Digital Government
Repeal of the Brooks Act: an answer to everyone's prayers?
The DOD authorization bill for fiscal 1996 repeals the Brooks Act and, without much fanfare, changes the way every information technology federal contractor and their lawyers will do business with the government. The most significant impact of the revocation of the Brooks Act is the eliminati
Digital Government
Cahoon made assistant archivist for policy, IRM
The National Archives and Records Administration has named L. Reynolds Cahoon the new assistant archivist for policy and information resources management, replacing Ralph Bledsoe, who retired late last year. Cahoon most recently served for six years as managing director of the family history depart
Digital Government
1996 Federal 100 Judges
This year's Federal 100 judges met at FCW's offices Saturday, Jan. 6. The weather was threatening, but in true Federal 100 fashion, they dodged the Blizzard of '96 by finishing the selection in nearrecord time. Each year's panel has its own personality, and the panel's choices reflect the values,
Digital Government
Feds to benefit in brewing price war
Compaq Computer Corp. may have touched off a renewed price war in the PC market with the recent announcement of lowpriced, highpowered models. HewlettPackard Co., IBM Corp. and Digital Equipment Corp. responded with new models and price cuts of their own. This round of price competition could ac
Digital Government
Draft bid due for imaging, workflow wares
The National Institutes of Health plans to release next week a draft statement of work to acquire imaging systems and workflow solutions to control the mountain of paperwork that the agency's institutes, centers and divisions create. NIH plans to award by September multiple taskorder contracts, in
Digital Government
D.C. snubs fed help; rings up big bills
The District of Columbia government, mired in debt and unable to pay its contractors, has repeatedly rejected assistance from the federal government to reduce the cost of its telecommunications programs and has engaged in what several executives describe as a pattern of reckless spending. Sources s
Digital Government
IRS won't use the Internet?for now
The Internal Revenue Service has abandoned plans for a pilot project offering electronic filing over the Internet for the April 15 tax deadline, although the agency may test such a system later in the year, Treasury Department deputy assistant secretary for information systems Wushow "Bill" Chou
Digital Government
NTIS plans to put FFRDC tech documents on-line
The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) plans to offer an alternative to the Government Printing Office's Federal Depository Library program that would provide libraries with electronic access to government documents that are not available through GPO. In a pilot program to begin this spr
Digital Government
Editorial
While we are certainly aware of the burdens placed on contracting officers and agencies by full and open competition in the procurement phase of an acquisition, there can be little argument that multiple awards bring the government the best prices and the latest technology. One glimpse into the dow
Digital Government
Export ban puts damper on agency efforts
The administration's encryption export ban is hampering federal agencies' efforts to build a secure electronic infrastructure, according to some agency officials and vendors. Most, if not all, federal agencies have identified the need for strong encryption to carry out future service to the citizen
Digital Government
Robbins-Gioia eyes new management role on BLSM
RobbinsGioia Inc., a services and support firm specializing in complex program management, will take on a new role team leader if it wins the bid for the Air Force BaseLevel Systems Modernization (BLSM) II, a $400 million systems integration project. RobbinsGioia is leading one of the half
Digital Government
House report hits EDGAR's flaws, calls for privatization
Rep. Dan Frisa (RN.Y.) late last month issued a report citing flaws in the Securities and Exchange Commission's Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (EDGAR) system and urging the agency to "privatize" at least parts of the system. Duncan Wood, a legislative assistant in Frisa's offi
Digital Government
U.S. mandate: `move info, not people
TUZLA, Bosnia Soldiers from the 22nd Signal Command rush around the headquarters of U.S. ground forces to load a convoy of four heavily armed Humvees with one of the key elements of Operation Joint Endeavor: a package of preconfigured routers and communications servers for installation at one of
Digital Government
FEDWIRE
FAA details freeflight commitment The Federal Aviation Administration announced last week its commitment to the concept of free flight, an air traffic control concept that gives pilots more flexibility in selecting flight plans. The FAA expects to move to free flight over the next 10 or so years,
Digital Government
Java to stimulate federal mapping applications
Federal agencies and geographic information systems vendors are exploring how Java, the hot software language for building Internetbased applications, might be used to open GIS to more users and create a new set of applications. "Java's really going to revolutionize how we interact in GIS," said
Digital Government
How does the Prompt Payment Act work?
The following topic was raised by a contractor: Our company has several government contracts. In general, the government pays our invoices within a reasonable time. However, an agency sometimes returns invoices for very minor clerical errors, delaying payment significantly. What are the government'
Digital Government
1996 Federal 100 Winners
1996 Federal 100 Winners (Titles reflect positions held in 1995.)
Digital Government
GSA may break local service pacts in quest for lower prices
The General Services Administration's Federal Telecommunications Service (FTS) may pull the plug on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of localservice contracts in instances where other firms can provide the service at better prices. FTS commissioner Bob Woods said GSA now holds contracts with
Digital Government
New guidelines help agencies tailor CIOs
The Office of Management and Budget plans to give agencies broad latitude to appoint new chief information officers so they can tailor the job to fit agency needs. Bruce McConnell, chief of the OMB Information Policy Branch, said an upcoming memo to agencies will describe the role CIOs should play
Digital Government