Digital Government

Thie tackles parks' preservation

As a lover of dogs a fan of auto racing and a custodian of America's icons Don Thie knows all about competition. He's seen it at the Indianapolis 500. He's seen it in dog shows. And he's seen it in the budget process in which he tries to wrangle as much money as possible for information technology

Digital Government

Air Force purchases first private satellite technology

The Air Force last week departed from decades of tradition with dedicated intelligence satellites and awarded its first satelliteimaging contract based on commercial technology instead of agencyspecific hardware. Orbital Sciences Corp. won the contract that will allow the Defense Department to sh

Digital Government

GAO: INS not following procedures

In a report released last month the General Accounting Office charged that the Immigration and Naturalization Service failed to follow proper analytical procedures for developing a new financial management system. 'INS selected a new financial management system without focusing first on conducting

Digital Government

Date-conversion biz lags for vendors

Although the government predicts it will spend billions of dollars fixing potential Year 2000 problems in its software programs most of the activity to date has been done within agencies with little business surfacing for product and service vendors. Federal agencies now have less than 30 months to

Digital Government

CDSI snares $30M pact to overhaul grant system

The Education Department last week awarded a $30 million contract to CDSI Business Applications Solutions (BAS) Co. to reengineer operate and maintain the financial management computer system for the department's Pell Grant program one of the largest financial aid programs in the nation. The Clint

Digital Government

Mars mission to test use of Internet

When the space probe Pathfinder lands on Mars July 4 unfolds its three solar panels and deploys a tiny rover that scientists will control remotely to collect information Earthbound Internet users also will have the opportunity to guide a simulated Martian rover. The project part of a NASA outreach

Digital Government

Time running out on VBA systems fix

The Department of Veterans Affairs' Veterans Benefits Administration could face widespread computer systems failures resulting in delays in benefits to millions of veterans if the agency does not act promptly to head off its Year 2000 problem a General Accounting Office official testified last week

Digital Government

Seattle firm finds demand for compression software

LizardTech a tiny Seattle firm that spun out of the Los Alamos National Laboratory close to four years ago has found that the federal government is taking a keen interest in its new compression software MrSID. MrSID short for Multiresolution Seamless Image Database allows users to digitally compres

Digital Government

DEA to Tap State/Local Databases

DEA to Tap State/Local Databases

Digital Government

INS taps Lockheed for $83M pact

The Immigration and Naturalization Service this month awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. a contract worth up to $83 million to manage a system that allows federal agencies to check if immigrants are legally eligible for federal benefits. Lockheed will provide technical support and automated data process

Digital Government

Paragon aims software at feds

Paragon Imaging Inc. Woburn Mass. this month rolled out to the federal market a new product that company officials say will mean saved time for federal imagery analysts. The new offering is a software package called Electronic Light Table 7000 R.3. The software surpasses its predecessor ELT/6000 in

Digital Government

NIMA goes Hollywood

The National Imagery and Mapping Agency is turning to Hollywood to help soup up the maps and satellite imagery it provides to the military services and intelligence community. NIMA currently is evaluating a highly sophisticated system for storing retrieving and manipulating images recorded by satel

Digital Government

GDE lands library-images pact from AF

The Air Force last month chose GDE Systems Inc. to maintain and upgrade a huge library of satellite images used by the Defense and intelligence communities to plan missions. The Image Product Library is part of the massive U.S. Imagery System which the National Imagery and Mapping Agency is creatin

Digital Government

Marines take new IT to Sierra Leone

Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs) responding to realworld contingencies in Sierra Leone and the Congo during the past month tapped into newly deployed command control and information technology systems to support these missions. Marines from the 22nd MEU who last week evacuated 2 500 Americans and

Digital Government

Firm sets up on-linetracking service

A Reston Va.based information technology procurement consulting firm last month began marketing an online service that allows vendors to track the status of federal procurements. The Federal Capture Group's service called ITFedStrat 2000 initially will track up to 1 000 opportunities said Joe Coo

Digital Government

Canadian chip to stalk killer germs

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency last month awarded $2 million to a Canadian consortium in an ongoing effort to develop a microchipbased device that would offer soldiers and medical technicians a simpler quicker and more portable way to test if they are being attacked by killer germs

Digital Government

HHS to offer doctors, patients medical facts on-line

Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services last week revealed plans to place online uptodate practices for treating a variety of medical conditions a move that could help accelerate the quality of health care in rural areas and inner cities. HHS plans to have the huge clearinghou

Digital Government

CORDS allows creators' on-line submissions

The U.S. Copyright Office last month opened a third test site for an online copyright registration system that should allow the office to keep up with an increased workload without having to add legions of employees.

Digital Government

Minority firms hold tight to fed business

While minority firms generally have more difficulty landing federal business information technology contracts are finding their way to small and disadvantaged companies according to minority business owners. At a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution executives

Digital Government

House panel eyes solutions to SSA on-line privacy problem

Social Security Administration officials under fire for a system that allowed easy access to personal earnings and benefits records over the World Wide Web were told at a House hearing last week that the agency's actions could serve as a blueprint for other federal agencies that use the Web to dist