Digital Government

GPRA out of grasp

So far only a handful of federal agencies have succeeded in showing how spending relates to results, according to Rep. Stephen Horn (R-Calif.) and the General Accounting Office:

Digital Government

Access regs too pricey?

New 'accessibility' standards would require federal agencies to make their information technology from computers to photocopiers to World Wide Web sites usable by people with disabilities. But some agency technology experts fear the cost of compliance may be exorbitant.

Digital Government

Measuring agency performance: Out of reach

It is clear to Dean Mesterharm, the Social Security Administration's deputy commissioner for systems, that investing in information technology is essential for SSA.

People

House OKs emergency millions for IT

Bill sent to Senate includes $45 million for 'urgent cybersecurity needs' at three Energy Department nuclear weapons laboratories

People

'Accessibility' standards released

They're here: The longawaited proposed 'accessibility' standards for information technology bought by federal agencies

Digital Government

GAO: IT may save or sour U.S. economy

GAO paints a grim portrait of the future, but says information technology could provide solutions ? or compound the problem

People

Archivist puts price on e-records

It will cost about $130 million and take about five years to build, but a national electronic records archive that won't become obsolete is technically feasible

Digital Government

Locking up agency information

If the CIA had owned PageVault software, the John Deutch scandal never would have happened, contends PageVault developer Authentica Inc. And if its WebVault product were available for the Energy Department to use, Wen Ho Lee might be just another scientist.

People

Archives gives in to e-records

Paper is crushed. The National Archives has declared the dominance of electronic documents.

People

Archives reconsidering records policies, formats

NARA officials say it is time to reexamine records management policies that were developed to handle paper records

People

Paperless 'paperwork'

In less than four years, federal agencies are supposed to stop using paper. Government records from personnel evaluations to benefits applications to contracts and regulations are supposed to be created, used and preserved electronically.

Digital Government

'Accessibility' deadline looms

In about four months, federal agencies must comply with a law that requires electronic equipment and World Wide Web sites to be usable by the blind, deaf and people with other disabilities. And unlike past laws, this one has teeth. Failure to comply will make agencies vulnerable to lawsuits.

People

First Y2K, now 'Titanic'

An information technology crisis is coming that will dwarf the Year 2000 problem in cost and disruption, according to technology expert Rich Lysakowski. Look out for electronic document migration.

Digital Government

A sinking feeling over document migration

'Titanic 2020' will be an IT crisis many times larger than the Year 2000 problem, a technology expert predicts

Digital Government

Customs lacks millions to modernize

The Customs Service is falling far short of the funding necessary to upgrade computer systems

People

'It's a technology problem'

Rep. Anne Northrup blames USPS and Customs for not collecting more than $1 billion per year in import fees on packages mailed from overseas

People

Minding her business

Six months of experience as a chief knowledge officer makes Shereen Remez the federal government's most senior official in that position. And she seems to relish her role as knowledge management's elder spokeswoman.

Digital Government

Reno: Arm cybercops

The Internet has complicated the lives of law enforcement officials, permitting anonymous criminals to infiltrate international borders to attack and then vanish into cyberspace.

People

System automates archivists' decisions

Archivists and publicservice lawyers have spent years in federal courts trying to determine which documents are 'records' and how they should be preserved. Now there is a software system designed to decide that instantly.

People

Fate of e-records back in feds' court

Thanks to the Supreme Court, the legal skirmish over the government's handling of electronic records is finished. But the more difficult struggle to create a national electronic archive has only begun.