Brief: Criteria set for e-gov success

The CIO Council and OMB set e-government criteria that agencies must meet this year. They are:

Brief: GAO wants changes to GPRA

The General Accounting Office asked Congress to amend the Government Performance and Results Act to require that agencies better use performance measures.

Brief: House Dems claim DHS IT lacking

Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee said the Homeland Security Department is not doing enough to defend the nation's information infrastructure or leverage IT.

Government defends e-rulemaking

Oscar Morales likes to compare the early days of the federal e-rulemaking initiative to early use of online tax filing. The IRS' offering was slow to gain acceptance; now it is a time-saving tool used by millions of people and businesses.

Infotech and the law: New DFAR could put whole new spin on procurement

The Defense Department has published amendments to its supplement to the Federal Acquisition Regulation, known as DFAR, as part of its program to transform defense procurements. Most of the changes are marginal, but the department also is moving many regulations out of DFAR and into a procedures, guidance and information manual, or PGI, that won't have the force of law.

Brief: Criminal investigation support

The Navy is looking for a small business that can provide professional management services to the Naval Criminal Investigation Service in Washington. The services will be used by several departments including administration, planning and evaluation, financial management, human resources and information technology.

Brief: AF seeks 8(a) technical support

The Air Force Air Armament Center is looking for information on technical and acquisition support. The center develops, tests and maintains air armament and other combat support needs.

Brief: Four get DHS ceiling expansion

Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Sytex Inc., Arrowhead Global Solutions Inc. and Communications Technologies Inc. had the ceiling on their contracts with the Homeland Security Department expanded by $108 million, taking the ceiling from $64.5 million to $172.5 million.

After barely surviving, EFJ thrives

When Michael Jalbert came to E.F. Johnson Inc. in early 1999, the company was losing money, had been delisted from Nasdaq and was facing class action lawsuits from shareholders.

Doing Business With the U.S. Secret Service

U.S. Secret Service<br>245 Murray Drive,<br>Building 410<br>Washington, DC 20223<br>(202) 406-8000

Cargo safety investigation requested

Congressmen want GAO investigation into air cargo security procedures.

Buy Lines: Ensure contractor ethics with close attention, not new laws

It is often said that good people don't need laws to tell them how to act responsibly, while bad people always look for ways around the law. While we can establish norms of conduct, we cannot legislate behavior.

Bill to codify assessments

The performance of all federal programs would have to be addressed at least once every five years under a bill introduced by Rep. Todd R. Platts, R-Pa.

OMB should clarify A-76 rules

The Professional Services Council asked the Office of Management and Budget to clarify which agency personnel have authority to contest an award under a standard public-private competition under Circular A-76.

Billions lurk in new telecom work

The departments of Defense and Homeland Security are preparing four new communications and network projects that will generate billions of dollars in business for IT, wireless and telecom companies.

New procurement provisions set

The Federal Acquisition Regulations councils raised the micropurchase and simplified acquisition thresholds for agencies dealing with potential nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological attacks. The changes were made in an interim rule published Feb. 23 in the Federal Register. The rule takes effect immediately. Comments on the rule are due April 23 via e-mail to 022@gsa.gov.

AF studies net-centric weapons

The Air Force Air Armament Center released a request for information to study weapon connectivity to networks. The RFI may lead to an Advanced Concept Technology Development effort.

NIH kicks off A-76 study

The National Institutes of Health is beginning an A-76 study of its information technology voucher examiners. The study will determine if those jobs should be competed with the private sector. NIH has five people serving as billing examiners.

Web tools to aid maintenance

The Army Corps of Engineers is looking for a developer of Web-based tools to make better use of its geo-information system data. The tools will help in identifying and classifying roads and trails on military installations and modeling their impact on sedimentation within watersheds.

First SmartBuy deal hard won

ESRI of Redlands, Calif., last month became the first vendor to sign on to SmartBuy, the federal government's enterprisewide software licensing initiative, following nine months of hard work by the company and federal agencies to create the agreement.