Digital Government
Funding impasse resolved
With just five months left to the 1996 fiscal year, Congress and President Clinton late Thursday ended their stalemate over federal spending and agreed to a $163 billion appropriations bill that would fund more than two dozen departments and agencies until Sept. 30. The deal could free some agencie
Digital Government
Editorial
The latest delay in awarding the Air Force's massive Desktop V contract drove home the fact that streamlined, fasttrack procurements still have a long way to go. Delays in large requirements purchases are not specific to the Air Force or the Desktop program. IWS/LAN, the Social Security Administra
Digital Government
New plastic design makes Dell machines Earth-friendly
With its eye on future needs, Dell Computer Corp. has announced a new plastic cabinet design for its PCs that is easily recyclable. It can be opened without tools and takes little effort to break apart for recycling. So far the government has not issued purchasing requirements based on recyclabilit
Digital Government
PMC sets up performance measurements
Top Cabinet officials have agreed on a set of performance measurements for procurement that agencies will use to determine how well agencies serve users. The President's Management Council (PMC), whose members include department deputy secretaries, said last month that agency procurement offices sh
Digital Government
Systems integrators jockey for spots on DEIS follow-on
Six systems integrators leading massive teams of subcontractors last week submitted bids on the Defense Information Systems Agency's $3 billion DEIS II procurement. DEIS II is the followon to the $1.2 billion Defense Enterprise Integration Services contracts awarded in 1993 to BDM Federal Inc., Bo
Digital Government
Agencies take a RAD approach to development
RAD consists of tools, techniques and methodologies designed to speed application development. RAD reduces paperbased documentation, automates code generation and facilitates user participation in design and development activities. The technology, in some cases, can allow a small development team
Digital Government
OMB issues CIO guides; critics consider them weak
The Office of Management and Budget this month provided agencies with preliminary guidance on appointing chief information officers, as required by the Information Technology Management Reform Act (ITMRA), which will go into effect Aug. 8. But congressional sources involved in drafting the law said
Digital Government
Forms ware links agency, bulk-mail customers
The U.S. Postal Service plans to test this summer forms software that will provide an electronic interface between the agency and some of its largest customers. The software will provide USPS with detailed information on bulk mailings before they enter the mail system. It will also give large maile
Digital Government
Consolidation management presents key IRM challenge
The Office of Management and Budget's Bulletin No. 9602, which instructs agencies to begin developing plans to close and consolidate small and midsize data centers, will drive a requirement for data and application audits on a scale never before imagined. The OMB initiative will force federal info
Digital Government
ROSTER
President Clinton nominated Air Force Maj. Gen. Ronald Kadish for promotion to lieutenant general, with assignment as commander, Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass. Kadish currently serves as program director for the C17 systems program executive office, WrightPatterson Air F
Digital Government
Bucking a trend, GAO report gives a thumbs-up to CHCS
After nearly 10 years of critical diagnoses, the General Accounting Office this month gave the Defense Department's Composite Health Care System a clean bill of health. "I think the management of the whole program at the assistant secretary level and the program management level has been very good
Digital Government
Vendors blend workflow with forms automation
CHICAGO If an electronic form crosses your desktop, chances are that it's on its way somewhere else. Two new deals between workflow and forms processing software vendors announced at the Association for Information and Image Management trade show would integrate these two applications, making it
Digital Government
Do contract employees count in company size determinations?
The following question was asked by a company official: Offerors on government contracts are required to certify whether they are small or large under the Small Business Administration's regulations. For many types of contracts, those size standards reference the number of employees employed by the
Digital Government
Internet access available on MAS
Federal agencies now have an easy way to buy Internet services. BBN Planet, MCI, STMS, BTG Inc. and Erol's late last month became the first companies to offer basic Internet services on the General Services Administration's Schedule E. AT&T and Netcom Communications have proposals pending before GS
Digital Government
ACE, Sunrise Project, mad cows vie for cyber attention
Americans Communicating Electronically sponsors a World Wide Web page to support its mission: to encourage interactive communication between members of the public and their governments. Point your browser to http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/ace. The organization, with a membership of 5,000, offers a wa
Digital Government
Fields tapped as DISA's first CIO
The Defense Information Systems Agency appointed Shirley L. Fields as its first chief information officer. Fields most recently served as head of DISA's Defense Information Infrastructure Hardware/Software Department. In her new role, Fields intends to bring to DISA a much greater focus on performa
Digital Government
Desktop V award date slips
If you were waiting for the award of the giant Air Force Desktop V PC contract, you will have to wait a while longer. The Air Force Standard Systems Group, with little advance notice, announced late last week it would not make the award Friday as planned. Bidders, who have had to face a number of o
Digital Government
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
In Defense of the District I take issue with the editorial opinion stated in the April 1 issue of FCW. The District of Columbia's government culture is not the culture that sees devolution as a good thing. Mayor Marion Barry is not trying to advance the conservative cause of devolution by refusing
Digital Government
Change rating system, not `rule of three'
The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) recently proposed eliminating its longstanding "rule of three" hiring guidelines in favor of a new process that would allow selection from as large a pool of candidates as possible. This recommendation follows an intensive review of the rule of three and
Digital Government