Digital Government

White House shifts Y2K focus to states

Because most federal missioncritical systems are ready for the new millennium, the next governmentwide Year 2000 progress report, due out next month, will focus on federal interfaces with state systems, which reportedly are dangerously behind in Year 2000 fixes. A spokesman for the President's Cou

Digital Government

IRS, CSC taking care to avoid past mistakes

The Internal Revenue Service and Computer Sciences Corp. are expected to unveil details next month on how they will manage a 15year modernization effort to replace the IRS' obsolete computer systems. Top managers from the IRS and CSC recently met for a fiveday, gettingtoknowyou planning sessio

Digital Government

Library puts history online

The Library of Congress' National Digital Library last week received a $3.5 million donation from the AT?#038; Amp;T Foundation to put two historical collections online. AT?#038; Amp;T's gift, which is the largest corporate donation to the NDL program, will support the digitization of documents belonging to Alexander

Digital Government

Federal Y2K czar defends upbeat outlook

John Koskinen, the federal Year 2000 czar who uniformly downplays millennium doomsday scenarios, today gave a group of information technology vendors some insight into why he is more upbeat about the federal government's Year 2000 readiness than Congress, government watchdog groups and federal inspectors general.

Digital Government

Education rolls out Y2K guide for schools

The Education Department today mailed to the nation's 15,000 school districts a how-to guide for educators to help fix Year 2000 problems in their computer systems.

Digital Government

GAO praises NASA procurement site

The electronic procurement system at NASA is user-friendly, effective and fast, according to a recent General Accounting Office report

Digital Government

Congressmen seek funds to put CRS reports online

Two congressmen today requested funding for an initiative to give the public online access to the highly soughtafter reports generated by the public policy research arm of Congress.

Digital Government

AT& T donates millions for National Digital Library

The Library of Congress' National Digital Library will receive a $3.5 million donation tomorrow from the AT?#038; T Foundation to place two of the library's historical collections online.

Digital Government

Public data at SSA not secure

Weaknesses in computer systems at the Social Security Administration have exposed the agency to external and internal intrusion, jeopardizing sensitive information to unauthorized users, according to a report released last month by the General Accounting Office.

Digital Government

Y2K could hamper State's visa application process

The General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service last week awarded its $25 billion information technology services and support contract to 10 vendors.

Digital Government

Twisters test FEMA system

A computer system developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist disaster victims in a timely manner appears to have endured its first test in the wake of tornadoes that ripped through Tennessee and Arkansas last month. FEMA officials used the National Emergency Management Informat

Digital Government

IRS still lacks skills to modernize systems

Despite some progress, the Internal Revenue Service still lacks the ability to effectively modernize its tax systems, according to a report released last month by the General Accounting Office.

Digital Government

Y2K puts USAID computers at risk of failure

New computer systems worth at least $92 million at the U.S. Agency for International Development have not yet been equipped to handle the Year 2000 problem, according to a General Accounting Office report released last month.

Digital Government

IRS, Intuit offer free e-tax filing to low-income families

The Internal Revenue Service and Intuit Inc. today launched a free tax service for lowincome families to make technology more accessible and to help the IRS reach its goal of having 80 percent of taxpayers filing electronically by 2007.

Digital Government

Labor takes step toward paperless benefits filing

The Labor Department recently awarded $6 million contracts to two vendors hired in a pilot program by the agency to develop a computer system that would allow employers to file their benefit plans electronically. In September, Labor's Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration division will decide

Digital Government

Koskinen: Feds OK on Y2K

Despite concerns that the Year 2000 computer bug could bring down some federal government computer systems, President Clinton's Year 2000 czar last week told Congress that he is confident all missioncritical systems will be ready for the new millennium.

Digital Government

Lax security risks taxpayer data

The Internal Revenue Service's computer systems have serious security weaknesses that put sensitive personal tax information at risk, according to a General Accounting Office audit released this month. According to the audit, in which GAO investigated six IRS facilities, the facilities could not ac

Digital Government

Y2K czar claims feds will be ready for 2000

President Clinton's Year 2000 czar today told Congress that he is confident that all federal missioncritical systems will be fixed and ready for the new millennium.

Digital Government

Primeon delivers Year 2000 audit services

While many vendors have developed tools to help agencies fix their Year 2000 computer problems, one company now offers a service designed to help agencies measure the success of those fixes before heading into fullscale testing. Primeon Inc., a Burlington, Mass., solutions provider, has put togeth

Digital Government

Mazei molds IRS facelift

As we approach the new millennium, one of the most critical jobs at the Internal Revenue Service involves managing a multibilliondollar program that will help the tax agency notorious for its salty customer service and obsolete technology become a friendlier, stateoftheart work place. The