Digital Government
Compaq revamps products, prices
For the first time in company history, Compaq Computer Corp. today revamped its entire commercial PC product line in one fell swoop. The more cohesive product set featuring fewer models and a new, easiertoassemble design will offer prices up to 15 percent lower than previous Compaq models. Th
Digital Government
DOD loses bid to expand exemptions
In a sly move that ultimately was foiled by congressional leaders, the Defense Department quietly had an amendment attached to the House fiscal 1997 authorization bill that effectively would have exempted nearly all military and some civilian information technology systems from federal oversight. T
Digital Government
NARA draft report calls for more fed involvement up front
A draft strategic plan issued by the National Archives and Records Administration calls for increased involvement in the 'frontend' design of federal agencies' recordkeeping systems. 'We see ourselves in the future providing more attention to the life cycle's front end, where record systems are d
Digital Government
Raptor and Milkyway add security features
Aiming to help managers secure networks that are adding more Internet users all the time, two leading network security companies are releasing product upgrades to make security management easier. With the latest announcements, Raptor Systems Inc., Waltham, Mass., and Milkyway Networks Corp., Ottawa
Digital Government
House proceeds with TSM overhaul
The House last week approved an appropriations bill that reduces funding for the Internal Revenue Service's Tax Systems Modernization by $776 million and fences off all funding pending a move by the agency to "restructure" the contract. The bill would reduce the Clinton administration's funding r
Digital Government
GATEC system orphaned again
With only six months left to comply with the president's electronic commerce mandate, the Energy Department is banking on an EC solution developed and now abandoned by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. As its agencywide solution for EC, DOE has chosen the Government Acquisition Through El
Digital Government
Disputed CIOSP style earns Kelman's support
The Clinton administration has thrown its support behind the process under which the National Institutes of Health is preparing its controversial Chief Information Officers Solutions & Partners (CIOSP) governmentwide contract. The administration's support, which is not an endorsement or approval of
Digital Government
CIOs' most daunting task: performance measurement
Developing proper ways to measure the performance of information technology projects will be the most difficult task that chief information officers will face when agencies fill these new management positions in the coming months, according to the Industry Advisory Council (IAC). Developing perform
Digital Government
New file system could be blessing and curse
Microsoft Corp. will introduce a new file system with this fall's OEM release of Windows 95. The release OEM Service Release 2 will be installed on new computers. Those PCs already running Windows 95 won't be affected by this release. Or will they? The new release will include FAT32, a file sys
Digital Government
Vendors revving up red-hot sales vehicle
In this age of deregulation, the General Services Administration has become a kind of hightechnology bazaar in which vendors and customers can wheel and deal much as they might in the commercial arena, and spot pricing in particular has become a hot issue. In recent months, holders of GSA multiple
Digital Government
Olicom USA launches federal sales program
Olicom USA Inc. is launching a federal marketing program targeting the General Services Administration schedule; indefinitedelivery, indefinitequantity contracts; and the open market. The Plano, Texasbased company plans to approach the federal sector through relationships with resellers and dist
Digital Government
Pictures from Galileo are over the moon
Gaze at the aweinspiring images of the Jupiter moon Ganymede made available by NASA at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo. The site, which gives an ongoing account of Galileo's voyages through space, also brings to light images of the Comet ShoemakerLevy 9 and its spectacular crash into Jupiter. Nex
Digital Government
INTERCEPTS
DMS dates. DISA's doing the DMS rollout as fast as possible, but Tom Clarke, the agency's DMS honcho, no longer will give specific dates for the initial operating capability, originally slated for this month. Clarke told the Interceptor that while DISA and Lockheed Martin are "moving ahead to put
Digital Government
USPS to unveil details of new services
Certificate authority and electronic postmarking on the horizon The U.S. Postal Service later this month is expected to release details on its plans to conduct market tests for its certificate authority and electronic postmarking services. The Federal Register will publish for comment an announceme
Digital Government
Memo addresses 'fair opportunity' guidelines
An Office of Federal Procurement Policy memorandum issued last week aims to simplify the purchasing process on multipleaward, indefinitedelivery, indefinitequantity product contracts. The memo, drafted by OFPP administrator Steven Kelman, noted that some agencies may be creating an "unnecessary
Digital Government
ROSTER
Four of this year's 12 outstanding airmen selected by the Air Force work in the computer or communications fields. The annual award recognizes enlisted personnel who demonstrated "unique, unusual or outstanding individual involvement and achievement during the preceding 12 months." The winners wi
Digital Government
Downsizing strategy warrants closer look
Has the Clinton administration really downsized the government across the board, or has it simply cut jobs in the Defense Department, an easy target? The Federal Workforce Restructuring Act of 1994 part of the Clinton government "reinvention" process called for a sharp reduction in federal fu
Digital Government
Panel sets sights on infrastructures
Securing the nation's critical infrastructures including the national telephone and computer networks from attack will be the task of a new presidential commission. The commission, formed last week by executive order, will be staffed mainly with representatives of law enforcement and Defense ag
Digital Government
Force XXI, satellite comm big winners
The Senate strongly backed key Defense Department information technology programs, including the Army's Force XXI and Warfighter Information Network (WIN) as well as Air Force and Navy satellite communications projects, with increased funding when it passed its version of the 1997 DOD authorization
Digital Government