Digital Government

GAO: USDA 'unlikely' to meet Y2K deadline

The U.S. Coast Guard already has experienced computer systems failures as a result of the Year 2000 bug and in at least one instance has not yet fixed the problem.

Digital Government

Henderson named new Postmaster General

William J. Henderson today was named Postmaster General of the U.S. Postal Service. He replaces Marvin Runyon, who resigned earlier this year to return to the private sector. .

Digital Government

AMS invests heavily in the fed financial market

Paul Brands, chief executive officer of American Management Systems Inc., may have been preaching to the choir at a recent user conference when he emphasized the company's commitment to the federal government market. Brands was speaking to about 600 AMS government users who had gathered in Washingt

Digital Government

Commerce kicks off plan to reduce IT worker shortage

In an effort to address the increasing shortage of information technology workers, the Commerce Department on Monday announced several outreach initiatives to help attract talent to the hightech industr

Digital Government

Training system to improve security

In an effort to tighten aviation security, the Federal Aviation Administration plans to install a standard computerbased training (CBT) system to better prepare personnel who operate security screening equipment at airports. The FAA recently awarded an estimated $11 million contract to Safe Passag

Digital Government

Agencies team to beef up online CBD

Trying to succeed where others have failed, the Commerce Department, NASA and the General Services Administration have joined forces to create a single online entry point for industry to access governmentwide procurement opportunities. The initiative builds on the existing Commerce Business Daily

Digital Government

GAO report details air traffic control host computer failings

Federal agencies may now contract directly with socially and economically disadvantaged firms in the Small Business Administration 8(a) program, according to an agreement SBA signed May 4 with 25 other agencies.

Digital Government

Group submits draft policies on e-mail use

An interagency working group last month released draft policies aimed at encouraging agencies to reduce the size and to determine the appropriate use of email messages. The Federal Email Postmasters Council (Fedpost), which was formed by the Chief Information Officers Council's Interoperability C

Digital Government

Bay's switch 'tunnels' over Internet

Bay Networks Inc. this week will introduce an extranet switch that gives smaller agencies a less expensive alternative to more traditional remoteaccess equipment and dialup services. Bay's Extranet Switch 1000 connects remote users to an organization's internal intranet over the public Internet.

Digital Government

Census relies on IT for faster, low-cost count

Faced with the task of counting hundreds of millions of people and delivering those results in just months, the Census Bureau last month began a dress rehearsal for the 2000 census by testing computers ranging from digital imaging systems to an online system that will disseminate customized census

Digital Government

Forest Service reforms financial management

American Express Co. last week said it plans to drop out of the competition to supply agencies with the next generation of charge cards, which will test innovative services such as smart cards and electronic commerce applications.

Digital Government

AmEx to dump federal travel, purchase card biz

American Express Co. last week said it plans to drop out of the competition to supply agencies with the next generation of charge cards, which will test innovative services such as smart cards and electronic commerce applications.

Digital Government

NOAA, FAA software improves forecasts

New weather forecasting software developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with support from the Federal Aviation Administration, is providing more accurate weather forecasts and improving safety for aviation. The new modeling software, which went live earlier this month, wi

Digital Government

Packet Engines unwraps Gigabit Ethernet wares

Packet Engines Inc. this week introduced a line of Gigabit Ethernet routing switches designed to increase bandwidth on the network backbone and to provide highspeed connections to data centers. The PowerRail family of routing switches includes three models: the 1000, designed for the edge of the n

Digital Government

Agencies expand use of groupware

Although groupware technology has been around for several years, federal agencies have dramatically expanded their deployment of sophisticated groupware applications, with a growing emphasis on using the World Wide Web. Groupware is collaborative computing that encompasses everything from calendari

Digital Government

Safer Skies takes flight through IT

The Federal Aviation Administration's safety initiative announced last week aims to reduce the number of fatal aviation accidents fivefold in the next 10 years by relying heavily on new technology. Under the socalled Safer Skies initiative, the FAA will take steps to prevent engine failures and so

Digital Government

Sun wins $500M USPS deal

The U.S. Postal Service recently awarded its largest single contract ever for Unix equipment to Sun Microsystems Inc. in a deal that could be worth as much as $500 million. Under the nineyear Scaleable Midrange Computer contract, Sun will provide its full range of Unix servers and associated softw

Digital Government

IT central to FAA safety program

The Federal Aviation Administration unveiled a safety initiative today that it hopes will reduce the number of fatal aviation accidents fivefold by relying heavily on new technology.

Digital Government

Transportation readies $10B ITOP follow-on procurement

The Transportation Department released Friday a draft solicitation for a sevenyear, $10 billion multipleaward services contract that will be open to agencies throughout the government. The Information Technology Omnibus ProcurementII contract is a followon to the popular ITOP, a 2yearold cont

Digital Government

Software helps pilots avoid trouble

Two new commercial software packages developed with help from NASA will help pilots of small planes avoid dangerous terrain and pinpoint their location on a map while in flight. The PCbased software combines Global Positioning System satellite data with highresolution topographical maps to give p