Digital Government

Cordant's Johnson tapped as Industry Advisory Council chair

After several months of bruising conflict, Industry Advisory Council (IAC) members elected Kenneth Johnson of Cordant Inc. as their new chairman, on a promise of reconciliation with the organization's government partners. IAC's previous board of directors became embroiled in a dispute over financia

Digital Government

GSBCA looks to its ADR role

Aiming to play a continuing role in resolving disagreements between information technology vendors and federal users, the General Services Administration's Board of Contract Appeals plans to issue today a notice of its intent to offer alternative disputeresolution (ADR) services. Although Congress

Digital Government

Proposal would establish PBO status

The Federal Supply Service is working on a proposal that would establish it as a Performance Based Organization (PBO), exempting it from regulations it believes hinder it from buying equipment and supplies at the lowest cost for federal agencies. FSS commissioner Frank Pugliese said his proposal wo

Digital Government

N.E.T. introduces frame-relay products

N.E.T. Inc. hopes to improve its standing in the framerelay market with a new set of products that will reduce the perport cost of frame relay over the company's IDNX switch by 50 percent. Sandy Orlando, N.E.T.'s manager of internetworking products, said the company has developed an entirely new

Digital Government

GSA, Hill at odds over Post-FTS 2000 contract

With just two months to go before a planned August solicitation, an escalating dispute between congressional lawmakers and the General Services Administration has thrown into doubt the future of the followon contract to the governmentwide FTS 2000 longdistance network. GSA's Federal Telecommunica

Digital Government

DOD overspends on phone bills

The Defense Department could save more than $3.5 million a month on longdistance phone bills by switching voice traffic from an AT&T DODspecific contract to the company's FTS 2000 network, according to the General Accounting Office. The GAO study was ordered by Sen. Bob Kerrey (DNeb.), ranking m

Digital Government

Cabletron adds ATM with ZeitNet buy

Cabletron Systems Inc. will offer federal customers a broader range of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) products following its acquisition of ZeitNet Inc., a network access provider.

Digital Government

Group prepares first open election

The Industry Advisory Council (IAC), with the public spat between it and the Federation of Government Information Processing Councils (FGIPC) apparently over, last week prepared for its first open elections

Digital Government

Fore tackles 25-megabit/sec ATM

Fore Systems Inc., the leader in 155 megabit/sec desktop Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) installations in the federal government, last week unveiled its first 25 megabit/sec product. Company officials hope the new switch will attract users of PCs and lowerend workstations. Jeffrey White, product

Digital Government

Revamped rules unleash buying frenzy

Vendors holding General Services Administration Schedule B/C contracts are reporting record sales in the usually slow months of March and April, as agencies place multimilliondollar orders that were previously prohibited.

Digital Government

Navy inks $98.6M sked deal

The Naval Information Systems Management Center (NISMC) late last month signed an ordering agreement worth up to $98.6 million with AmeriData Federal Systems that appears to be the largest ever deal off the General Services Administration's Schedule B/C.

Digital Government

FTS, RBOCs join forces to overhaul federal listings

The General Services Administration's Federal Telecommunications Service is working with regional Bell operating companies nationwide to redesign the structure of federal listings in local telephone books and to include electronicmail addresses. FTS commissioner Bob Woods said the redesign will ma

Digital Government

Sprint to offer ATM to NASA on FTS 2000

ATLANTA Apparently succeeding where its chief competitor failed, representatives from Sprint's Government Systems Division said last week they have negotiated a deal to offer Asynchronous Transfer Mode capability to NASA on the FTS 2000 network. Intense negotiations between Sprint, the General S

Digital Government

Plan puts all employees on the Net by summer

The General Services Administration plans to make the Internet available to every one of its 15,000 employees by this summer, claiming it is the first federal agency to put every worker, regardless of grade, into cyberspace. In one of his first messages to GSA employees this month, acting administr

Digital Government

Sprint to cut its rates

The General Services Administration's Federal Telecommunications Service last week struck a deal with Sprint to decrease its rates on FTS 2000 and save an estimated $86 million over the remainder of the contract. John Okay, deputy commissioner of FTS, said those savings are in addition to an estima

Digital Government

Firm adds PC front ends to mainframe apps

Network Software Associates Inc., a 12yearold, Arlington, Va., government contractor specializing in SNA gateway products, has expanded its offerings to include PCbased graphical user interfaces (GUIs) designed to let mainframe applications run in Microsoft Corp. Windows environments. The compan

Digital Government

House rethinks GAO overhaul

The leadership of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee has begun to rethink its plans to restructure the General Accounting Office, in light of recent testimony opposing some aspects of the committee's draft legislation. A committee staff member said the most controversial recommenda

Digital Government

Clinger, Horn ask GSA to pare Post-FTS 2000

Key members of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee this month asked acting General Services Administration chief David Barram to reduce the duration of the PostFTS 2000 contract from 10 to three years and to prohibit companies that win the contract from offering local services. The

Digital Government

Stillman removes six from board

Neil Stillman, president of the Federation of Government Information Processing Councils (FGIPC), last week succeeded in his attempt to remove six FGIPC board members who opposed his recent moves against the Industry Advisory Council (IAC), setting the stage for a potentially rancorous FGIPC annual

Digital Government

Current rules hamper states' FTS 2000 use

A representative from Maryland's House of Delegates last month contacted General Services Administration chief David Barram about the state's potential use of the FTS 2000 contract but was later told that GSA lacks the authority to offer longdistance services to state and local governments. Delega