GSA finalizes plans for $150b systems services GWAC
The General Services Administration is adding some unusual muscle to its $150 billion Alliant governmentwide IT services procurement.'After the first five years and every two years after that, we will decide how companies are performing, and if they are not, we will kick them off,' said Bill Archambeault, the senior GSA contracting officer overseeing the buy. 'During open season, we will replace companies that are kicked off so we keep the number of prime contractors constant.'
FTS buying abuses tied to poor training
A damning inspector general report on contracting abuses within the Federal Technology Service is indicative of a governmentwide problem, says a former Defense Department acquisition chief.
Collins wants list of 'good' schools
The government needs to create an online list of accredited colleges and universities that agencies, employees and students can use to protect themselves from diploma mill abuses, Sen. Susan Collins says.
DHS plan for consolidating back-office apps emerges
Forty general ledgers, 30 procurement systems and 20 travel systems add up to a lot of overlapping applications and code.The Homeland Security Department has a cadre of IT, administrative, financial and procurement officials developing a plan to merge these back-office systems.
Border agents sharpen skills
More than 50 Border Patrol agents in Texas are fine-tuning their firearm skills with the Range 3000 XP4 mobile training center.The simulator, from IES Interactive Training, a subsidiary of Arotech Corp. of New York, travels in a 28-foot trailer across the 17,000 square miles of the McAllen, Texas, sector of the Border Patrol.
DOD adds tools to suite for collaboration
Defense Department do-it-yourselfers have more tools this month with the addition to the Defense Collaboration Tool Suite of Forum eMeeting software from SiteScape Inc. of Maynard, Mass.
IBM-Linux combo gets security boost
Novell Inc.'s new SuSE Linux division and IBM Corp. have announced Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level 3+ international security certification for SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 running on all four of IBM's eServer lines.
Fed aids banks on code to deter counterfeiting
With digital technology making currency counterfeiting easier than ever, the Federal Reserve is helping international bankers develop software to combat illegal money creation.
Treasury ready to recompete TCS network
The Treasury Department is laying the groundwork for a follow-on contract to the $1.2 billion Treasury Communications Systems.A draft request for proposals for the Treasury Communications Enterprise was due for release late last week; the final RFP for a backbone comm infrastructure is tentatively scheduled to hit the streets March 1. The department wants to award the TCE contract by October.
U.S., Europe squabble over GPS spectrum
Some of the world's brightest technical minds will do battle this week over 2MHz worth of electromagnetic spectrum.United States and European Union representatives will discuss how to keep Europe's planned Galileo Satellite Navigation System, set for a 2008 launch, from interfering with the Defense Department's Global Positioning System.
IPv6 could get wider use in the government
The Commerce Department is accepting public comments on the costs and benefits of switching to IP Version 6 from Version 4. The request for comments hints at possible large-scale use of the protocol across all agencies.
OPM sets rules for IT job swaps with industry
Agency IT managers soon can try industry work without losing their government jobs.Under the IT Exchange Program, federal executives at GS-11 or higher grades can take a detail job for up to two years with an IT company.
AF command right-sizes its inboxes
What's it like to migrate 140,000 users to a new mail application?Chaotic but also cathartic'especially behind the scenes'the Air Force Materiel Command is finding out. Over the next year and a half, the command will move users from Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 to Exchange Server 2003.
FAA clears rollout of net backbone
With the all-go sign given for a new communications backbone, the Federal Aviation Administration has taken the first step toward saving roughly $700 million on its telecommunications costs over the next 15 years.
Sun embraces desktop Linux
Sun Microsystems Inc. is trying to undercut enterprise Microsoft Windows desktop deployments with the Java Desktop System, which will cost just $50 per user per year, or less for agencies that abandon Windows.
Don't worry, Unix isn't past its prime'yet
Unix is not pass'certainly not in the government. But is it becoming a legacy operating system that will soon grow too pricey to support?
Try out this app to wipe PCs of unwanted files
Just because you've deleted a file doesn't mean it's gone.Programs such as SecureClean from WhiteCanyon Inc. of Orem, Utah, can retrieve deleted passwords, credit card information and online transactions. I recently used SecureClean to dig up a password I couldn't remember on an old Pentium III PC.
Share-in-savings guidance on the way
Federal agencies and their contractors will soon have more guidance on how to do share-in-savings contracting, officials said yesterday at a Washington conference about the rarely used procurement method.<br>
Four women praised as government leaders
Four women leaders in government received honors yesterday at a Washington ceremony sponsored by Accenture LLP.<br>
Size does matter in files
How many times have you tried to e-mail a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation only to have it bounce back because the message was too large for the recipient's e-mail gateway? It has happened to me more times than I can count.
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