Olympic system will show NWS' mettle
The National Weather Service is using this summer's Olympic Games in Atlanta as a testbed for advanced forecasting technology. The Olympic Weather Support System, which will provide detailed forecasts for areas as small as a two-kilometers square, is an example of what NWS can do given the resources, said Lans P. Rothfusz, meteorologist in charge of the Olympic Weather Support Office in Peachtree City, Ga.
New rules, old complaints: SSA aquisition encounters protest
The Social Security Administration is accepting requests for Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statements (PEBES) through its World Wide Web site. Anyone whose Web browser has the Secure Sockets Layer can ask for a PEBES electronically. For now, SSA mails out the statements to preserve confidentiality. When better security and electronic signature capability are in place, SSA will respond on line.
Info Share now is a ghost of its grandiose self
For all intents and purposes, the Agriculture Department has done away with the Info Share program. Info Share still exists as a smaller project within the department's broad Field Service Centers Implementation Plan. But it no longer is the ambitious scheme USDA officials laid out more than five years ago to integrate the department's administrative and program systems from the top down.
FEC will accept finance reports on line--sort of
Congress has directed the Federal Election Commission to accept campaign finance reports on line beginning Jan. 1, and the commission plans to comply with the letter of the law. After it gets the reports, however, FEC will print them and handle them as if they were submitted on paper. The cost to receive and print the first year's reports: $200,000.
EBT cards for food programs get smarter
ST. LOUIS--To keep pace with the food, nutrition counseling and medical requirements of needy mothers and children, the Agriculture Department's Women, Infants and Children program is turning to electronic benefits transfer. Though WIC funding will increase by nearly 6 percent to $3.7 billion this year, the number of clients served each month is expected to grow by nearly 9 percent, to 7.5 million.
Agencies face serious game of catch-up when shutdown ends
Although the second government shutdown was affecting fewer agencies and government personnel than the first, the impact proved more focused and intense for some federal computer operations. Nine cabinet departments and 38 agencies and commissions had their doors shuttered as a result of the budget showdown. Information technology officials at some of those agencies said the shutdown, which passed the 20-day mark last week, would have significant repercussions for their operations.
VA home finds you really can get doctors to use keyboards
Who says doctors can't type? At the Veterans Affairs Department's residential center for homeless veterans in White City, Ore., it's a requirement for all 15 physicians and the other 212 clinical staff members. Since August, the staff has been relying only on its PC network running the VA's home-grown Decentralized Hospital Computer Program to handle all administrative and patient information.
Fixing code for turn of century will cost government big bucks
The cost of ensuring that federal computer applications continue running when the calendar changes to 2000 is being estimated at up to $25 billion. The Social Security Administration alone is evaluating 30 million lines of code, which will take an estimated 300 employee-years, said acting deputy commissioner for systems Dean Mesterharm.
Systems folks facing furloughs just like other federal workers
Federal information technology workers can expect no special treatment if the president and Congress cannot resolve their budget differences or work out a temporary funding arrangement by month's end. If the government shuts down Oct. 1, the decision on who will be furloughed and who will continue on the job is being left to each department, and there are no special requirements involving the continued operation of government systems.
Dole leads race, is first to file contributor data on CD-ROM
In every presidential election, for each presidential candidate, Federal Election Commission workers spend hours verifying campaign finance reports against paper copies of thousands of donation checks. This year, the painfully slow process will stop for a handful of candidates. Sen. Robert Dole's presidential campaign is the first to submit the contributor information to the FEC on CD-ROM. The FEC also expects President Clinton and Patrick Buchanan to submit their contribution information on CD-ROM.
Census to outsource
The Census Bureau won't be buying much new hardware for the next decennial census. Bureau officials plan to rent their large iron and rely on existing PCs and workstations for analysis work. "Since technology changes so rapidly, we don't want to have equipment packed up in mothballs, sitting on the shelf" after the 2000 census, said Arnold Jackson, the bureau's IT director.
Postal Service gives digital signatures a dry run in-house
Through the award of a small contract to create electronic forms, the Postal Service hopes to learn a thing or two about digital signatures. Under a $692,000 contract, the service will use software from F3 Software Corp. to automate hundreds of paper forms used internally by the service. The electronic forms will bear digital signatures that meet the federal Digital Signature Standard issued by the Commerce Department last year.
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