Digital Government
Congress reins in Defense job cuts
Congress pared down a proposal by the House to slash the Defense Department acquisition work force by 100 000 during the next three years to just 25 000 this fiscal year in the final version of the Defense authorization bill approved by the House and Senate last month. This summer the House version
Digital Government
Intercepts
* Admirals adrift. When Spawar formally took over San Diego NRAD/NCCOSC last month Adm. George Wagner wanted the new organization's name applied to everything including the former .nosc.navy.mil domain name. Corporate identity is important but the newly renamed .spawar.navy.mil domain left a lot
Digital Government
Losing bidders cry foul over NSA switch pact
A National Security Agency networking contract awarded to Cisco Systems Inc. last month has come under sharp attack by the losing bidders with Fore Systems Inc. filing suit with the U.S. Court of Claims and Cabletron Systems Inc. accusing Cisco of engaging in 'predatory pricing" with its winning b
Digital Government
USDA offers a real turkey of a Web site
Looking for some good gobbler gab to accompany Thanksgiving gobbler gobbling? Then dig in to the Agriculture Department's World Wide Web site (www.usda.gov) which serves up a mindboggling array of statistics on turkeys including tips on thawing cooking and storage. The USDA home page which is grap
Digital Government
DOD lays groundwork for network-centric warfare
The Defense Department did not plan the current hodgepodge of networks that has grown up with the decadelong evolution of client/server computing. But DOD now has embraced at the highest levels the concept of 'networkcentric warfare ' in which tactical intelligence and logistics information becom
Digital Government
SMC chief oversees upgrades
LONG BRANCH N.J. If there is anyone in the Army who deserves the moniker 'Mr. Infrastructure ' it would be Col. Dean Ertwine commander of the new Systems Management Center (SMC) here. The service has consolidated all its information infrastructure programs under Ertwine who also is slotted to rec
Digital Government
Intercepts
* Bandwidth luxury tax. That's what Lt. Gen. Douglas Buchholz the J6 plans as a way to relieve the strain on Defense networks that just can't seem to keep up with the demand of highbandwidth applications. Buchholz speaking at last week's AFCEA Washington D.C.chapter lunch said he wants to "deap
Digital Government
Cisco nabs secret NSA switch pact
Cisco Systems Inc. last month won a key network infrastructure contract with the secretive National Security Agency blowing away a field of competitors with prices at least 50 percent below the nearest bid. The contract dubbed "Light Core" by NSA calls for Cisco to install "literally thousands o
Digital Government
Intercepts
* New and improved IT21. My Crystal City antenna site has picked up strong signals that Rear Adm. John Gauss has now taken over as the CNO N6 lead on the Navy's IT21 project with the Gauss effort dubbed 'IT21 Plus.' Gauss who spearheaded the Global Command and Control System program during his D
Digital Government
Take a virtual vacation with the Park Service
Blitzed out by the endofthefiscalyear pace? If you can't take a real vacation a visit to the National Park Service's ParkNet World Wide Web site (www.nps.gov) should offer enough virtual touring and truly dazzling images to lower the blood pressure. The Park Service has spiffed up the graphics
Digital Government
AF pact pumps up base protection
As part of its response to the June 1996 terrorist bombing of a U.S. Air Force military complex in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 airmen and wounded 250 others the Air Force this month awarded TRW Inc. a $495 million contract to build intrusiondetection systems for U.S. military bases worldwide. The
Digital Government
Intercepts
* Disappearing data centers. After enough studies to sink a ship the Pentagon has finally decided to slash the number of DISA data centers from 16 down to five according to Tony Valletta the acting ASD/C3I. Valletta who spoke at a Crystal City Va. IT confab sponsored by the American Defense Prepare
Digital Government
Senator's Web site fries Congress' pork projects
Sen. John McCain (RAriz.) a foe of porkbarrel politics has created a World Wide Web page that does everything but oink. As Congress winds down this appropriations season McCain has enlisted a Javaappletpowered pig as the newest tool in his more than a decadelong battle against porkbarrel poli
Digital Government
EIA predicts spending to stay flat through 2002
Spending on federal information technology will remain nearly level at roughly $27 billion a year through 2002 according to projections that the Electronic Industries Association (EIA) plans to release this week at its annual Federal Information Systems Forecast. Although showing relatively flat gr
Digital Government
Users gripe about NT, Exchange
Key network and computer personnel in at least one major Air Force command have filed a letter of complaint with the Air Force's inspector general over a decision to make the Microsoft Corp. NT operating system and MSExchange messaging software a servicewide standard. The letter written by personn
Digital Government
Intercepts
* Influencing IT21. That's what a combined Lotus Oracle and Sun Federal lobbying battalion has tried to do since CINCPACFLT Adm. Archie Clemins issued some rather 'Microsoftian' interim standards this March. This lobbying effort including a pitch to Sen. Daniel Akaka (DHawaii) finally produced so
Digital Government
Court approves DT V pact; two share small-biz portion
After a yearlong legal dispute the Air Force opened the smallbusiness Desktop V contract held by International Data Products Corp. but also awarded a contract to Dynamic Decisions Inc. The Air Force originally awarded the contract to IDP only but DDI filed a protest that started at the Small Busi
Digital Government
Exchange gets Air Force nod
The Air Force has selected Microsoft Corp.'s Exchange as its preferred Defense Message System (DMS) solution and will back that decision with centralized financing and support including a purchase of 105 000 copies of the Exchange client software and 800 copies of the server software valued at $11
Digital Government
AF opens IT show to onsite, virtual visitors
If you can't make it to Montgomery Ala. for this week's Air Force Information Technology Conference (AFITC) then check out the World Wide Web site set up by the Standard Systems Group host of the conference. The SSG Web site (www.ssg.gunter.af.mil) designed to serve virtual and onsite visitors ser
Digital Government