Digital Government
Desktop GIS
Geographic information systems (GIS) combine the analytical power of databases with the geographic capabilities of maps to produce reports that showat a glanceanything from demographic trends to the most appropriate site for a new hospital. GIS programs have long been used by engineers transporta
Digital Government
Vendors debut videoconferencing, ATM products
Switches videoconferencing gear and network administration tools were among the products announced earlier this month at the ComNet show in Washington D.C. In switching N.E.T. Inc. unveiled a new family of Asynchronous Transfer Mode products representing the company's first major venture into that
Digital Government
USPS taps Northrop Grumman
The U.S. Postal Service recently chose Northrop Grumman Corp. to build a system that will track thousands of service requests ordered off USPS' soontobeawarded network services contract. The Northrop Grumman contract is valued at about $520 000 and is the first under the company's master orderin
Digital Government
Agencies seek new sources of vendor info
Enter "scanners " "color" and "desktop" into your favorite Internet search engine and you will get 1 000 hits maybe more. This is part of market research postBrooks Act style but federal agencies are learning that there is more to searching out the latest commercial technologies than surfing
Digital Government
Owens makes rich career in integration
Retired Adm. William Owens earlier this month was named president and chief operating officer of Science Applications International Corp. But for Owens this integration post is just the latest stop in a professional life that has revolved around the subject. Owens a former vice chairman of the Join
Digital Government
Intercepts
The ASD/C3I sweepstakes continued. Chris Mellon a former Senate intell committee staffer for Defense Secretary William Cohen with excellent credentials (great family name and soninlaw of Sen. John Warner) has emerged as the latest possibility to succeed Emmett Paige Jr. Mellon's getting a lot of
Digital Government
Year 2000 solutions are fighting time and money
The General Accounting Office warned federal agencies last week that potential computer malfunctions due to the Year 2000 problem are among the top risks to agency operations over the next three years. Unless agencies upgrade their systems to prevent such failures which will occur if systems impr
Digital Government
Schedule A expands 15 percent
Buoyed by the new flexibility in the General Services Administration's program regulations GSA Schedule 70A business for workstation and mainframerelated products and services grew dramatically during fiscal 1996. Overall Schedule A revenue for the fiscal year which ended Sept. 30 reached nearly
Digital Government
AWARDS
CDSI Business Applications Solutions Co. A $20 million award for VA mortgage loan servicing. Department of Veterans Affairs Washington D.C. Sylvest Management Systems Corp. A $4.9 million award for acquisition of microcomputer hardware and software laser printers and microcomputer support services.
Digital Government
Putting government on a high-tech diet
President Clinton plans to rely on information technology to help manage a government that thinks smarter and works harder on a leaner funding diet in fiscal 1998. But he and top agency officials want to ensure that agencies think equally smart and work hard for the billions in IT dollars they plan
Digital Government
FCC ruling could boost wireless development
The Defense Department plans to remove the government key escrow software from its Fortezza cards used on the Defense Message System a move that signals the death of the Clinton administration's controversial Clipper initiative and one that should encourage civilian use of the cryptographic cards.
Digital Government
Wang to CIOs: Integrate use of Internet
Charles B. Wang chairman and chief executive officer of Computer Associates International Inc. has guided the development of some of the most widely used systems management tools in the government including the company's flagship product CA Unicenter. Over the last several years San Jose Calif.bas
Digital Government
Hartmanis sees beauty in applying hard science to life
Juris Hartmanis likes to imagine showing the Pentium chip to John Von Neumann the famed Princeton University scientist whose 1950s weatherforecasting machine filled up his entire basement. 'I think it would totally blow the mind of a firstrate scientist of the '50s or '60s if he would not have wa
Digital Government
FEDERAL BYTES
`The Price Is Right' this ain't Catching the spirit of smart government business practices the Army Small Computer Program Fort Monmouth N.J. is sponsoring a Return on Investment Contest which invites Army groups to submit details of successful reengineering efforts. But before you let your imagin
Digital Government
How exaggeration can hurt contractors
A corporate official asked the following question: On occasion our company finds itself in a dispute of some sort with one of our government customers. In these cases the agency generally asks us to estimate the potential monetary impact. Sometimes this can be difficult. In addition some people nat
Digital Government
GigaLabs revs Gigabit Ethernet switch
GigaLabs Inc. announced today a backbone Gigabit Ethernet switch that the company says will enable government users to take advantage of their highend workstations. The GigaStar 3000 provides Gigabit Ethernet and input/output switching in the same device. The product offers up to eight fullduplex
Digital Government
FAA pressed to revamp sooner
Even as the Federal Aviation Administration struggles to find money to keep key modernization programs on track a White House commission last week called for the FAA to develop a plan in the next six months to accelerate the revamp of the nation's aging air traffic control system. Rather than proce
Digital Government
USPS trims billion-dollar wireless plan, eyes COTS
The U.S. Postal Service is dramatically scaling back an ambitious nationwide wireless communications program that would have cost more than $1 billion in equipment and services and is instead tailoring its requirements to accommodate offtheshelf hardware. In an effort to enhance its mailtracking
Digital Government