Digital Government
NOAA launches public site to track Gulf oil disaster
GeoPlatform.com provides the same information regional coordinators use to respond to the disaster, including detailed geographic features, fisheries closures, wildlife observations and aerial imagery.
Digital Government
Amtrak WiFi for Everyone
Amtrak has offered WiFi service to high rollers zooming along the Northeast corridor on the high-speed Acela Express trains, but the national passenger rail carrier said it has released a proposal to now provide WiFi on all its trains.
Digital Government
Winners named in Veterans Health Affairs IT competition
Officials choose 26 entries from more than 6,500 submissions from VHA employees.
Digital Government
The EZer VA Disability Claim Form
I'm told sometime in the past month the Office of Management and Budget approved a six-page claim form that veterans use to apply for disability benefits, replacing a 23-page application that was so complex that only a bureaucrat could comprehend it.
Digital Government
With possibility of no funding, Defense still moves on PTSD online project
Healing Heroes would use virtual worlds and online applications to educate veterans and their families on dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries and related issues such as substance abuse.
Digital Government
Submarines and UAVs?
We have all come to accept the fact that the Navy and Army have sizeable air forces. And the Army even has its own mini-Navy of just fewer than 50 ships, including a nifty <a href=http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/usa/images/tsv1x.jpg>high-speed ferry</a> that can transport 600 troops and their gear.
Digital Government
Google Maps Can Steer You Wrong
D'Val Westphal, the "Road Warrior" correspondent for my local paper, the <em>Albuquerque Journal</em>, had a insightful column on Monday on why we should never, ever fully trust Google maps to get directions.
Digital Government
Defense unable to track deployed troops' use of psychiatric drugs
The Military Health System cannot identify the soldiers taking prescribed drugs for mental illness, raising the risk they could experience adverse drug interactions when treated for battlefield wounds.
Digital Government
Senate: Everyone Wear Same Camo
In December 2009, Chief of Naval Operations Gary Roughhead put out a <a href=http://soldiersystems.net/2010/01/01/aor-comes-out-of-the-closet/>directive</a> establishing nifty new camouflage uniforms for Navy SEAL and other Naval special warfare folks -- but not mere mortals engaged in the ground combat theaters of operations.
Digital Government
Army wants to build a massive virtual world to train soldiers
The simulation will be large enough to accommodate 10,000 avatars, with vehicles and weapons, that can move about and interact with each other using Web 2.0 communications found in the real world.
Digital Government
A Hooah for the Guard
National Guardsman (and woman) from Alabama, Missouri and Louisiana responded quickly to the Gulf of Mexico oil mess, doing the grunt work they always do in the face of disaster.
Digital Government
Cyberattack Estimate: 250K an Hour
Army Gen. Keith B. Alexander, the head of the new U.S. Cyber Command, estimates that bad actors now probe Defense Department networks and systems 250,000 times an hour -- or some 6 million times a day. Or this: 2.19 billion times a year.
Digital Government
NOAA sends high-tech research ship into Gulf
Scientists will take water samples to determine if suspended oil plumes are traveling far below the surface, depleting oxygen and threatening marine life.
Digital Government
How Far Would You Drive for Billions?
The Technology Acquisition Center at the Veterans Affairs Department held an industry day for its planned $12 billion <a href=http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20091203_2809.php>Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology</a> (T4) procurement at a hotel near its headquarters in Eatontown, N.J. -- a trip some potential bidders found a wee bit too far.
Digital Government
Health Policy End Run?
The Senate Armed Services Committee wants to make it easier to transfer medical information from the Defense Department to the Veterans Affairs Department without the need for prior authorization from a service member.
Digital Government
Senate ignores House's lead, provides millions more for Army mod program
Panel passes $302.4 million for spinout technologies from the defunct Army Future Combat Systems program.
Digital Government
Time to Reflect
On Monday, we will (hopefully) stop to pause and remember those we have sent into harms way, and here are my reflections:
Digital Government
Vietnam Mail Call, the Poem
A tangible hit of far off homes The orange mail bag Carries everything from books to poems
Digital Government
Now, That's Transparency
The Veterans Affairs Department briefs Congress monthly on data breaches, and yesterday Roger Baker, chief information officer at VA, held the first of what he said will be similar monthly data breach briefings for the press.
Digital Government