Digital Government

USPS wants control of '.us' domain

Angling for a role in the world of electronic media, the U.S. Postal Service said it wants to manage a toplevel Internet address domain that would allow it to take advantage of possible electronic services in the future. With the backing of the White House, USPS is floating a proposal that would g

Digital Government

House backs telecommuting

With funds to operate telecommuting centers around the Washington, D.C., area almost depleted, a provision in an appropriations bill could breathe new life into the program. The fiscal 1999 appropriations bill (H.R. 4104) that would fund the Treasury Department, the U.S. Postal Service and other ag

Digital Government

FAA awards satellite navigational pact to AMTI

The Federal Aviation Administration this month awarded a contract to Advanced Management Technology Inc. to improve satellitebased navigational technology for civilian pilots. The Satellite Navigation Technical Assistance Contract (SNTAC), which is worth $62 million over seven years, will provide

Digital Government

USPS open to federal suit

In a ruling that may open up more protests of contract awards from government corporations, the Court of Federal Claims this month declared that the U.S. Postal Service is a federal agency and may be sued in federal court. The court ruled that although USPS is an 'independent establishment,' it is

Digital Government

Controllers slam radar system outages

With new replacement systems still two years away, radar screens at a major air traffic control center in New England are blanking out at an increasing rate, forcing a shift to backup systems that are not always online and increasing the likelihood of midair collisions. Additionally, controllers ch

Digital Government

Nortel plans to acquire Bay

Angl ing for a leading role in the Internetbased communications market, telephone equipment vendor Northern Telecom Ltd. announced plans last week to acquire data networking company Bay Networks Inc. in a deal valued at $9.1 billion. The acquisition should provide more product choices to federal a

Digital Government

EC program presents 'single face'

An electronic commerce service provider has kicked off an effort to create a 'single face to industry' for government EC, a plan that would compete with similar government programs. Loren Data Corp., a valueadded network, announced this month in the Commerce Business Daily that it is looking for i

Digital Government

TechNet focuses on better communications

WASHINGTON, D.C. Industry vendors displayed a wide range of new technology at the TechNet '98 Conference, sponsored by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, ranging from Defensespecific solutions to commercial products. But the focus clearly was on better communications. '

Digital Government

CSC employee bikes to fight AIDS

Two summers ago, when Computer Sciences Corp. employee Karen Clark saw the sea of bike riders on the Mall in Washington, D.C., ending their 250mile ride to raise money for AIDS research, she did not hesitate to join them the following year in the annual AIDS Ride.

Digital Government

Vendor group asks Congress to kill ITOP II

Maintaining that agencies have created too many similar acquisition vehicles, an industry group last week asked Congress to terminate a $10 billion governmentwide contract planned by the Transportation Department.

Digital Government

Wang unveils Tempest version of Cisco router

Wang Global introduced two new Tempest networking products, including its first Tempest router, for the intelligence community and other agencies that are concerned about the security of their data. The Wang Tempest router is based on the Cisco Systems Inc. 2514 router, and the Tempest 10/100 megab

Digital Government

NPR effort to take flight after USPS folds WINGS

The U.S. Postal Service's decision last month to shut down its Internet site that offered the public integrated government services underscores the challenges associated with governmentwide electronic service delivery. The Web Interactive Network of Government Services (WINGS), which USPS launched

Digital Government

FAA delays STARS rollout

The Federal Aviation Administration late last month said it will delay rollout of its critical $1 billion air traffic control modernization program by at least nine months to fix potentially hazardous design flaws identified by air traffic controllers and technicians.

Digital Government

Software makes e-mail available over the phone

Infinite Technologies unveiled a messaging product last week that will allow PC users working outside the office to listen and reply to email messages via the telephone. Called Infinite Voice, the product makes it possible to listen, forward and respond to email messages from any TouchTone phone

Digital Government

USDA's Leo sows seeds of change

Joseph Leo, team leader of the administrative convergence implementation planning team at the Agriculture Department, explained his function as analogous to that of a basketball coach. As he explained it, he must quickly motivate people to work together as a team and convince them that change will

Digital Government

GAO investigators find State, FAA computer systems easy to hack

The State Department and the Federal Aviation Administration have pervasive computer security weaknesses that hackers could use to access international financial and travel information and to interrupt the nation's air traffic control (ATC) systems, according to reports released last week. The Gene

Digital Government

GAO: Aging ATC system at risk

The Federal Aviation Administration's critical but antiquated air traffic control system could threaten air traffic because it has failed many times, and fixing the system will be challenging, according to the General Accounting Office. Air traffic controllers use the socalled host computer system

Digital Government

DOT, NIH partner for contract services

After competing headtohead with the National Institutes of Health's governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWACs) for two years, the Transportation Department plans to provide contract administration services for agencies that buy off those NIH contracts. The two agencies plan to sign the agreemen

Digital Government

Agencies' IT spending nears $30B in fiscal '99

Federal agencies will spend almost $30 billion with private information technology contractors in fiscal 1999, according to a report released last week by consulting firm Federal Sources Inc. At its annual conference last week, Federal Sources, McLean, Va., estimated fiscal 1999 IT spending will to

Digital Government

USDA 'unlikely' to meet Y2K deadline, GAO says

It is 'highly unlikely' that the Agriculture Department will fix all its computer systems in time for the Year 2000 date change, the General Accounting Office reported today. At a hearing before the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, Joel Willemssen, director of civil agencies in