Digital Government

VHA terminates COTS program

The Veterans Health Administration this month pulled the plug on a program that integrated commercially available products with an agencydeveloped system that manages patient information. VHA canceled the Hybrid Open Systems Technology (HOST) program, which it started in the early 1990s to give VH

Digital Government

Eclectic career leads Garvey to direct EPA database

Although Pat Garvey has tried to leave government service for decades, he just cannot seem to stay away. Luck and his heart have led Garvey to a varied career in government service, from working as a state social worker to a General Accounting Office auditor, from studying for the priesthood to tra

Digital Government

GTE demos encryption capability for cellular net

GTE Government Systems announced last month that it had successfully demonstrated the first use of a promising computer algorithm for national security over a commercial cellular network. The demonstration represents only one segment of a broad National Security Agency initiative known as 'Condor,'

Digital Government

IRS asks Congress for flexibility in tax reforms

The new commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service today called on Congress to give his agency more flexibility in abiding by proposed tax reforms so the agency can focus more on its Year 2000 problem.

Digital Government

GAO says Interior faces possible Y2K meltdown

The Interior Department, one of the least information technologyintensive federal agencies, faces a potentially crippling Year 2000 problem that could prevent it from managing millions of acres of land, according to the General Accounting Office. 'The department's core business process could fail

Digital Government

INS awards $400M pact to SAIC

The Immigration and Naturalization Service on Friday awarded a $400 million contract to Science Applications International Corp. to oversee the continued development of the agency's farflung information systems. Under the contract the first of five to spin out of the agency's $1.2 billion Servic

Digital Government

Clinton signs bill giving agencies Year 2000 money

President Clinton on May 1 signed a supplemental appropriations bill that will earmark close to $86 million for some agencies to pay for Year 2000 fixes in this fiscal year. The 1998 Supplemental Appropriations and Rescissions Act will set aside $40.8 million for the Treasury Department and the Int

Digital Government

FBI taps Harris for mobile radios

The FBI this month awarded an estimated $105 million contract to Harris Corp. to supply federal agents with mobile radios so that they can share data such as digital fingerprints and criminal records with one another and with other agencies. The award comes as the FBI and other law enforcement agen

Digital Government

MMS dives into better whale tracking

The Minerals Management Service last month awarded a software contract that will help the agency better analyze the migration habits of the endangered bowhead whale, whose seasonal wanderings bring it close to offshore oil rigs. MMS, an Interior Department agency in charge of managing the nation's

Digital Government

INS awards $400M pact to SAIC

The Immigration and Naturalization Service on Friday awarded a $400 million contract to Science Applications International Corp. to oversee the continued development of the agency's far-flung information systems.

Digital Government

Feds eye private forensics help

Faced with understaffed offices and a growing case backlog, federal agencies sifting through computers for evidence of crime may find relief with the opening last week of what observers believe to be the first privatesector computer forensics laboratory. Many agencies, from the FBI to the U.S. Pos

Digital Government

VA branch rolls out first of 5 telemedicine carts

The New England branch of the Department of Veterans Affairs has developed a compact telemedicine cart that doctors can use to consult with medical specialists, saving patients time and trouble. Many veterans venture across a state or states to consult with specialists such as dermatologists or oph

Digital Government

Kodak service spots changes in aerial pics

Eastman Kodak Co. earlier this month unveiled a new service to help federal agencies detect changes in aerial images of landscape that might not be readily visible to the human eye a capability generally associated with Defense and intelligence agencies. The new service, called Clear Change Image

Digital Government

FBI taps Harris for mobile radios

The FBI this month awarded an estimated $105 million contract to Harris Corp. to supply federal agents with mobile radios so that they can share data such as digital fingerprints and criminal records with one another and with other agencies. The award comes as the FBI and other law enforcement agen

Digital Government

NIMA requests detailed satellite map imagery

The National Imagery and Mapping Agency last month issued a call to industry for proposals on how to integrate commercial systems for processing highresolution imagery with the agency's existing systems. NIMA's request comes amid a changing mission focus for the Defense Department, which is respon

Digital Government

Hill looks at agencies' audits

Just two weeks after a scathing, firstofitskind audit of the government's consolidated financial statement revealed billions of dollars in discrepancies, the House last week began a series of hearings to delve into agencies' information mismanagement. The House Government Management, Information

Digital Government

DOD taps 7 vendors for integration effort

The Defense Department last week awarded contracts to seven vendors for a $2.5 billion program to build the nextgeneration military medical information system. The program the Defense Medical Information System/Systems Integration, Design, Development, Operations and Maintenance Services (D/SIDD

Digital Government

CFO defends DOD accounting systems

The deputy chief financial officer of the Defense Department told members of a House subcommittee today that his agency has firm control of its equipment including its information technology systems despite reports citing widespread information mismanagement at DOD.

Digital Government

DOD awards seven contracts for $2.5 billion to build health network

The Defense Department today awarded contracts to seven vendors as part of a $2.5 billion program that should help make military patient records accessible electronically from anywhere in the world.

Digital Government

Fingerprint scan brings access control to Windows

I/O Software Inc. late last month introduced an application that lets PC users log on to their workstations using their fingerprints. The new application, called SecureStart 98, is designed to block unauthorized access to Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 95 and Windows 98 operating systems. The product, w