Modernization

GSA launches revamped contract for cloud computing

Procurement increases security standards while offering similar services.

Digital Government

Complex Networx contract causes more work, delays for acquisition staffs

Contract's complexity and limited staff resources hinder progress, experts say.

Digital Government

Lawmaker questions data error in a Census Bureau report on states' finances

Mistake underscores government's need to shift to a widely used programming language to improve accuracy, analyst says.

Digital Government

Email Your Doc, 24/7

Parents increasingly are asking for greater access to their children's pediatricians through email and other online means of communication, according to a new survey.

Ideas

Hello World, Meet the United States

Federal agencies are all over the social media craze, using Twitter, Facebook and other tools to connect with the American public. But what if an agency has a different audience? Do the same strategies apply?

Cybersecurity

Comms to Cyber In 2 Weeks Flat

The U.S. Air Force is shifting 3,000 communications officers to become cybersecurity specialists with a series of new training and simulation courses, following the transition of 27,000 enlisted airman late last year.

Digital Government

Overhaul of Medicare websites focuses on transparency, usability

Agency awards $73.2 million contract for upgrades to incorporate user feedback.

Digital Government

Oh Yeah . . . the Patient

There's a lot of talk swirling about the pros and cons of e-health records. Will they affect cost? Will they improve safety? How feasible are they? But few ever thought to ask those most affected by this technology: the patient.

Ideas

Web Design Done Well

Nextgov <a href=http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2010/04/web_design_duds.php>wrote</a> a few weeks back about the best and worst of government websites. Now one more organization has jumped on the improvement bandwagon: The Federal Judiciary, home of the U.S. Courts, on Saturday launched a <a href=http://www.uscourts.gov/Home.aspx>redesigned website</a> complete with additional tools and a whole new look.

Digital Government

FHA looks for IT help to fight fraud in mortgage business

An increase in applications and claims has put pressure on the agency to streamline databases to better detect fraud.

Cybersecurity

White House asks public for game changing cybersecurity ideas

Obama administration lays out three areas to improve the reliability of cyberspace.

Ideas

MiLand, Your Land

Virtual worlds may be the way of the future, but government isn't quite ready to cede its methods to this particular technology.

Ideas

Virtual Worlds -- Virtually?

Today I'm covering the <a href=http://www.ndu.edu/irmc/fcvw/fcvw10/index.html>Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds conference</a> here in Washington. Sure, it's being held just a few miles away from Nextgov's offices, but I decided to try attending the conference about virtual worlds virtually. I had high expectations for this experience -- after all, isn't Second Life, one of the more widely used platforms for virtual interaction, cool?

Digital Government

Federal contract spending to drop next year, but IT business should rise

Agencies will spend more on e-health records, performance management tools and consolidation, report finds.

Ideas

Transparency in Hiring Reform?

The long-awaited reform of federal hiring procedures is finally underway, and the public soon may be able to follow the government's progress in deploying new practices.

Cybersecurity

FCC Building Cyber Certification

The Federal Communications Commission wants communications services providers to take a more serious approach to cybersecurity and is building a voluntary program to certify companies' practices.

Cybersecurity

Feds Failing File Transfer Test

Federal agencies are concerned about securely moving data from one system to another, but employees still are using unsafe transfer methods and leaving systems open to threats, according to a new <a href=http://www.meritalk.com/2010-ftpsecurityreport.php>survey</a>[registration required] from Meritalk and Axway, a security solutions provider.

Digital Government

Electronic waste recycling program falls short of lawmaker's expectations

Federal contractors don't conform to standards for the safe disposal of old computers, oversight panel chairman says.