Digital Government
Ten-year NARA plan could jeopardize preservation of government documents
The National Archives and Records Administration faces a long and difficult path to preserving the federal government's burgeoning computer records according to a 10year strategic plan published by the agency. According to the plan which was required by the Government Performance and Results Act i
Digital Government
Federal Bytes
New name same acronym GSA's Federal Telecommunications Service formally announced this month it is now the Federal Technology Service and will focus on providing a full range of technology solutions. On hand at the official ceremony commemorating the event were all the top FTS officials GSA's own r
Digital Government
SMC chief oversees upgrades
LONG BRANCH N.J. If there is anyone in the Army who deserves the moniker 'Mr. Infrastructure ' it would be Col. Dean Ertwine commander of the new Systems Management Center (SMC) here. The service has consolidated all its information infrastructure programs under Ertwine who also is slotted to rec
Digital Government
GSA pares required services in amended FTS 2001 RFP
The General Services Administration plans to amend the solicitation for the FTS 2001 longdistance network to classify as 'optional' 10 of the 19 network services previously specified as 'mandatory' for bidders. Bob Woods commissioner of GSA's Federal Technology Service said the 10 optional service
Digital Government
Virus infects communications with Mir
A month after the crew of the space station Mir was plagued by its computer shutting down three times in 15 days NASA last week found itself in a battle on the ground with a computer virus that spread from Houston to Moscow to infect workstations that are used for daily communications with the Mir
Digital Government
Education halts $1 billion direct-loan program
Facing less demand than expected for its direct collegelending program the Education Department has pulled the plug on an estimated $1 billion fiveyear project to service student loans. Education awarded the Federal Direct Student Loan Program (FDSLP) in September 1996 to Electronic Data Systems
Digital Government
Procurement reform: A learning curve
The General Accounting Office's recent decision to uphold a protest against certain awards under the Transportation Department's $1.3 billion Information Technology Omnibus Procurement reminds us that procurement reform requires more than just new laws. The decision which concluded that some task o
Digital Government
ICEMAN-like contracts leave vendors out in the cold
Competition is as American as apple pie. In the information technology industry, competition has rewritten the rules of engagement for packaged software, desktop systems and much more. It has cut product prices and has caused hardware and software performance to improve dramatically. Intense compet
Digital Government
Intercepts
* Bandwidth luxury tax. That's what Lt. Gen. Douglas Buchholz the J6 plans as a way to relieve the strain on Defense networks that just can't seem to keep up with the demand of highbandwidth applications. Buchholz speaking at last week's AFCEA Washington D.C.chapter lunch said he wants to "deap
Digital Government
DOD launches next logistics system
The Defense Logistics Agency is taking an unconventional approach in a contract to improve the logistics support provided to the military services' maintenance centers. From the beginning DLA's procurement tactics on its Virtual Prime Vendor (VPV) solicitation have departed from the traditional. Wh
Digital Government
Missouri Schools Activate EC 'Buy Board'
Missouri Schools Activate EC 'Buy Board'
Digital Government
Congress passes legislation that benefits feds
The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 contains a number of provisions specific to federal employees. What follows is a summary of its major legislative provisions, federalspecific and nonfederalspecific. Retirement Benefits Under the Taxpayer Relief Act, there will be a fiveyear, .5 percent increase i
Digital Government
GAO: DOD system puts soldiers at risk
The Defense Department computer system that helps supply Army troops with everything from M16s to beans is far behind in fixing its computers to be Year 2000compliant which could cause 'injury or death ' according to the General Accounting Office. The Logistics Systems Support Center (LSSC) is no
Digital Government
Final revision to streamline, open up communications
A year after it was first proposed federal policymakers have issued their final revisions to Part 15 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation the rules that govern large negotiated procurements. The new regulations which become mandatory on Jan. 1 are designed to encourage more open communications be
Digital Government
Returning to Harvard: Rip Van Winkle and information tech
If you stare at your watch it's hard to see it moving but if you don't look at it for an hour it's easy to see how it has changed since you last looked. The same applies if you've been away from an organization for a long time. Gradual shifts that might not be noticed by the person around the insti
Digital Government
Federal Bytes
Manual writers report to the ER Medical researchers know plenty about managing the inputs and outputs of the human body but computers the researchers reminded us recently are different animals entirely. At a meeting last week held at the National Institutes of Health to discuss new systems for mana
Digital Government
NEC regroups, focuses on notebooks
NEC Computer Systems Division is completing a reorganization of its government operations and is emphasizing notebook technology in a renewed federal marketing push. NEC Computer Systems Division a business unit of Packard Bell NEC Inc. is absorbing what had been the government business of Zenith D
Digital Government
Group drafts smart card plan
An interagency task force working on a federal policy for smart cards published last month a draft plan to deploy the cards governmentwide during the next four years. The Electronic Processing Initiatives Committee (EPIC) part of the President's Management Council of senior federal government execu
Digital Government
Cisco nabs secret NSA switch pact
Cisco Systems Inc. last month won a key network infrastructure contract with the secretive National Security Agency blowing away a field of competitors with prices at least 50 percent below the nearest bid. The contract dubbed "Light Core" by NSA calls for Cisco to install "literally thousands o
Digital Government