Digital Government

DOD nears resolving MAN conflicts

The Pentagon has edged closer to resolving a longrunning turf battle between the four services and the Defense Information Systems Agency over control and management of metropolitanarea networks (MANs), with a top Defense Department official indicating the services could soon control their MAN de

Digital Government

Contractors' software 'crap,' says top DOD IT official

The Pentagon's top information technology official sharply criticized, in the plainest possible language, the quality of software that IT contractors currently supply to the Defense Department.

Digital Government

DOD preps for possible cyberattacks brought on by Y2K

The Pentagon has started to develop plans that would shut back doors that hook its global networks to the Internet in case cyberfoes try to use any Year 2000 computer date code snafus to mount a cyberattack.

Digital Government

DOD begins move to software-based security

The National Security Agency took over program management of the Defense Department's softwarebased, mediumassurance computer security program last month from the Defense Information Systems Agency, a key task as the Pentagon rolls out softwarebased security systems throughout DOD.

Digital Government

Navy praises new SPS, but critics remain

While some users continue to criticize the Defense Department's $326 million Standard Procurement System, a key piece of the Pentagon's 'paperless contracting' program, top Navy officials have praised the latest version of the software. Elliott Branch, the Navy's executive director of acquisition a

Digital Government

COMSAT wins $112M Navy pact for global net circuits

Communications Satellite Corp. last week won a $112 million contract to provide the Navy with the global communications circuits vital to the service's 'networkcentric' warfare strategy. The fiveyear contract calls for COMSAT's Mobile Corp. subsidiary to provide the Navy with 64 kilobits/sec pipe

Digital Government

Pentagon renovation takes the long view

Information technology advances at such a fast pace with today's technology obsolescent in 18 months most IT managers probably have not bothered to add 'longrange planning' to their lexicon. But longterm planning definitely stands as a priority for Col. Robert Kirsch, the IT project manager f

Digital Government

Army to equip soldiers with 'electronic umbrella' system

The Army plans to provide U.S. forces poised for deployment to the Balkans with more than 40 sophisticated, computerbased systems that could provide troops in Kosovo with an 'electronic umbrella' capable of neutralizing incoming artillery, rocket and mortar shells. The House Armed Services Committ

Digital Government

Intercepts

THE KOSOVO COMM BATTLE. Now that the air campaign in Yugoslavia has ended, I anticipate a fierce ground war in Kosovo, with the combatants this time being the three major U.S. comm companies (and possibly European carriers) looking for a piece of the substantial network that will support a very lon

Digital Government

SAIC to acquire Boeing IT services group

Science Applications International Corp. ended months of speculation today when it announced plans to buy Boeing Information Services, the Boeing Co., subsidiary which provides the federal government with information technology and integration services.

Digital Government

House panel boosts military IT funding

The House Armed Services Committee last month beefed up funding for key military information technology projects and information security programs, and it passed language that could derail the Army's outsourcing plans for a large program designed to modernize its logistics systems. In its fiscal 20

Digital Government

IDI gears up Portable-3

Hoping to catch the peak of the summer buying season as well as an opportunity to provide systems to U.S. forces slated for deployment to the Balkans, Intelligent Decisions Inc. plans to jumpstart its Army Portable3 contract as quickly as possible. Although the Army Small Computer Program Office

Digital Government

Army to award $400M fleet tracking pact

The Army plans to award this week a $400 million contract to create a system that will provide battlefield commanders the ability to precisely locate and communicate with battlefield support vehicles operating anywhere in the world. The Army Movement Tracking System is based on proven commercial ge

Digital Government

Intercepts

WLMP DROPOUTS? The battle over the Army's Wholesale Logistics Modernization Program escalated by Rep. James Talent (RMo.), who added language to the House fiscal 2000 Defense Department authorization bill that essentially puts the program on hold for two years has started to take industry casu

Digital Government

Navy taps Comsat for satellite communications

The Navy tapped Comsat Mobile Corp. for a $112 million contract to provide global, highspeed data services to aircraft carriers and to amphibious ships that transport Marine expeditionary units.

Digital Government

Senate lambastes DOD IT

The Senate this month sharply criticized the Pentagon's business practices and information systems, calling them 'ineffective,' and urged the Defense Department to reform how it develops systems and improve its financial and information management. In its report on the fiscal 2000 Defense authoriza

Digital Government

Army saves on laptops

At a time when most other federal organizations have bypassed traditional contracts in favor of streamlined procurements, the Army last week awarded two conventional contracts that will reduce its cost of buying laptop computers by more than 50 percent. The winning bids submitted by GTSI and Intell

Digital Government

Intercepts

EXIT CLEMINS. Adm. Archie Clemins, commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet and the originator and chief backer of the Navy's IT21 project, plans to retire Dec. 1, according to an email message he sent to his friends and staff. President Clinton has nominated Vice Adm. Thomas Fargo, currently serv

Digital Government

Turning to the troops

(This is the second in a series of articles looking at Defense Department efforts to bring new technology to the battlefield.) FORT HOOD, Texas 1st Lt. Scott Gregory Trahan, a platoon commander here in the 4th Infantry Division, talks enthusiastically about how the computers in all the Bradley I

Digital Government

Cole sails IT-21 to Seventh Fleet

ABOARD THE USS BLUE RIDGE Cmdr. Pat Cole, fleet information systems officer for the Navy's Seventh Fleet, knows all too well the problems and difficulties involved in translating the grand vision of the Navy's Information Technology for the 21st Century (IT21) project into reality. 'No one has