Digital Government

SSG joins the elite group of software developers

The Air Force Standard Systems Group the Defense Department's largest central development activity late last month joined an elite group of software organizations after successfully completing an exhaustive sixyear effort to improve the management of its development processes. The Headquarters Sta

Digital Government

INDUSTRY WATCH

Iomega debuts Ditto MaxIomega Corp. last week announced Ditto Max a tape backup drive which supports 3.5G 5G 7G or 10G compressedcapacity cartridges. Ditto Max's multiplecapacity feature is designed to prevent users from outgrowing their tape backup gear as their hard disks increase in capacity.

Digital Government

House mulls slashing DOD work force

A key congressional panel has called for slashing the Defense Department acquisition work force by 40 percent and Pentagon headquarters staffs by 25 percent predicting the cutbacks will save $15 billion during a fiveyear period. The House Committee on National Security inserted these provisions wh

Digital Government

Hughes, NYC vendor team on Army project

Hughes Training Inc. earlier this month turned to a Wall Streetbased vendor to help develop the distributedobject architecture that will be at the heart of a major Army simulation training program. The Fusion Systems Group Inc. runs Sun Microsystems Inc.'s New York Object Reality Center which spe

Digital Government

Army opts for BPAs to buy software, peripherals, chips

The Army Small Computer Program office last week decided to cancel plans for an indefinitedelivery indefinitequantity contract for PC software peripherals and chip upgrades opting instead for blanket purchase agreements that will be more limited in scope. The Standard System Technology Support1

Digital Government

Small firms provide expertise on NASA deal

Hughes STX is tapping two small disadvantaged businesses for their expertise on its recently awarded $148 million NASA Ames Software Support contract. Aerospace Computing and Recom Technologies Inc. are subcontractors to Hughes on the Ames deal. Both companies have previous business ties with NASA.

Digital Government

Hughes STX wins $148M pact

The NASA Ames Research Center last week awarded Hughes STX Corp. a $148 million contract to support the use of information technology in its vast array of research activities which range from testing new highspeed aircraft in a massive wind tunnel to searching the universe for other life forms. Un

Digital Government

GAO pushes DOD for better financial software processes

As part of its review of the Defense Department's financial management systems the General Accounting Office is pushing the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) to improve software development processes at its Indianapolis facility. DOD has been under scrutiny for several years because of

Digital Government

SCO to release Tarantella for Internet applications

The Santa Cruz Operation Inc. this month is releasing the beta version of Tarantella a suite of software products designed to ease the process of deploying applications over the Internet. Tarantella running on top of SCO's OpenServer Unix operating system makes it possible to give Javaenabled clie

Digital Government

Wage-determination software goes on-line

Before putting out a solicitation for a construction project or for other services the Army Corps of Engineers is required by law to contact the Labor Department for the minimum acceptable wages the Corps must pay for the services. This decadesold practice ensures that privatesector workers are n

Digital Government

IBM rolls out new CMOS products

IBM Corp. last week introduced a new family of microprocessorbased System/390 mainframes that supersedes the capacity of the largest systems based on older processor technology. In addition to the new hardware IBM introduced a new version of its Unixbranded OS/390 operating system along with othe

Digital Government

INDUSTRY WATCH

HP unveils server storage systemAs part of a new push into the data center environment with its 'Wintel' product line HewlettPackard Co. this week is unveiling a highend network server and a highdensity storage system. The NetServer LXr Pro based on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT comes with up to

Digital Government

Netscape software gains momentum with new deals

Netscape Communications Corp. has secured large orders of its new Communicator browser and SuiteSpot server products in recent months from a bevy of civilian and Defense agencies including the Defense Department's largest agency. More than 17 civilian agencies and three Defense agencies are among 1

Digital Government

Intercepts

Following a different trail. The Interceptor worn out from nearly a month of travel in the Western Pacific took some muchneeded R&R last week in Wild Wonderful West Virginia. From his secluded location the Interceptor was likely to pick up nothing but a stray country song given his preference

Digital Government

Turning tech into customer service

Lt. Col. William P. Golden director of command control communications and computers for the President's Office of National Drug Control Policy sees himself as 'a gadget person.' At home he has a computerdriven lawn sprinkler and pool system he carries the latest model of cellular phones and he wea

Digital Government

Pentagon kicks off networking renovation

As part of a decadelong wedgebywedge renovation of the Pentagon the Defense Department plans to award a single 10year systems integration contract worth several hundred million dollars to build a new communications backbone and management capability. The Pentagon Information Management and Tele

Digital Government

Navy awards BPAs for shipboard tech

The Navy last week put into place a key component of its Information Technology for the 21st Century (IT21) initiative with the award of four blanket purchase agreements for building shipboard technology solutions. The Navy awarded BPAs to Computer Sciences Corp. Lockheed Martin Corp. Litton/PRC I

Digital Government

Kelley nominated for director

Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen last week ended more than a month of speculation by nominating Army Maj. Gen. David J. Kelley as the new director of the Defense Information Systems Agency. If confirmed by Congress Kelley presently DISA's vice director will replace Lt. Gen. Albert Edmonds who

Digital Government

AF, Sterling test remote viewing plan

At a time when government software programs are under close scrutiny the Air Force Global Weather Center and contractor Sterling Software Inc. are forging a unique relationship in which the government can regularly view

Digital Government

The Navy scales back BPA plans

Concerned with an increasing number of broadly scoped procurement vehicles the Navy recently scaled back what industry vendors had viewed as a large and strategic systems and services buy. The Tactical Advanced ComputerEnterprise Solutions program will establish blanket purchase agreements with as