E-voting investigation requested

Six Democratic congressmen have asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate reports of voting irregularities in the Nov. 2 election, many of them involving electronic touch-screen voting machines.

EA with a bite

The Defense Department comptroller now faces violations of the Antideficiency Act and is subject to criminal penalties and fines if he authorizes funds for any system that is worth $1 million or more and is not compliant with the Defense Department business enterprise architecture, said Marilyn Fleming, chief architect for the department's Business Management Modernization Program.

Enterprise architecture matters

It's a question that crops up with increasing frequency: How does industry stay relevant to agencies' enterprise architecture initiatives when EA has largely become an issue of internal management practices?

Infotech and the Law: Druyun fallout will be felt long and hard

The federal government has long imposed unique ethical responsibilities on its contractors. Following the defense procurement scandals of the 1980s such as Operation Ill Wind, Congress considerably increased the number and types of ethical considerations governing federal contracts.

BAE bulks up

As officials at BAE Systems North America Inc. saw the federal landscape change, they decided to make some aggressive moves. Government agencies were contracting out more of their information technology needs, but they were bundling projects into fewer large contracts.

Tank command seeks service center

The Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command wants a contractor to develop and host an integrated digital and collaborative environment service center network to connect with Army and Marine Corps IT systems. The service center must provide one-stop, integrated services to support application and storage services; technical design capture, storage and access; development and maintenance; condition-based maintenance; supply chain management; and e-commerce environments and Web order interfaces.

Sandia needs manufacturing aid

Sandia National Laboratories wants information on licensing, manufacturing and selling integrated hardware and software architecture, called Sensor Management Architecture, to support sensor network integration and control. Sandia's architecture was designed to support weapons of mass destruction detection technologies into unified sensor networks.

Armament help wanted

The Army Armament Research Development and Engineering Center wants help developing advanced armament and energetics technology and with systems engineering and manufacturing processes to support its industrial base.

Doing Business With International Broadcasting Bureau

330 Independence Ave. SW<br>Washington, DC 20237<br>202-401-7000

Doing Business With: International Trade Administration

I didn't find much on the Web site about doing business with ITA. You may want to follow the advice of CIO Renee Macklin and first contact one of the agency's senior functional leads.

Buy Lines: Intelligence reform: Don't forget the business side

Since Sept. 11, 2001, there has been a steady stream of proposals to structurally and operationally reform the U.S. intelligence community. Now, with Congress and the president focused on implementing at least some of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, reform has gained new ? and possibly unstoppable ? momentum.

Sun sets up government test bed

Sun Microsystems Inc. this month opened an iForce Government Solution Center in McLean, Va., inviting systems integrators and federal officials to view thin-client interoperability demonstrations and test proof-of-concept applications.

In brief: Capital Roundup

A study sponsored by IBM Corp. and written by former Defense Department Acquisition Chief Jacques Gansler found that of the 65,000 positions competed under the A-76 process, only 5 percent of employees lost jobs involuntarily. The competitions saved 44 percent of baseline costs.

Infotech and the Law: Lessons learned from the Druyun debacle

In October, Darleen Druyun, a former Air Force procurement officer and former Boeing Co. executive, was sentenced to nine months in federal prison for helping Boeing win Air Force business at the same time she was negotiating a job with the company.

Under one umbrella

Three affiliated companies merged Oct. 25 to form a new entity specializing in IT services and solutions for the federal market.

Inside Track: New Federal Projects

The Air Force wants off-the-shelf products for infrared technology for troubleshooting aircraft malfunctions and discrepancies. The Air Warfare Battlelab at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho is investigating using the technology in both back shop and flight maintenance environments to help find and repair electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, environmental and other malfunctions.

GSA seeks Internet provider

The General Services Administration is looking for a contractor to provide and maintain always-on, high-speed, digital Internet access service and hardware for remote Federal Occupational Health offices.

Buy Lines: Best-value procurement starts with vendors' messages

Federal agencies talk "best value," but go with lowest price when they actually buy -- so say the many technology vendors voicing this complaint to me recently. Companies that pride themselves on delivering innovative products, services and solutions are frustrated by contracting officers who don't differentiate between one offering and another, except by price.

Homeland Security bill becomes law

President George Bush signed a $32 billion, fiscal 2005 Homeland Security appropriations bill on Oct. 18.

Congress axes offshoring provision

A tax bill awaiting President George Bush's signature no longer includes a provision that would have prevented agencies from contracting work to companies performing the jobs overseas.