Digital Government
United States, Russia cooperate on Year 2000 nuclear risk
Concerned that the Year 2000 millennium bug could cause computer screens in nuclear command and control centers "to go dark" at the turn of the century, the U.S. Defense Department plans to set up a cooperative program to share early-warning-system and missile-threat data with Russia and other nuclear powers, a top Pentagon official said today.
Digital Government
Intercepts
* Spectrum czar. Cindy Raiford, currently deputy director for communications in the ASD/C3I office (awaiting congressionally directed renaming), will soon become manager or director of a beefedup DOD spectrum office, according to a memo from Art Money, the senior civilian official in the ASD/C3I s
Digital Government
Congress praises, admonishes DOD in 1999 bills
Both Houses of Congress strongly endorsed the ability of information technology to enhance U.S. military capabilities in separate versions of the 1999 Defense authorization bills passed last month. The House and Senate strongly backed efforts such as the Navy's Information Technology for the 21st C
Digital Government
GAO targets Army's Year 2000 effort
The Army's Year 2000 program could fail because of management problems, an incomplete test plan and other reasons, according to a General Accounting Office report released last wee
Digital Government
Justice, Microsoft duke it out in cyberspace
Anyone with access to the World Wide Web can download the U.S. government's documents in its antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. But anyone who decides to download the U.S. v. Microsoft case documents from the Justice Department Web site (www.usdoj.gov) will need a very large disk drive and an a
Digital Government
Senate wants industry to pay costs of moving spectrum
In an action that could dampen commercial interest in future spectrum auctions, the Senate fiscal 1999 Defense authorization bill proposed that privatesector organizations reimburse federal agencies for expenses up to $5 billion associated with reallocating radio spectrum frequencies. The Federal
Digital Government
Bill targets logistics outsourcing
The House has hogtied the Army's $1 billion program to modernize its logistics operations, with obscure language tucked into its version of the fiscal 1999 Defense authorization bill. The story of the Wholesale Logistics Modernization Program (WLMP) highlights the political battle that sets those w
Digital Government
Navy mulls lease for bases, ships
NORFOLK, Va. The Navy's Atlantic Fleet (LANTFLT) recently completed the installation of a highpowered Microsoft Corp. Windows NT network for its headquarters here through a leasing deal that the command believes can serve as a model for other federal agencies. The network allows the LANTFLT staf
Digital Government
Intercepts
Reform thyself. That's the advice Rep. Floyd Spence (RS.C.) and his buddies on the House Committee on National Security delivered to Secretary of Defense William Cohen in the House version of the 1999 Defense authorization bill. Taking a look at one of Cohen's pet projects, the Defense Reform In
Digital Government
Navy's high-tech research ship to be named 'Heezen' or 'Coriolis'
As part of a year-long effort to show students the "towering grandeur" of the oceans, the Oceanographer of the Navy has chosen two finalists in a nationwide contest to name its new high-tech research shi
Digital Government
Intercepts
IT21 sticker shock. The estimated cost of upgrading a Navy Carrier Battle Group and Amphibious Ready Group has jumped from roughly $50 million to between $80 million and $100 million and that covers only the major ships, according to Monica Shepherd, Atlantic Fleet N6. Shepherd said the Navy f
Digital Government
NSA concerns could hamper DOD Y2K fix
The National Security Agency has slapped a security blanket on the Pentagon's efforts to fix the Year 2000 millennium bug, which could further slow the Defense Department's alreadybehindschedule Year 2000 fixes. NSA has determined that all information detailing DOD's computers and its efforts to
Digital Government
Bugged by Year 2000 talk? Dig the Panama Canal site
All the hullabaloo about the Year 2000 date problem has obscured other major occurrences around Dec. 31, 1999 one of which is the ownership and management rollover of the Panama Canal. For a primer on the 'Path Between the Seas,' check out the Panama Canal Commission's World Wide Web site at www.
Digital Government
Year 2000 problems sink Coast Guard systems
The U.S. Coast Guard already has experienced computer systems failures as a result of the Year 2000 bug and in at least one instance has not yet fixed the problem.
Digital Government
Navy to field PC-based command, control system
The Navy has received initial approval to start fielding a PCbased version of its command and control (C2) system, after completing what a top Navy commander called the 'largest and most comprehensive'' test of such a system in the service's history. The test of the Navy's Joint Maritime Command I
Digital Government
TRW lands contract to revamp DOD travel
The Defense Department moved a step closer to onestop electronic shopping for travel services with the award last week of a $263.7 million contract to TRW Inc. under the Defense Travel System program. DTS will replace an antiquated paperbased travel voucher process, which can take 25 steps to com
Digital Government
Acquisition reform key to defense, Cohen says
Top Defense Department officials focused attention last week on acquisition reform, with Defense Secretary William Cohen saying that 'accelerating acquisition reform remains one of our most important priorities.' Cohen, in remarks kicking off DOD's third annual Acquisition Reform Week, which was be
Digital Government
Intercepts
Big Qwest/NSA deal? That's what my sources tell me is behind a press release issued by Qwest, a startup fiber network company headed by former AT&T superexec Joseph Nacchio. Qwest said last week it won a $430 million virtual private network deal from the U.S. government. Dean Wandry, head of new
Digital Government
Defense Travel System contract awarded to TRW
The Defense Department moved a step closer to onestop, electronic shopping for items such as airline tickets and hotel and meal vouchers with today's award of the key Defense Travel System (DTS) contract to TRW Inc.
Digital Government