Digital Government

Integrators shore up work forces for Year 2000 projects

With the deadline looming for federal agencies to identify and fix Year 2000 software glitches, integrators, like the agencies, are stepping up efforts to find qualified people to do the work, even if it means turning to temporaryemployment agencies. While contractors report that most work is just

Digital Government

Air Force's costs soar skyward

The Air Force will spend hundreds of millions of dollars more than previously estimated to ensure that its thousands of computers properly process dates after 1999, according to new Air Force cost estimates. To fix its 2,944 computer systems so that they are Year 2000compliant, the Air Force now e

Digital Government

GAO: FAA's Y2K solution too little, late

The General Accounting Office is expected to tell House committees at a joint hearing this week that the Federal Aviation Administration is the 'furthest behind any other agency' in its attempts to fix its computers so that they will not fail after the centurydate change, according to a governmen

Digital Government

Agencies tackle nuts and bolts of Year 2000 problem

With just more than a year before the federal government is expected to finish fixing its Year 2000 computer glitches agencies now are delving into the gritty details of data interfaces staff shortages and backup plans for systems that fail. Agencies have been aware of these underlying problems but

Digital Government

Christoph heeds a call for help

There is something about public service that sparks the soul of Gary Christoph chief information officer at the Health Care Financing Administration. Christoph wearing a rustbrown suit a striped shirt and a silk multicolored bow tie explained that following a philosophy of helping others can help

Digital Government

HCFA warns noncompliant contractors

In a move to make computer systems that support the Medicare program Year 2000-compliant, the Health Care Financing Administration has threatened to deny new information technology contracts to vendors if they fail to make the systems Year 2000-compliant.

Digital Government

OMB gets tough with agencies

Pushing agencies to hasten their efforts to fix the century date processing problem in government computers the Office of Management and Budget is expected this week to require seven agencies to begin moving hundreds of millions of dollars earmarked for new information technology projects to fix da

Digital Government

SSA pushes to get PEBES service back online this month

The Social Security Administration still hopes it can meet its yearend target to bring back online its controversial Personal Earnings and Benefit Statement (PEBES) service but agency officials want to make sure the system is secure before going back online. SSA promised in September to put PEBES

Digital Government

PeopleSoft enhances federal HRMS package

PeopleSoft Inc. last month introduced a new version of its federal human resources management software (HRMS) suite that supports additional management functions and provides new features for accessing and managing data. PeopleSoft 7 HRMS for federal government users a version of its basic HRMS s

Digital Government

Davis to revive bill to open sked to states and localities

Rep. Tom Davis (RVa.) plans to reintroduce next month a bill that would allow state and local governments to purchase information technology products and services from the General Services Administration's schedule of contracts. Davis fought this year to include language in the Federal Acquisitio

Digital Government

GSA unveils Year 2000 database

In an effort to provide assistance to federal information technology personnel boggled by the number of commercial software offerings now touted as Year 2000compliant the General Services Administration this week will unveil its Year 2000 COTS Product Database. The database which officially opens

Digital Government

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Digital Government

GAO lambastes credit union regulator for slow IT fix

In its latest criticism of agencies that have failed to assess and fix computers to properly manage the Year 2000 date change the General Accounting Office last month blasted the National Credit Union Administration for not moving fast enough to fix its computer systems. Last month GAO told the Sen

Digital Government

GAO praises, criticizes SSA's Year 2000 efforts

The General Accounting Office last week presented a mixed bag of warnings and compliments to the Social Security Administration's efforts to make its computers Year 2000compliant. While praising SSA for having one of the most progressive programs to identify and fix computers so that they can prop

Digital Government

Labor reawards black lung pact to CSC

The Labor Department last week awarded a $47 million contract to Computer Sciences Corp. to transform the systems that process medical benefits to coal miners with black lung disease. Under the fouryear Black Lung Support Services contract which CSC has held since 1987 CSC will move Labor's Black

Digital Government

FEMA Disaster-Prediction Software Expands

FEMA Disaster Prediction Software Expands

Digital Government

FEMA to expand disaster prediction

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) last week agreed to issue a request for proposals to expand a system that predicts the number of deaths and economic losses from natural disasters. In four to six weeks NIBS a congressionally authorized n

Digital Government

Mitre to referee FAA, controllers' beefs

Under pressure from Congress the Federal Aviation Administration has done an aboutface and agreed to go back to the drawing board with air traffic controllers to iron out its flawed billiondollar ATC modernization project. The FAA has agreed to meet with Mitre Corp. a federally funded research an

Digital Government

IRS forms electronic signature policy

As part of the Internal Revenue Service's push to develop an electronic tax filing system the agency next month plans to issue a policy to authenticate socalled electronic signatures on tax returns. Mary Ellen Corridore management and program analyst with the IRS said the agency will identify alte

Digital Government

CIO: Tax bill hampers IRS' millennium fix

The chief information officer for the Internal Revenue Service last week said the taxcollection agency's schedule to make its computers Year 2000compliant will be disrupted by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. Arthur Gross speaking at a Year 2000 seminar held by the Information Technology Associat