanket on the Pentagon's efforts to fix the Year 2000 millennium bug, which could further slow the Defense Department's alreadybehindschedule Year 2000 fixes. NSA has determined that all information detailing DOD's computers and its efforts to
Digital Government
Feds should give outsourcing and privatization a real chance
A largescale outsourcing and privatization (O&P) effort set to begin at the Defense Department could result in the most dramatic change in the federal marketplace in decades. Skepticism abounds, but if government creates the right conditions, the DOD effort could mark the first successful O&P effo
Digital Government
Gelco bolsters travel management
Still fresh from winning a major role in the Defense Department's Defense Travel System project, Gelco Information Network last week began shipping a new version of its travel management software, which includes support for Oracle Corp. databases. Gelco Travel Manager 7.1 is the latest version of t
Digital Government
New products make images and info more manageable
ANAHEIM, Calif. Vendors at the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) '98 trade show last week introduced a slew of products covering every aspect of information management, from document capture and workflow solutions to handwriting recognition software. The following is a round
Digital Government
Apple grows PowerBook from G3
Apple Computer Inc. recently introduced a new PowerBook portable computer aimed at mobile professionals and discussed the shifting road map for its Macintosh operating system. The new PowerBook released this month is totally redesigned around the G3 processor and includes features that are designed
Digital Government
Intergovernmental Open System Awards Announced
Intergovernmental Open System Awards Announced
Digital Government
Bugged by Year 2000 talk? Dig the Panama Canal site
All the hullabaloo about the Year 2000 date problem has obscured other major occurrences around Dec. 31, 1999 one of which is the ownership and management rollover of the Panama Canal. For a primer on the 'Path Between the Seas,' check out the Panama Canal Commission's World Wide Web site at www.
Digital Government
DMS gaps force DOD to keep Autodin
A Defense Department official last week confirmed that a large portion of the aging Autodin messaging system will remain in operation as late as 2004 to handle highpriority communications for civilian and military organizations responsible for nuclear weapons and topsecret intelligence informatio
Digital Government
GAO: Aging ATC system at risk
The Federal Aviation Administration's critical but antiquated air traffic control system could threaten air traffic because it has failed many times, and fixing the system will be challenging, according to the General Accounting Office. Air traffic controllers use the socalled host computer system
Digital Government
Industry Watch
Anteon acquires Techmatics Anteon Corp., a Fairfax, Va.based engineering and services company, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Techmatics Inc., another services firm that is based in Fairfax and that works with federal and commercial customers, the two companies announced last week.
Digital Government
DOT, NIH partner for contract services
After competing headtohead with the National Institutes of Health's governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWACs) for two years, the Transportation Department plans to provide contract administration services for agencies that buy off those NIH contracts. The two agencies plan to sign the agreemen
Digital Government
Fedwire
Fedwire Litton wins pact for Smart Ship systems The Navy awarded last week a $138.6 million contract to Litton Integrated Systems Corp. to build two Smart Ship systems aboard the CG 47 class of Aegis cruisers. The Engineering Control System Equipment and Integrated Bridge Systems allow Navy personn
Digital Government
HUD opens high-tech storefront
Department of Housing and Urban Development officials this month opened the first of several hightech 'storefront' offices that the public can use to explore housing options and issues. The new office, a former drug store located a few blocks from Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., includes an outd
Digital Government