Digital Government
Road to FY '98 paved with progress
As vendors collect lastminute orders from agencies and fiscal 1997 draws to a close it is hard to miss how much things have changed in the last year. In truth this fiscal year ends very much like it began: with the award of contract buying vehicles to many companies. The National Institutes of Hea
Digital Government
ACS adds MIPS to CDSI's business
Computer Data Systems Inc.'s pending merger with Affiliated Computer Services Inc. would dramatically increase the data center resources that the Rockville Md. company could bring to bear in the federal market. CDSI last Sunday announced that it agreed to be acquired by ACS a Dallas company engaged
Digital Government
Effects of new legislation vary from agency to agency
We now have a year's experience with the Information Technology Management Reform Act or as it more commonly known the ClingerCohen Act. It is time to take a brief look at how the agencies are carrying out the new law. One thing you quickly discover is that agencies were positioned very differentl
Digital Government
GAO offers draft language for IT management guide
Before agencies can measure how well their information systems perform they should know what their goals are for the programs these systems support and be able to manage their internal information technology operations well according to a draft IT management guide that the General Accounting Office
Digital Government
Feds tackle telecom date problems
Federal executives have begun to address an aspect of the Year 2000 problem that has not attracted much publicity but is just as threatening and even more complicated than some of the problems associated with computers: how to fix telecommunications equipment to make certain it operates correctly o
Digital Government
Controllers: Design flaws plague STARS
A critical $1 billion air traffic control program that is already under intense congressional scrutiny needs a design overhaul to address potential safety hazards according to air traffic controllers. Under the Federal Aviation Administration's Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System contra
Digital Government
LAN switching prices drop
As highspeed localarea network switching technology continues to pour into the market the price per port of existing products continues to fall most markedly at the lower end of the spectrum. The price of LAN switching gear increasingly viewed in the federal sector as an alternative to traditiona
Digital Government
Aldmyr pitches travel package to fed agencies
Government travelers frustrated by the administrative lead time often associated with booking flights might find relief through a new version of a travelplanning software package aimed exclusively at the federal sector. Aldmyr Systems Inc. Lanham Md. recently released Version 4.0 of PerDiemAzing w
Digital Government
Intercepts
* Disappearing data centers. After enough studies to sink a ship the Pentagon has finally decided to slash the number of DISA data centers from 16 down to five according to Tony Valletta the acting ASD/C3I. Valletta who spoke at a Crystal City Va. IT confab sponsored by the American Defense Prepare
Digital Government
Set-Asides
FACNET not be all end all The Federal Acquisition Computer Network (FACNET) the mandated governmentwide systems architecture for conducting business electronically is only appropriate for certain contracts according to a General Accounting Office report released this month. For example FACNET is no
Digital Government
Hughes completes key test of EOSDIS
Hughes Information Technology Systems last month successfully demonstrated for the first time the functions of a massive NASA database and archival system that ranks as the largest civilian information system ever built. The test of NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS)
Digital Government
OPM rethinks strategy for retirement system
After abandoning a nearly decadeold effort to develop a computer system to manage the federal government's retirement systems the Office of Personnel Management last month completed a review of what services a revamped system should support. OPM undertook the review this past spring months after i
Digital Government
Federal Bytes
An idea man Wondering what sort of a manager Dennis Fischer the incoming FTS honcho will be? Is he an innovator open to new ideas? Does he appreciate the diversity of agencies' needs and the challenges of deploying new technologies? A presentation Fischer gave at the recent CardTech/SecureTech smar
Digital Government
Industry Watch
Unisys names Weinbach chairman Unisys Corp.'s board of directors last week elected Lawrence A. Weinbach as chairman president and chief executive officer. Weinbach former managing partner of Andersen Worldwide succeeds James A. Unruh who announced his intention to step down earlier this year. Weinb
Digital Government
Nonprofits get one-stop shop for federal info
Vice President Al Gore this month unveiled the U.S. NonProfit Gateway Web network which is the administration's latest Internet project to deliver federal information to citizens. With a few minor exceptions the NonProfit Gateway is a wellorganized guide to the sometimesburiedbutalmostalwaysv
Digital Government
Insurance group to help feds weather budget cuts
In response to congressional budget cuts for agencies conducting environmental research the insurance industry has invested in information technology so that the National Hurricane Center can continue to research violent storms. The industry last month formed the nonprofit Insurance Friends of the
Digital Government
PC-management tools take aim at cost of ownership
PC prices have been dropping during the last several years but not the burdensome cost of PC administration. That situation is changing however with industry vendors now offering a slew of software packages designed to ease what is now popularly known as the 'total cost of ownership.' Total cost of
Digital Government
DISA plans FedCenter expansion
FedCenter the commercial electronic mall and acquisition site on the World Wide Web that is open to government agencies will get a $15 million facelift that should make it one of the most used electronic commerce Internet sites according to its developers. Digital Commerce Corp. which launched FedC
Digital Government