Digital Government
Nuts-and-bolts FAA site provides wealth of data
Despite the increased use of tools and technologies to add superficial glitz and pizazz to federal Web sites the public still pounces on those providing timely relevant or valuable information. Take a look at the Federal Aviation Administration's Aviation Safety Data site which opened for business
Digital Government
Taking the bullets out of reform
Only months after the enactment of major procurement reform legislation participants have begun likening the federal contracting arena to the Wild West a time when law was often unwritten or created by the powerful. Indeed the rules have changed dramatically. Agencies now have many choices when i
Digital Government
Intercepts
Gauss far from gone. The DISA GCCS and GCSS czar Rear Adm. John Gauss finds rumors of his imminent departure laughable. To those who believe or wish he would retire Gauss pointed out that he has not yet spent three years in grade as an 07 and he plans to hang around at least long enough for th
Digital Government
Court upholds demotion for no-show employee
A recent ruling from the Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a U.S. Postal Service decision to demote an employee charged with unsatisfactory attendance. The employee Roger T. Williams had been absent without leave for 40 hours over a threeweek period in March and April of 1995. An administrative law
Digital Government
OMB will issue Year 2000 cost updates
The Office of Management and Budget last week announced it will issue quarterly updates on the federal government's cost of fixing the Year 2000 problem as well as on the agencies' progress in fixing systems. Sally Katzen administrator of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs said at a
Digital Government
GSA defends Post-FTS 2000 revisions
Members of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee last week challenged the General Services Administration's decision to amend its acquisition strategy for the $5 billion FTS 2000 followon program and questioned why the agency discarded the widely supported previous strategy. Many mem
Digital Government
MAGIC switch from Motorola could yield public safety network
The Customs Service is working on developing an integrated radio communications network that would allow federal state and local law enforcement officials to communicate easily with one another.The project called MultiAgency Government Interoperable Communications (MAGIC) would allow Customs to co
Digital Government
GSA seeks backup systems
The General Services Administration last week kicked off a disaster recovery procurement that will succeed a $50 million contract awarded to Comdisco Inc. in 1993 but with a greatly expanded scope. The Federal Systems Integration and Management Center's Computer and Communications Recovery Services
Digital Government
AWARDS
General Sciences Corp. A $9.1 million award to provide software support for the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System. National Weather Service Washington D.C. Odetics Inc. A $612 062 award for maintenance services. U.S. Army TankAutomotive and Armaments Command Acquisition Center (AMSTA
Digital Government
Hughes upgrades PTO pact
Hughes Data Systems last week said its has upgraded its $172 million Patent and Trademark Office desktop contract to include 180 MHz Pentium Pro machines. The contract was awarded to Hughes last August but was delayed by two protests that recently were dismissed by the General Accounting Office. Ne
Digital Government
Cabletron, Bay Networks unveil new switches
Cabletron Systems Inc. and Bay Networks Inc. earlier this month introduced new switches with Cabletron unveiling workgroup and wiring closet Ethernet switches and Bay introducing a routing switch. Cabletron's SmartSwitch 6000 the company's new wiring closet switch supports up to 120 Ethernet ports
Digital Government
Federal Bytes
For the record Just how much money did the Internal Revenue Service waste on Tax Systems Modernization?For months the agency has asserted that the amount is not nearly as much as the $4 billion that critics claim and that much of the money already spent on the program will result in useful systems
Digital Government
Senators eye USDA reforms
The Senate last week asked the Agriculture Department for assurances that its efforts to evaluate and control the agency's troubled informationtechnology investments are on track. Sen. Richard Lugar (RInd.) chairman of the Committee on Agriculture Nutrition and Forestry said at a hearing that he
Digital Government
Services lure agencies
Interest in the General Services Administration's Schedule B/C integration program has exploded in recent months with an array of vendors queuing up to offer services and government buyers tapping the schedule for projects large and small. Since opening Schedule B/C to services early last year GSA
Digital Government
NASA adopts firewall plan
Battered by hacker attacks on its home page NASA will move all its publicaccess servers outside of an agencywide firewall designed to protect sensitive internal networks. When the new security architecture is in place NASA employees no longer will have open access to the World Wide Web they will b
Digital Government
Budget crunch forces HCFA to trim IT system
The Health Care Financing Administration last week disclosed that because of budgetary problems it has scaled back its plans for a massive computer system that will give the agency tighter control over the huge Medicare health program for the elderly. HCFA officials declined to comment on how they
Digital Government
Three agencies collaborate on contractor database
Three federal agencies are working on a plan that will save time and money for government contractors and agencies conducting electronic commerce by creating a single interface to a distributed database of contractor data. The Office of Management and Budget recently asked the Defense and Treasury
Digital Government
Toshiba readies for its desktop product foray
Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. a heavyweight in the federal notebook market is entering the desktop market with Pentium and Pentium Pro models. Toshiba which plans to formally announce its desktop products March 10 recently briefed federal agencies and resellers on its product plans. Indu
Digital Government