Digital Government
Agencies reap benefits of `new' GSA sked program
'N avy awards BPAs for shipboard tech ' 'Army opts for BPAs to buy software peripherals chips ' 'Treasury picks 7 for database net BPAs.' These headlines or ones very much like them appear weekly in IFederal Computer Week/I Across the board federal buyers are discovering that purchasing from the Ge
Digital Government
Titan's ICE may solve compression problems
A picture often equals or betters hundreds if not thousands of words but not if you try to stuff a large photo file down a thin communications pipe. Military communicators have tried to solve this problem with compression schemes that shrunk the picture but also reduced the sharpness needed when tr
Digital Government
Industry Watch
Gateway announces workstation Gateway 2000 Inc. last week announced a workstationclass product running Intel Corp.'s Pentium II chip. The workstations will become the high end of Gateway's E Series line of PCs. The products are slated for availability in the calendar fourth quarter. Gateway's E Se
Digital Government
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Move to ATM catches on I read with interest the article 'ATM: Civilian, Defense agencies start network installations' [FCW, July 28]. I work for the Directorate of Information Management at Fort Detrick, Md. We have recently upgraded our campus network to an ATM backbone, and we have switched 25 me
Digital Government
GAO report urges hands-off approach to fed retirement formula
For years attempts have been made to tinker with the calculation of federal retirement benefits. A new report from the General Accounting Office illustrates that such attempts could have an adverse effect on the federal budget. Currently the government calculates a federal employee's 'average earni
Digital Government
Designers team via virtual reality net
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is developing a prototype network that will allow NASA designers and scientists scattered nationwide to collaborate in real time on spacecraft designs that will be used for future missions to Mars and other planets. The Integrated Spacecraft Design Environmen
Digital Government
Expansion of time-saving procurement reforms planned
The Commerce Department last week said a test of new acquisition procedures proved to dramatically shorten procurement times and the success has convinced officials to expand the program to other departmental agencies. The new procedures called Concept of Operations (CONOPS) shortened the procureme
Digital Government
Intergraph unveils Windows NT-based graphics machine
Intergraph Computer Systems one of the biggest proponents of 'Wintel' technical computing last week unveiled a Microsoft Corp. Windows NTbased 3D graphics workstation that targets visual simulation and other applications. The TDZ 2000 does not replace an existing Intergraph product but establishe
Digital Government
Report: DFAS Y2K problems could affect millions
Millions of active and retired military and civilian personnel contractors and other parties could face financial hardships if the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) does not fix its Year 2000 computer problems according to a report issued last week by the General Accounting Office. In a
Digital Government
Small-biz goals raised 3 percent
After an internal debate was leaked to Congress contractors and the media the Clinton administration has agreed that federal goals for contracting with small businesses should be increased. In a compromise reached last week among Small Business Administration head Aida Alvarez Office of Federal Pro
Digital Government
UPS strike snags resellers' IT deliveries
Just as the federal government was gearing up for the peak buying season the United Parcel Service (UPS) strike disrupted the flow of information technology products governmentwide and promises to cause more delivery problems if the work stoppage continues. The strike which involves 185 000 UPS emp
Digital Government
Federal Bytes
They're in our sights As part of its Customer Focus Week the General Services Administration's Federal Telecommunications Service issued lapel pins to employees in commemoration of the event. Unfortunately the pins bear an uncanny resemblance to a target one might use for archery. As part of the ev
Digital Government
House panel OKs updated security bill
The House Science Committee last week unanimously passed the Computer Security Enhancement Act which updates a decadeold federal computer security law and strengthens the role of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to promote the security and privacy of federal systems. The bill whi
Digital Government
Industry Watch
Compaq names channel partners Compaq Computer Corp. last week selected nine companies to participate in the PC vendor's Channel Configuration Program. Those companies are: CompuCom Systems Inc. Electronic Data Systems Corp. Entex Information Services Inc. GE Capital Information Technology Solutions
Digital Government
DOJ taps Bell Atlantic for new ATM service
Bell Atlantic Corp. last week said the Justice Department is the company's first federal customer to take advantage of its new tariffed Asynchronous Transfer Mode service. The Federal Communications Commission approved Bell Atlantic's ATM tariff in early June while DOJ was installing an ATM campusw
Digital Government
Is collaborating with vendors a conflict of interest?
A company official raised the following topic: Sometimes agencies ask companies for information on products and services that they or others may sell for use in connection with an impending procurement.
Digital Government
Set-Asides
Axing computer games costly Representatives from the information technology industry said a Senate proposal to remove all computer games from the desktops of federal employees potentially could violate the terms of the ClingerCohen Act which requires the government to purchase commercial offthes
Digital Government
Fedwire
NIH cancels supercomputer buy The National Institutes of Health last week canceled a $40 million procurement for highperformance workstations and supercomputers and instead will buy the equipment from existing contracts to save on acquisition costs. John Dickson chief of highperformance scientifi
Digital Government