People
TRAC should be derailed
Almost half the members of the House have cosponsored a bill introduced earlier this year, the Truthfulness, Responsibility and Accountability in Contracting Act (TRAC), which is one of the major legislative priorities of the American Federation of Government Employees.
People
The dot-com backlash
Some fascinating comments surfaced recently at a session of the annual Industry Advisory Council meeting, suggesting unhappiness and resistance among potential government customers over how the many dotcoms entering the federal marketplace are approaching government customers.
People
E-government's hidden gem
I recently came across an article in The Industry Standard that suggests a whole area of potential for electronic government that hasn't received the attention it deserves.
Digital Government
A pair of misguided bills
As the 106th Congress winds down, lawmakers are considering bills that, in the name of helping small firms compete in the federal marketplace, could cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year.
Acquisition
The fiction of a 23% decline
The plural of anecdote, social scientists are fond of saying, is data.
Digital Government
DOD, professors and the Net
At a social event in the Silicon Valley last spring, I was talking with a couple and as much to be ornery as anything else decided to share a comment I had read recently in a magazine: ?quot;Well, the Internet's great for buying sweaters, but a revolution? Puhleaze.?quot;
Digital Government
A thing we can agree on
I recently attended a fascinating meeting about the contracting issues that will face the new administration.
Acquisition
Let vendors profit
We should welcome higher vendor profits when the vendor has delivered excellent results.
Digital Government
Championing share-in-savings contracts
At the recent Federal 100 gala, I ran into Ken Buck of the General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service, who received an award for his work promoting the use of shareinsavings contracting for information technology systems. Not surprisingly, Ken was in a good mood. The Fed 100 accolade no doubt helped raise his spirits for what has been a tough haul.
Digital Government
Results Act here to stay
Probably the biggest enemy of constructive change in organizations is the natural human tendency to get restless and bored.
Acquisition
Making 'mandatory' work
One of the characteristic features of the old order prior to procurement reform was the frequent requirement to buy computers from mandatory sources, such as the General Services Administration.
People
'West Wing' does feds right
I don't watch much television and have always been amazed at how much more I can get done when it's turned off. However, on Wednesday nights, there is a TV show I would urge everyone in and around government to watch: 'The West Wing,' NBC's weekly drama about President Josiah Bartlett (played by Martin Sheen) and senior White House staff.
Digital Government
Going commercial
There are two flavors available for many IT systems: vanilla and rocky road.
People
Don't pounce on failures
When NASA's budget came under pressure in the 1990s as part of efforts to balance the federal budget, NASA Administrator Dan Goldin did what few in Washington do: He accepted cuts without protest, wishing to challenge his organization to take a risk and show it could produce better results at less cost. Thus was born the 'faster, better, cheaper' regime.
Acquisition
Making business sense
Deidre Lee, who will be leaving her post as administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in June to become director of Defense procurement, has long believed that contracting professionals need to rethink the role they play in the interaction between government and vendors.
Digital Government
Truth or fiction?
What's the buzz in the postYear 2000 information technology world? Security, to judge from all the conference presentations and articles in the trade press, is clearly hot.
Digital Government
Don't change travel regs
Five senators, including all four from Virginia and Maryland, recently sent a letter opposing a proposed revision to the government's rules for reimbursing contractors for hotel and meal expenses charged to costbased contracts. The senators are right to oppose the changes.
Digital Government
What makes a revolution?
In my Jan. 10 column, I noted an article from the Financial Times expressing skepticism about whether the Internet is creating a revolutionary change in people's lives comparable, say, to how people's work lives changed during the Industrial Revolution. I invited people to email me their reactions.
Digital Government
The new way to win
An important trend is brewing in the competition for big systems design contracts, and it deserves more attention: Vendors are starting to use commitments to performance and results to win government business.
People