Digital Government
DOD benefit-check system hits Europe
Last month, in an effort to cut down on fraud, the Defense Department in Europe finished rolling out an upgrade of the systems it uses in the United States to track service records as well as health and other benefits for millions of service members worldwide. DOD views the Realtime Automated Perso
Digital Government
MapInfo software ups accuracy
MapInfo Corp. this month released a new version of its desktop geographic software that should enable federal users to produce maps that convey data more accurately. The product, MapInfo Professional 5.0, comes only nine months after the company's last release of the product, which is used among fe
Digital Government
Primedia buys Federal Sources
New Yorkbased publishing giant Primedia Inc. on Friday acquired information technology consulting firm Federal Sources Inc., McLean, Va., for an undisclosed sum. Federal Sources will be part of a publishing conglomerate that includes magazines such as Chicago, Modern Bride, New York, Seventeen and
Digital Government
House OK'd to use purchasing software
The inspector general of the House of Representatives has given approval for a product that will automate the procurement process for the House's IT purchases. The IG told the House chief administrative officer he could roll out Procurement Desktop, which is manufactured by American Management Syst
Digital Government
OMB seeks better Y2K cost tally
In an effort to calculate a more accurate cost of fixing federal computers for the Year 2000 problem, the Office of Management and Budget this month asked agencies to prepare more detailed reports on Year 2000 costs. OMB issued a memorandum Aug. 13 that directed agencies to submit by Sept. 1 with t
Digital Government
Geographic council backed
While federal agencies still take issue with a report calling for a central council to coordinate the federal, state and local collection of geographic data, some states are beginning to support the idea. North Carolina recently threw its weight behind the proposed National Spatial Data Council, a
People
Schools Should Use Caution When Spending E-Rate Money
Experts last week warned school districts that are waiting on E-Rate money to think twice before moving forward on any technology purchasing decisions
Digital Government
VA site reacts to war movie
Steven Spielberg's latest epic, the World War II movie 'Saving Private Ryan,' seems to have stirred up more than sales at the box office. The Department of Veterans Affairs has set up a section on its World Wide Web site for those veterans who may suffer from flashbacks or posttraumatic stress dis
Digital Government
VA project lets workers do self-service HR
The Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a $1.6 million contract to Talx Corp., St. Louis, to develop an internal World Wide Web site that will allow VA employees to view and update their personal employment information. The contract is part of a VA project to streamline the often timeconsum
Digital Government
IEEE picks Lucent wireless proposal
An international standards organization last month chose a proposal by Lucent Technologies Inc. and Harris Corp. as the standard for sending wireless data at more than five times the speed of many existing wireless networks a development that should bode well for the military and other agencies.
Digital Government
INS: Splitting agency would harm info tech
A bill that would remove border control duties from the Immigration and Naturalization Service and place them in a new agency is speeding its way through Congress. But some observers say the bill could undo vital information links the federal government uses to process immigrants. Rep. Hal Rogers (
Digital Government
FBI, DOD sites strip away the gloss
The FBI and the Defense Department have given new looks to their central World Wide Web sites, and both have opted to defy convention by stripping down, rather than dressing up, the appearance of those sites. The newly designed FBI home page (www.fbi.gov) supplants the somewhat jazzy, iconsmattere
Digital Government
Anti-piracy bill threatens security tests
A bill designed primarily to protect digital copyright laws contains a provision that could make illegal the network security testing often used by federal agencies to gauge how safe their networks are from hacker attacks or other unauthorized uses. The legislation, called the Digital Millennium Co
Digital Government
Bell Atlantic, GTE combo could aid feds
Although driven by a strategy focused on the commercial market, the proposed $52 billion merger of GTE Corp. with Bell Atlantic Corp. announced last week may bring the benefits of soupedup products and services to federal customers, telecommunications observers said. Under the terms of the agreeme
Digital Government
BOP taps two vendors for network buy
The Bureau of Prisons earlier this month awarded blanket purchase agreements to Vanstar Government Systems Inc. and Intellisys Technology Corp. for providing the bureau with all the hardware, software and services it needs to maintain its networks. Products and services supplied under BOPnet 2000 w
Digital Government
AMS wins $62M pact for support
The Minerals Management Service earlier this month awarded American Management Systems Inc. a $62 million contract to support information systems used to track about $4 billion a year in royalties paid to American Indian tribes and federal and state governments. The royalties come largely from comp
Digital Government
Tech, Hill issues leave border control in limbo
Despite a looming Sept. 30 deadline, a top Immigration and Naturalization Service official told Congress last week that the agency does not know when it will have in place a controversial system designed to monitor border crossings. The INS would use the entry/exit control system to keep track of i
Digital Government
VA responds to GAO criticism of IT management
The General Accounting Office this month released a report criticizing the Department of Veterans Affairs for failing to have a sound strategy for using and buying information technology. The report comes only weeks after the VA announced it would create the Office of the Assistant Secretary for In
Digital Government
Feds not IDing key systems for Y2K fixes, GAO says
Although the Clinton administration has directed agencies to focus on fixing missioncritical systems for the Year 2000 bug, many agencies still have not identified what systems are mission critical, a top General Accounting Office official said this month. Since February 1997, the Office of Manag
Digital Government
Senate curbs outsourcing bill
Bowing to pressure from labor unions, a Senate committee last week watered down a bill that would have forced agencies to put large portions of federal work, including information technology services, up for competition between government and the private sector. The Senate Governmental Affairs Comm
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