Digital Government
FAA to sole-source WAAS to Hughes
The Federal Aviation Administration hopes to avoid major delays in the development of its Global Positioning Systembased navigation program by negotiating a contract on a solesource basis with Hughes Aircraft Co., just days after ending the original deal with Wilcox Electric. Hughes, a subcontrac
Digital Government
More firms offer SPI training and services
SALT LAKE CITY The federal government's focus on improving software development and acquisition has spawned a cottage industry of vendors large and small that offer software process improvement (SPI) training and services to agencies and their contractors. At least a dozen such vendors were pres
Digital Government
DOD rethinks closing AJPO
The Defense Department is reconsidering plans to close the Ada Joint Program Office (AJPO) in June 1997 because of concerns about public perception of the department's Ada policy. Some people within the department fear that "at a time when the DOD has expressed renewed interest [in Ada], to close
Digital Government
NTOPS halted after 2 protests filed
The Navy's dual award to Concept Automation Inc. and Cordant Inc. for 60,000 desktop and laptop computers was suspended last week, following a protest to the General Services Administration's Board of Contract Appeals by International Data Products Corp. Separately, Zenith Data Systems filed an age
Digital Government
Ada point man staves off chaos
Charles Engle Jr., the Pentagon's point man for the Ada software language and resolving the Year 2000 software conundrum, told a joke that gives some insight into the complexity of these two jobs. Speaking at last month's Defense Department Software Technology Conference, Engle related a tale of an
Digital Government
Move to legislation angers FAA officials
The House Science Committee has angered Federal Aviation Administration officials by attempting to put into law some of the key concepts of the agency's recently enacted acquisition system. The FAA said language in the Omnibus Science Authorization bill, marked up in full committee last week, prema
Digital Government
New Logistics Systems Identify, Track Bosnian Shipments
If the Defense Department ever ran a contest for the cleanest airfield, Tuzla Air Base, Bosnia, stands a good chance of winning, despite the mud. That's because Tuzla, the main airhead for the 1st Armored Division and its headquarters, is the most obvious beneficiary of a new Pentagon approach to l
Digital Government
Sun, Digital target feds with mainframe-class servers
Sun Microsystems Inc. and Digital Equipment Corp. are staking out territory in mainframeclass computing with the introduction earlier this month of new highend, Unixbased server technology. Sun's new 64bit Ultra Enterprise servers and Digital's TruCluster solution take different approaches, but
Digital Government
New Mapping Tools Aid Bosnian Mission
In Operation Joint Endeavor, the military is relying on new imagery software and other offtheshelf technology to deliver 3D and multilayered maps to the field. DOD commanders in Joint Endeavor now have as part of their arsenal the Defense Mapping Agency's PowerScene application and other terrain
Digital Government
Troops at Home With COTS Hardware, Software
Visit practically any U.S. unit in Bosnia, Croatia or Hungary whether it's doing business out of a tent, a trailer or a shotup office building and in one quick glance you'll see anything from a handful to a roomful of commercial offtheshelf computers and workstations. From the NATO Combine
Digital Government
Fields tapped as DISA's first CIO
The Defense Information Systems Agency appointed Shirley L. Fields as its first chief information officer. Fields most recently served as head of DISA's Defense Information Infrastructure Hardware/Software Department. In her new role, Fields intends to bring to DISA a much greater focus on performa
Digital Government
Two firms win DUATS
The Federal Aviation Administration last month awarded fiveyear contracts to incumbents GTE Information Systems and Data Transformation Corp. to continue operating the Direct User Access Terminal Service. DUATS gives general aviation users free access to weather information via modemequipped PCs.
Digital Government
Loral lands $113M battlefield simulation pact
Loral Federal Systems knocked off teams led by Hughes Training and TRW Inc. to win a $113 million Army contract to develop advanced simulation technology that will train warfighters for battlefield and peacekeeping missions. The Warfighter Simulation (Warsim) 2000 program will give Army commanders
Digital Government
FAA nixes $400M OATS follow-on
The Federal Aviation Administration, recently cut loose from federal procurement regulations, is taking advantage of its newfound freedom by canceling a planned $400 million office automation buy. The FAA Computer Technology Systems (FAACTS) program, on hold for several months, was planned as an i
Digital Government
Data center directors balk at A-76 revision
Federal data center directors are objecting to the recent revision of an Office of Management and Budget policy that makes it easier for federal agencies to outsource data center operations and other activities. The revised Circular A76, "Performance of Commercial Activities," modifies or elimin
Digital Government
DOD rewrites book on IT buys
Secretary of Defense William Perry last month approved a major rewrite of Defense Department acquisition guidelines, completing an intense effort to streamline how DOD buys technology. The reform effort began in 1992 with the recommendations of the Section 800 panel and now includes guidelines to b
Digital Government
MegaDrive inks fed reseller pact with EdgeMark
MegaDrive Systems Inc. has signed federal reseller EdgeMark Systems Inc. to carry its highperformance removable storage products. EdgeMark will bundle the storage gear as part of turnkey solutions based on Silicon Graphics Inc. workstations. MegaDrive markets five products that range in capacity f
Digital Government
Hughes, Sun win AF buy
The stage is set for fierce competition in the federal workstation arena with the dual award of contracts to Hughes Data Systems and Sun Microsystems Inc. under the $956 million Air Force Workstations I program. Workstations I will supply up to 37,000 portable and desktop Unix systems. Sun is offer
Digital Government
FAA threatens prime with pact termination
The Federal Aviation Administration is threatening to terminate the $475 million WideArea Augmentation System (WAAS) contract if prime contractor Wilcox Electric Inc. does not correct specified deficiencies in the program. In a March 18 "cure" letter sent to Wilcox, the FAA spelled out 10 areas
Digital Government
Tech infrastructure gets $600M overhaul
The Defense Mapping Agency plans to spend more than $600 million over the next eight years overhauling its technology infrastructure to meet the demands of the Defense Department's changing mission. After announcing an agency restructuring last June, DMA stepped up its modernization initiative in F
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