Digital Government
Document management vendor officially enters federal market
Documentum Inc., a leading vendor of software for managing large repositories of electronic documents, formally entered the federal market last week. Based in Pleasanton, Calif., Documentum's offerings include the Enterprise Document Management System, which is designed to allow organizations to ma
Digital Government
GAO report sheds little light on costs of pension system switch
The General Accounting Office recently analyzed the potential cost to the government of an open season during which federal employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System could switch to the Federal Employees Retirement System. As usual, its analysis was less than impressive. In fact, the
Digital Government
Six vendors compete for charge card business
Six companies that won the right to issue charge cards to federal employees say the contracts provide an opportunity to test innovative services in the government sector that are likely to cross into the commercial charge card market, including smart cards and electronic commerce applications. The
Digital Government
Set-Asides
Group to fight Clinton policy A group of technology companies and privacy advocates will announce this week the formation of a coalition that plans to launch a media and advertising campaign to fight the Clinton administration's encryption policy. Americans for Computer Privacy plans to run a media
Digital Government
Federal Bytes
Dogged marketing Dennis Fischer, commissioner of the General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service, is fond of telling vendors that he would like them to become partners with GSA in marketing their services to agencies. In a speech last week, Fischer likened this arrangement to a par
Digital Government
CDC contract to expand its HIV/AIDS database
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month tapped Analytical Sciences Inc. (ASI) to establish a national database to distribute timely information about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV, to medical facilities nationwide. CDC awarded ASI a fiveyear, $33 million con
Digital Government
Report: NWS' key modernization project to cost hundreds of millions more
The National Weather Service's Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System may cost millions more than what was anticipated a couple years ago, according to a report that was discussed at a House hearing today.
Digital Government
NIH, Friendship Computer settle ECS II complaint
The National Institutes of Health gave Friendship Computer, Rockville, Md., a contract with its $2 billion Electronic Computer Store II program March 9, settling a protest against the agency in which the company charged it had been evaluated unfairly.
Digital Government
Report slams DOD's Y2K efforts
Describing the Pentagon's Year 2000 problems as a national security risk, a Defense Science Board (DSB) task force recommended the Defense Department appoint a fulltime executive with 'requisite authority and staff' to oversee DOD's Year 2000 fix, according to an interim report obtained by Federal
Digital Government
NASA teleconferencing system to hasten spacecraft design
NASA has chosen a small arsenal of commercial products to create a new agencywide teleconferencing system that should help the agency design spacecraft more quickly and inexpensively. The system a loose configuration of more than a dozen hardware and software products will offer an alternative
Digital Government
Intercepts
* Byebye base comm. The Navy plans to outsource the operation of 100 base communications offices as part of an overall plan to slash $2.5 billion from its budget by turning over nonessential functions to outside providers. Chuck Trigger, assistant chief of staff for the Naval Computer and Telecomm
Digital Government
Labor added to critical list in latest Year 2000 report
The Office of Management and Budget has added the Labor Department to its most critical list of agencies that are showing insufficient progress in Year 2000 computer conversion efforts, according to OMB's latest Year 2000 quarterly report, obtained by Federal Computer Week.
Digital Government
Reno unveils center to protect infrastructure
Attorney General Janet Reno last week announced an interagency effort to track and analyze electronic threats to the nation's critical infrastructure, such as the private computer systems used to manage the financial, electrical and transportation industries.
Digital Government
NARA releases interim records-management policy
With a critical court ruling still under review, the National Archives and Records Administration yesterday issued interim guidelines for how agencies should preserve electronic records.
Digital Government
Bid protests reappear, but decisions should not cause alarm
After a brief hiatus, bid protests are back in the news. Two years ago, the bid protest jurisdiction of the General Services Administration's Board of Contract Appeals disappeared. Like East Germans with regard to the Berlin Wall, one strains to remember that the GSBCA, once such a towering presenc
Digital Government
OAO builds management solution
As part of a massive desktop and outsourcing project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), OAO Corp. has designed a remote monitoring infrastructure built around management products provided by Boole & Babbage Inc. One of the first federal desktop outsourcing projects, JPL's $200 million Deskt
Digital Government
Industry Watch
Report on fed IT vendors to be published FCW Media Group this month will release the results of its thirdannual survey on the competitiveness and past performance of 83 top product and services vendors. The overall competitiveness leader this year is again HewlettPackard Co., foll
Digital Government
Thousands of federal computers attacked
Tens of thousands of federal government machines fell victim to a nationwide denialofservice attack earlier this week on Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows NT computers, according to a government emergency response team member.
Digital Government
CIOs' blueprint makes Year 2000 top priority
Tackling the Year 2000 conversion problem tops the list of priorities for the council of chief information officers, according to a report the CIO Council recently released. In the report, which also lists technology investment and interoperability as important issues agencies should focus on in th
Digital Government