Digital Government

OPM drafts vision for work force

Hoping that it can help ease the squeeze of a tight information technology labor market on agencies, the Office of Personnel Management last month moved a step closer to revising the way the government structures and defines the work performed by its IT work force. OPM last month released a draft l

Digital Government

Federal IT czar position gets boost

A top federal chief information officer last week called on the government to create a federal IT czar, whose job would be to establish a common vision for information technology programs governmentwide. The idea has drawn cautious support from other federal CIOs. Roger Baker, the Commerce Departme

Digital Government

Partnership joins up XML, EDI

Electronic data interchange vendor OAO Corp. and electronic forms provider JetForm Corp. last month announced they will integrate their respective technologies to make it easier for organizations to conduct electronic commerce transactions. Under the agreement, users will be able to fill out and su

Digital Government

USDA to go mobile

The Agriculture Department this month plans to kick off a pilot program that includes using mobile offices to deliver its services to farmers who live in underserved areas, such as Indian reservations. The mobile offices are part of the USDA's larger service center initiative that colocates the U

Digital Government

USDA offers one-stop biotechnology shop online

The Agriculture Department today unveiled a new World Wide Web site that provides the public with an information clearinghouse on biotechnology and the department's role in regulating biotechnology in the United States.

Digital Government

Regulation would bar disreputable vendors from fed pacts

A proposed regulation that aims to protect the government from unreliable contractors is too vague and would hurt small businesses, senior government leaders told Congress last week.

Digital Government

AWIPS wins, Census loses in fiscal 2000 Commerce budget

The House and Senate last week approved the conference report on a bill that would offer critical funding for a highprofile information technology program at the Commerce Department. But the funds fall far short of President Clinton's budget request for the Census Bureau.

Digital Government

Clinton, Congress get tough on USDA spending bill

President Clinton signed into law on Oct. 22 an appropriations bill that prohibits the Agriculture Department from buying new information technology systems or funding significant upgrades without the approval of the agency's chief information officer.

Digital Government

GPO gunning for NTIS jobs

As critics questioned whether the decision to close the National Technical Information Service makes sense, officials from the Government Printing Office on Thursday asked Congress for control of NTIS' document collection and associated services.

Digital Government

OPM proposes new IT job categories

As agencies feel the pinch of a tight labor market, the Office of Personnel Management this week moved one step closer to revising the way the government structures and defines the work performed by its information technology work force.

Digital Government

NARA fees miff feds

A new National Archives and Records Administration program that requires agencies to pay for storage and retrieval of paper records has angered some agencies, threatening NARA's upgrade to its storage and retrieval system. Under the federal records center reimbursable program, which began Oct. 1, N

Digital Government

GTE wins $30M weather contract

The National Weather Service recently awarded GTE Information Systems LLC a contract potentially worth $29.4 million to build a more reliable and less expensive satellitebased system to disseminate weather information. GTE will beef up the existing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration W

Digital Government

NWS forecasting hampered after supercomputer fire

The National Weather Service's central supercomputer used to generate weather forecast models caught fire and subsequently stopped operating late last month, forcing the agency to rely on backup systems and delaying delivery of data to users. NWS' National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP

Digital Government

PTO takes biotech patents online

The Patent and Trademark Office can now receive a limited number of patent applications over the Internet following a successful test of the agency's electronic filing system.

Digital Government

OMB sets goals for small-business contracting

In an effort to promote the use of small businesses in federal contracting, the Office of Management and Budget today issued final guidance that sets federal prime and subcontracting goals for different categories of small businesses.

Digital Government

FAA: International airports, airlines still have Y2K work to do

Although the Federal Aviation Administration says it has successfully fixed Year 2000 bugs in the U.S. air traffic control system, airports and airlines still have some work to do before they will be ready for the endoftheyear rollover, according to information released today by the FAA.

Digital Government

NIC looks to federal market

Electronic government service provider National Information Consortium Inc. this month acquired the eFed division from online procurement software vendor Electric Press Inc.

Digital Government

New NIST site shows how standards are set

Do you know what that American Dental Association stamp on your toothbrush means? Do you know why you should care?

Digital Government

GAO: Census budget soars because sampling counted out

Most of the $1.7 billion in additional funding requested by the Census Bureau to conduct the 2000 census will help pay for an increased workload that includes data processing activities, reduced employee productivity and increased advertising, the General Accounting Office recently found.

Digital Government

DOT's George Molaski begins a third and final endeavor?public service

For George Molaski, the Transportation Department's first chief information officer, a job with the government seemed like the logical next step for someone who already had experienced life as a student and a businessman.