USDA blends its data with Geological Survey graphics
FEB. 28—An Agriculture Department pilot project takes images from a Geological Survey Web-based application and combines them with USDA's own survey data to present geospatial data on demand to customers.
GAO says government lacks a plan for PKI
FEB. 28—The Office of Management and Budget should establish governmentwide standards to guide federal agencies in implementing public-key infrastructures, the General Accounting Office said.
INTERVIEW: Louis H. Ray, the practical coder
Louis H. Ray is a firm believer in understanding business practices before jumping into software development for government agencies. Although he describes himself as an itinerant programmer, he would rather link together commercial software than custom-code it.
DOD deputy CIO Brubaker announces departure
FEB. 28—Paul Brubaker, deputy chief information officer for the Defense Department, will leave his post in two weeks to head up global e-government services for Commerce One Inc.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Your special report, '2001: Year of the human factor' [<a href="http://www.gcn.com/vol20_no1/news/3505-1.html">GCN, Jan. 8, Page 1</a>], was quite interesting concerning the hiring practices of the government vs. the private sector. I believe that you missed one important factor: competency.
Some are more equal
Every time one of my kids plaintively begs for some new game, gewgaw or sugar-laden gunk he or she absolutely must have, my stock answer is, 'Yeah, and I want $1 million.'
Library books go digital
Paper and glue library books are just so last millennium. Will the digital age leave musty library books in the dust? Perhaps the paper but not the books.
Handhelds branch out as network clients
Handheld computers a few years ago whistled, beeped and stored a small amount of data with little more functionality than a calendar.
GAO blasts Washington for weak security
The federal General Accounting Office assailed the District of Columbia's public works, technology and financial offices for having serious and pervasive weaknesses in their computer security.
COUNTY LINES
Florida's Polk County School District Transportation Division took action before it had a problem with employees playing electronic games at work.
States balk at outdated standard for medical files
The federal government is requiring states to use 22-year-old standards for health care data transactions.
Gun group sues police in Pennsylvania over database
A gun association is suing the Pennsylvania State Police and Gov. Tom Ridge's administration for keeping a database of handgun sales.
Brubaker to leave DOD for private sector
FEB. 27—Paul Brubaker, the deputy chief information officer for the Defense Department, announced today that he will leave his post in two weeks to head up global e-government services for Commerce One Inc.
CYBER EYE
'This is a great time to be a geek,' according to Marcus J. Ranum, chief executive officer of NFR Security Inc. of Rockville, Md.
OS update: Big three dominate in agencies
There are three topics you should be wary of introducing in polite conversation: religion, politics and operating systems.
Multifunction devices wise up with smarter software
The key to multifunction devices of the future might lie in software, not hardware.
Shark server cuts response time for Boston workers
Boston is providing its employees better response time with a new IBM Shark Enterprise Storage Server for its payroll, human resources and financial transactions.
Oregon police access old, but high quality, legacy data
The Portland, Ore., police knew they needed a more modern criminal data system than their 20-year-old legacy Cobol one. But they also knew they didn't want to throw the baby'the system's high-quality data'out with the bathwater'the old mainframe.
CIO leads e-gov in the Bay State
A 30-year career in Massachusetts public service has taken David Lewis from using paper-tape Teletype machines to overseeing the commonwealth's electronic-government initiative.
IT fuels achievement
A California charter school program is giving 1,200 high-school students a dose of life in the real world of work.
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