Digital Government
IT head moves Courts into next century
Although she did not know it at the time, Pamela White, assistant director of the Office of Automation and Technology at the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, started carving out her information technology career when she performed a cost/benefit analysis on a Justice Department automation
Digital Government
CASE takes on RAD
Computeraided software engineering (CASE) tools are not about to get left behind as the rapid application development (RAD) phenomenon grows. Texas Instruments Inc. and other CASE vendors are positioning their products in this market. What the government is demanding of RAD vendors is for them "t
Digital Government
Unisys upgrades server, mainframe product lines
Unisys Corp. today upgraded its mainframe and server lines and launched a new multiprocessing server platform that the company plans to sell through the General Services Administration schedule. Unisys' barrage of announcements included the latest generation of its 2200 and A Series CMOS mainframe
Digital Government
Rule changes signal new freedom for FAA
Today the Federal Aviation Administration sweeps away layers of procurement and personnel management regulations that have developed over half a century and replaces them with fewer, and what it hopes are more flexible and easiertofollow, rules that will help it keep pace with rapid advancements
Digital Government
Fed redress system needs overhaul, GAO finds
The General Accounting Office recently reviewed the actions feds can take if they believe they have been the victims of arbitrary and prohibited personnel practices such as discrimination or retaliation for whistleblowing. Simply put, GAO concluded that the system needs reform. According to GAO, t
Digital Government
70 B/C renewals move quickly for most firms
The General Services Administration has wrapped up negotiations for its 70 B/C microcomputer schedules earlier than usual, with most vendors having already signed new contracts by late last week. "Normally it can be difficult negotiating, but it wasn't like that at all," said Kim Bradbury, Compaq
Digital Government
Rival OSes experience market ups and downs
The past 15 months have been interesting for OS/2 rivals IBM Corp. and Microsoft Corp. Last year began with an aggressive marketing campaign by IBM designed to take advantage of the lack of competition from Microsoft Corp. due to its continuous delays in getting Windows 95 to market. The OS/2 Warp
Digital Government
Frank keeps DARPA on cutting edge
About 25 years ago, Howard Frank wanted to use the communications technology of the time to collaborate on a paper about ARPAnet (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), the precursor to the Internet. He and his colleague, located in another city, decided to use teletype machines to exchange id
Digital Government
Six data centers enough, says study
The Defense Department could save more than $2 billion in lifecycle costs by consolidating from 16 to six data centers and contracting out all but "inherently governmental functions," according to a study by consultants Coopers & Lybrand. The report, now circulating among senior officials at the
Digital Government
NIH considers early follow-on pact
A largerthanexpected volume of sales has prompted the National Institutes of Health to begin early development of a followon contract for its governmentwide virtual computer store. Since appearing on the Internet in January, the 17 vendors who offer PCs, software and peripherals on the NIH Elect
Digital Government
GAO comes down hard on Cyberfile; doubts system will work
The Internal Revenue Service has spent millions of dollars on Cyberfile, a system that allows taxpayers to file tax returns over the Internet, but has planned and managed its development so sloppily that there is "little assurance" the system will work as intended, the General Accounting Office r
Digital Government
Spending cuts spur feds to mull capital budgeting
Whether the White House or Congress prevails in the fight over the federal budget, funds for information technology programs will likely shrink over the next six years as cuts in discretionary programs continue. So how will agencies find the money for information systems? According to administratio
Digital Government
Fiscal '97 request hits the street
In an electionyear budget that is certain to be rewritten by Congress, the Clinton administration proposed fiscal 1997 funding increases for some key agency information systems and asked to spend more on technology research programs that have had a prominent place among its economic development in
Digital Government
GSA to add systems integration to B/C sked
The General Services Administration's Federal Supply Service is expected to unveil this week plans to extend its 70 B/C multipleaward schedule program to cover systems integration services. The schedule will be broadened to include services such as analysis and design, installation, programming, c
Digital Government
Year 2000 causes double trouble for feds
No one knows how much it is really going to cost to fix the year 2000 in millions of lines of government software. Pentagon estimates exceed $1 billion. Mitre Corp.'s report to the Defense Department on the problem said DOD may have to spend up to $8.52 per line of code checked. DOD may also have t
Digital Government
Telos, ZDS ship dual Pentiums to Bosnia
Telos Corp. and Zenith Data Systems are shipping dualPentium 120 MHz servers, one of the most powerful PCbased servers available on a federal contract, to one of the most missioncritical users in the Defense Department: the headquarters of the Army's 1st Armored Division in Tuzla, Bosnia. Not on
Digital Government
DOD rewrites book on IT buys
Secretary of Defense William Perry last month approved a major rewrite of Defense Department acquisition guidelines, completing an intense effort to streamline how DOD buys technology. The reform effort began in 1992 with the recommendations of the Section 800 panel and now includes guidelines to b
Digital Government
Momentum builds for Pentium successors
Federal demand for the latest crop of microprocessors the socalled "sixth generation" chips succeeding the Pentium is slowly building and may experience its first surge this summer. The key competitors in this market are Intel Corp. with its Pentium Pro chip and Cyrix Corp with its 6x86 pr
Digital Government
Editorial
The news that the District government has continually refused help from the federal government is surprising to those of us in the federal arena. It is unthinkable to reject help that can actually save money particularly considering the money crunch facing the D.C. government. However, to whatev
Digital Government