Digital Government

Koskinen vs. Y2K: IT showdown

A year ago, John Koskinen was vacationing in Morocco with his wife when he received a telephone call from Washington, D.C., about a major opportunity that would consume his life for at least the next two years. A former deputy director of management at the Office of Management and Budget, Koskinen

Digital Government

IRS' telephone routing system under fire

The General Accounting Office has recommended that the Internal Revenue Service reassess an automated telephone routing system because most taxpayers who call for help are not using it. According to the GAO report, 'Tax Administration: IRS' Telephone Routing Interactive System May Not Meet Expectat

Digital Government

DOD reports more systems need Y2K fix

Amid numerous internal reports that are critical of its management of the Year 2000 problem, the Defense Department last week released a report indicating that it is further behind schedule in fixing computer systems for the millennium than previously reported. In its quarterly Year 2000 progress r

Digital Government

Cohen: Y2K takes priority

The Defense Department has warned the military services that it will impose a moratorium on all software system modifications in calendar 1999 if necessary to permit all its information technology resources to focus on fixing the Year 2000 millennium bug, according to a memo signed earlier this mon

Digital Government

GAO circulates draft Y2K testing guide

The General Accounting Office this summer began warning federal agencies to approach Year 2000 testing with extreme coordination and discipline to ensure that federal computer systems work properly at the turn of the century. As many agencies move closer to testing rewritten computer date code, GAO

Digital Government

Vion offers Y2K mainframe rental special

Systems integrator Vion Corp. last week announced a program in which it would offer federal agencies an opportunity to rent Hitachi Data Systems Inc. mainframes that come with special tools for identifying and fixing Year 2000 problems in software. The rental program is focused on providing HDS' Ru

Digital Government

IRS to upgrade service center phone system

A month after President Clinton approved legislation that requires the Internal Revenue Service to become more taxpayerfriendly, the agency is upgrading its telephone system with software that will make it easier to respond to customer service calls. The GeoTel Intelligent CallRouter software will

Digital Government

Council's site offers Y2K info

The President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion this summer unveiled a World Wide Web site that agencies can use to learn more about the Year 2000 problem. The site, at www.y2k.gov/java/index.htm, is updated as information on the Year 2000 problem becomes available. Those interested in how the gove

Digital Government

Downey calls for ITS Y2K fix

Mortimer Downey, deputy secretary of the Transportation Department, last week called for federal, state and local cooperation and guidance to help fix the Year 2000 problem in Intelligent Transportation Systems technology. ITS, a joint effort among federal, state and local governments, is designed

Digital Government

Clinton speaks out on Y2K

President Clinton, speaking publicly about the Year 2000 problem for the first time, drew praise from even some of his harshest critics last week after laying out his administration's work on fixing the government's computer systems for the millennium date change. However, those same critics said t

Digital Government

IRS reform legislation bolsters modernization effort

Tucked inside the Internal Revenue Service reform legislation approved by the Senate last week are provisions aimed at keeping the agency on track to modernize its computer systems. The measure, the most sweeping reform of the tax collection agency since 1952, focuses mainly on revamping the IRS to