Digital Government
NARA kicks off 20-month projectto digitize vast historical holdings
The National Archives and Records Administration last week began a 20month effort to digitize thousands of the nation's most significant historical documents and make them available on the World Wide Web. The project which will create electronic versions of papers photographs recordings maps and o
Digital Government
Optical media poised for summer splash
Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) the next generation of compact disc technology has been eagerly awaited by federal agencies who want to use it to store and distribute huge data sets including images and video more easily. The new optical storage media and DVDROM drives which are finally expected to b
Digital Government
EPA rolls out $200M RFP for telecommunications, support
The Environmental Protection Agency has launched a procurement for telecommunications and computer support that could be worth more than $200 million over five years. The National Telecommunications and Computing Support contract (National TACS) will replace a contract that is currently held by Loc
Digital Government
NARA records executive tackles archiving in the Digital Age
Michael Miller the new director of records management programs with the National Archives and Records Administration has spent his career looking for technology that can keep pace with history. For years Miller has grappled with the numerous historical and legal records created through federal agen
Digital Government
White House proposal sparks new debate over public keys
The Clinton administration last week rekindled the debate over whether law enforcement officials should have special access to encrypted data when it circulated draft legislation that the White House contends is needed to promote secure electronic commerce.
Digital Government
Treasury tackles IT structure overhaul
The Treasury Department has begun to radically restructure how it manages information technology creating a flatter more flexible organization designed to encourage more collaboration among its 14 bureaus. Jim Flyzik acting chief information officer at Treasury said the new structure would help the
Digital Government
IRS earns `C-minus' rating for security policies
The Internal Revenue Service last week received a 'Cminus' grade for work on its information security policies and procedures from a consultant who said the agency's biggest challenge is to match the protection it has developed for data to employees' need for access. Joseph Mahaffee a principal wi
Digital Government
OMB's rules could rehash interagency buying
Federal agencies and vendors involved with governmentwide contracts said last week that management guidelines for such vehicles recently issued by the Office of Management and Budget generally make 'common sense.' But one of the recommendations that agencies think about limiting interagency purch
Digital Government
GAO guidebook outlines steps for wise spending decisions
Agencies trying to figure out how information technology expenditures will benefit their operations without posing undue risks can turn to a new General Accounting Office guidebook for evaluating IT investments. The publication "Assessing Risks and Returns: A Guide for Evaluating Federal Agencies'
Digital Government
MAGIC switch from Motorola could yield public safety network
The Customs Service is working on developing an integrated radio communications network that would allow federal state and local law enforcement officials to communicate easily with one another.The project called MultiAgency Government Interoperable Communications (MAGIC) would allow Customs to co
Digital Government
OMB mulls new limits
Six months after agencies were freed from restrictive federal buying rules government officials and vendors are seeking fresh guidelines for how to manage and make purchases from new multipleagency information technology contracts. Buyers and sellers say they want to preserve the choices agencies
Digital Government
Agencies battle to meet IT rules
Two federal laws that required agencies to show how the billions of dollars spent on information technology were helping programs run better played at best a minimal role in the formation of fiscal 1998 budgets. The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) and the ClingerCohen Act demand fede
Digital Government
Training would put needy to work
Mitretek Systems of McLean Va. is crafting a special training program that may allow federal agencies to simultaneously tackle two vexing problems updating their computer systems so they function in the Year 2000 and providing jobs for welfare recipients. Mitretek and Virginia Tech's Northern Vir
Digital Government
Baltimore firm tapped for Treasury's TCS
The Treasury Department has begun to buy keymanagement technology from Information Resources Engineering Inc. (IRE) to allow users to remotely access its nationwide network the Treasury Communications System. The Baltimore firm is providing tokenbased encryption products including secure modems a
Digital Government
Agencies seek new sources of vendor info
Enter "scanners " "color" and "desktop" into your favorite Internet search engine and you will get 1 000 hits maybe more. This is part of market research postBrooks Act style but federal agencies are learning that there is more to searching out the latest commercial technologies than surfing
Digital Government
Year 2000 solutions are fighting time and money
The General Accounting Office warned federal agencies last week that potential computer malfunctions due to the Year 2000 problem are among the top risks to agency operations over the next three years. Unless agencies upgrade their systems to prevent such failures which will occur if systems impr
Digital Government
Putting government on a high-tech diet
President Clinton plans to rely on information technology to help manage a government that thinks smarter and works harder on a leaner funding diet in fiscal 1998. But he and top agency officials want to ensure that agencies think equally smart and work hard for the billions in IT dollars they plan
Digital Government
OMB, CIOs: Raines' rules require time
The Office of Management and Budget and agency chief information officers have concluded that they need more time to apply 'Raines' rules ' the set of criteria that OMB director Franklin Raines wants agencies to use to formulate their information technology budgets. At a meeting of the Chief Inform
Digital Government
NIH to launch ECS follow-on
The National Institutes of Health plans this week to launch the recompete of its popular Electronic Computer Store contracts this time as a fiveyear program potentially worth several hundred million dollars. The current ECS program has far surpassed the $96.8 million in sales that NIH anticipated
Digital Government
IRS, Oregon to test joint filing initiative
The Internal Revenue Service and the state of Oregon plan to test this year the joint filing of federal and state tax returns by asking businesses to use a single paper form that the state would scan to capture data electronically and then forward to the IRS. The project's main goal is to help smal
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