DataStream

In three months, the federal government will launch firstgov.gov, a Web site that President Clinton promises will be able to deliver 500-million-page Web searches in a quarter second. Eventually, the site will be a portal for doing business with the government, including being able to search for contract and procurement opportunities governmentwide as well as grant opportunities. The federal government currently has 20,000 Web pages, and firstgov will be able to search all of them, government officials said.Clinton announced the initiative in a Webcast June 24. Firstgov is an outgrowth of the General Services Administration's Webgov project. In his Webcast, which government officials said was his first, Clinton said the site will provide a single entry point to "one of the largest and most useful collection of Web pages in the entire world."XXXSPLITXXX-Titan Corp., San Diego, finalized the acquisition of AverStar Inc., Burlington, Mass., a company that provides information technology solutions to the Defense Department and civilian federal agencies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. AverStar focuses on information assurance, operations, network and information security. The purchase of AverStar will enhance Titan's government customer base, and provide Titan technology with two new businesses. The first business offers network, Internet and information security services. It will target commercial businesses looking to detect and protect against network intrusions, and those wanting to conduct secure electronic communications. The second business provides Web-based e-business solutions and application development services to the financial industry. Throughout the rest of the year, Titan plans to evaluate the market opportunities for each of the businesses and the potential for creating independent commercial business units.Titan also announced the acquisition of SenCom, Bedford, Mass., a privately held information technology services company.XXXSPLITXXX-Compaq Computer Corp. of Houston and Lockheed Martin Corp. of Bethesda, Md., announced in late June a strategic business alliance to pursue new information technology business opportunities in government and commercial markets. The alliance brings together two recognized industry leaders: Compaq, a supplier of computer systems that had more than $200 million in prime IT contracts with the federal government in 1999, and Lockheed Martin, a government systems integrator with $2.4 billion in federal prime contract obligations in 1999. Under terms of the agreement, the two will work together to identify and pursue new business.Ashok Shah, vice president of Compaq Professional Services Division, North America, said the agreement "creates a synergy between two strong organizations focused on delivering high-value IT solutions to the government and commercial markets ? and reaffirms a shared commitment to delivering best-in-class solutions for our customers."Each of Lockheed Martin's four principal business areas ? aeronautics, space, systems integration and technology services ? will have access to Compaq technologies and products under terms of the agreement.XXXSPLITXXX-Companies that need to file documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission now can do so online and include graphics and hyperlinks, thanks to recent upgrades to SEC's Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval (Edgar) system by TRW Inc. of Cleveland.The Web-based capability makes filing documents easier and faster, according to TRW. The new features enhance the presentation quality of the documents and more tightly integrate them with document editing tools.Filers will be able to check administrative actions, such as submission status, and will be able to review and modify company data using the Internet. The new software also can use certificates for authentication and digital signatures.The software can be downloaded for free at the SEC and Edgar Web sites.XXXSPLITXXX-State health service agencies spent more money on information technology goods and services than any other state government agencies between 1998 and 2000, according to a report by the National Association of State Information Resource Technology Executives of Lexington, Ky. The findings are in a June report released by NASIRE: "2000 Report on State Information Technology Organizational Structures: Module One ? Budgets." They are based on a survey of state and agency IT budgets conducted by Federal Sources Inc. Twenty-seven states responded to the survey. IT expenditures for fiscal 2000 averaged between 1 percent and 2 percent of the total state budget, although some states reported expenditures between 3 percent and 4 percent.The largest expenditures were in personnel and contracted services, while some of the smallest were made for software and training. The report may be ordered through the NASIRE Web site at www.nasire.org.XXXSPLITXXX-Affiliated Computer Services Inc. of Dallas on June 22 bought the Intellisource Group Inc. of Vienna, Va., in a move that further bolsters ACS' outsourcing capabilities.Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but ACS is picking up about $100 million in additional revenue and customers, such as NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Air Force, Coast Guard and the cities of Newark, N.J., and Philadelphia. ACS also is picking up 680 additional employees."One of Intellisource's greatest attributes is its strong position and focus on enterprise outsourcing," said Bill Woodard, president of Rockville, Md.-based ACS Government Solutions Group. "This acquisition is a vital part of our business strategy to provide an expanded array of services to a larger share of the government market."About a third of ACS' $1.64 billion in 1999 revenue came from the government.XXXSPLITXXX-Computer Sciences Corp. of El Segundo, Calif., is fielding a team that includes Andersen Consulting, General Dynamics Corp., Keane Inc., Logicon Inc. and TRW Inc. to pursue the National Security Agency's large outsourcing contract called Groundbreaker, expected to be worth $5 billion over 10 years. Bell Atlantic Corp. also is part of the team through a relationship with General Dynamics. NSA plans to outsource its non-mission critical information technology infrastructure, such as distributed computing, telephony, networks and enterprise/security management.Other teams chasing the contract include AT&T Corp. of Basking Ridge, N.J., which has signed up IBM Corp. of Armonk, N.Y.; and OAO Corp. of Greenbelt, Md., which has tapped Raytheon Co. of Lexington, Mass.XXXSPLITXXX-The General Services Administration has named 10 companies as winners in the third functional area of its 10-year, $20 billion Millennia Lite contract.Winning a spot on the contract are: Abacus Technology Corp. of Chevy Chase, Md.; Anteon Corp. of Fairfax, Va.; Calibre Systems Inc. of Falls Church, Va.; Cexec Inc. of Dulles, Va.; Data Networks Corp. of Reston, Va.; EDSI of Yorba Linda, Calif.; SI International Inc. of McLean, Va.; Soza & Co. of Fairfax; Sytex Inc. of Tinton Falls, N.J.; and User Technology Associates Inc. of Arlington, Va.The companies won their awards in the information technology planning, studies and assessment segment of the contract. Twenty other companies won Millennia Lite awards in April. The fourth section has not been awarded yet.XXXSPLITXXX-Materials Communication and Computers Inc., Alexandria, Va., an integrator and software developer, will help the National Institute of Standards and Technology implement technology to reduce paperwork. By using digital technology, MATCOM will help NIST increase efficiency and reduce costs by replacing paper forms with electronic documents. MATCOM will create a pilot program for 100 employees that automates daily tasks in four areas: bankcard purchase approvals, work orders, time and attendance approvals and local travel reimbursement."Our goal is to eliminate as much paper-based administration as possible," said Rick Quintero, senior technical adviser of NIST's Information Technology Laboratory, and project manager for the initiative. Users will be able to fill out any of more than 200 standard forms electronically and track the approval status of completed forms. The system will use digital signatures and encryption based on public key infrastructure technology to ensure security. The system is expected to roll out to more than 3,000 employees during 2001.