Infotech and the Law: Homeland security policy expands corporate liability

In the post-Sept. 11 world, corporations must confront numerous liability issuesrelated to terrorism. One is the liability of the corporation, its directors and officersfor business decisions related to a company's preparedness for terrorist attacks.

House e-gov bill moves forward

The House version of the E-government Act of 2002, H.R. 2458, moved out of the Government Reform subcommittee on technology and procurement policy Oct. 1, and is scheduled for markup by the full Government Reform Committee Oct. 9, said Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., chairman of the subcommittee. Davis introduced an amendment substituting for the original bill, which the subcommittee approved. The substitute differs from the original in several respects.

Doing Business with the office of Homeland Security

On Sept. 11, 2001, Steve Cooper, then chief information officer for Corning Inc., was speaking at a CIO forum aboard a ship sailing under a British flag in New York harbor. After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Coast Guard asked the ship, because it was under a foreign flag, to go out to open sea. One day and 200 hundred miles later, Cooper and the passengers disembarked in Boston. Angry, Cooper -- who had served in the Navy during the Vietnam era -- tried to figure out what he could do personally to make a difference in the new national situation.

Infotech and the Law: Privacy act a hidden trap of those outsourcing deals

With more and more federal agencies relying on outsourcing, contractors are providing a wide variety of support services on behalf of the government, including travel arrangements, fingerprinting and various security checks on people and banking services to agency employees. Many contractors, however, are unaware that in taking on these contracts, they now are subject to the terms of the Privacy Act of 1974.</FONT>

Top 25 8(a) companies 21-25

21 CounterTrade Products Inc. (formerly Computer Equipment Warehouse Inc.)<FONT SIZE=2>Arvada, Colo. | www.cewinc.com</FONT>

Top 25 8(a) companies 16-20

<b>16 MTS Technologies Inc.</b><p><FONT SIZE=2>Arlington, Va. | www.mtstech.com</FONT>

Top 25 8(a) companies 11-15

<b>11 Artel Inc. </b><p><FONT SIZE=2>Reston, Va. | www.artelinc.com</FONT>

Top 25 8(a) companies 6-10

<b>6 SMF Systems Corp.</b><p><FONT SIZE=2>San Ramon, Calif. | www.smfsystems.com</FONT>

Top 25 8(a) companies 1-5

<b>1: Datatrac Information Services Inc.</b><p><FONT SIZE=2>Richardson, Texas | www.datatrac-dc.com</FONT><FONT SIZE=2>Prime contract IT revenue: </FONT><FONT SIZE=2>$135,051,000</FONT>

Special Report on the 8(a) program: Plotting their exit strategies

<FONT SIZE=2>Rodney Hunt, president and chief executive officer of RS Information Systems Inc., expects only 10 percent of his company's $200 million in 2002 revenue will come from contracts set aside for 8(a) firms. </FONT>

Wives remember husbands killed in Pentagon

Gerald P. "Geep" Fisher's reputation was already known to Chris Fisher when the couple met at a party in 1982. "He was the guy that threw a really great party at Thanksgiving," she said of her husband, a Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. employee who was killed when American Airlines Flight 77 flew into the Pentagon. "I wanted to get invited, so I introduced myself."

Infotech and the Law

What has changed since Sept. 11, 2001? There are the obvious answers: federal employees in airport screening lines, memorable declines in market capitalization of public companies, demise of the worst of the dot-com hucksters and the most widespread attack by government lawyers on federal civil rights in more than half a century.

Congress joins the cause

The Senate is expected to take up legislation establishing a Department of Homeland Security this month. The House has already passed its version of the legislation, called the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

CAPITAL ROUNDUP

Federal officials are considering whether to charge contractors to use the FedBizOpps e-mail notification feature.

Wanted: Officials with homeland security skills

Bob Chiaradio decided to leave the FBI last spring when he found himself at the highest level of the federal government's Senior Executive Service.

Taking it personally

Just two weeks before Sept. 11, a team of employees from SRA International Inc. handed over control to the Navy of a command center the team had built.

Inside Track

The Interior Department's Minerals Management Service is looking for a contractor to modernize the source code of Montcrdk 7.52, the software used by the agency to analyze bids it receives for mineral rights.

A time of action: Terrorism timeline

Sept. 11, 2001 - 8:46 a.m. American Flight 11 hits the north tower of World Trade Center. 9:05 a.m. - United Flight 175 hits the south tower. 9:38 a.m. - American Flight 77 hits the Pentagon.

One year later: Cornerstone of change

The Pentagon fires were still burning when Tom Buonforte and his team at General Dynamics Network Systems began sifting through the rubble, trying to figure out how they would rebuild the computer and telecommunications networks in the damaged wing.

GAO affirms IT role in Homeland Security Department

Information technology can play a key role in facilitating information sharing and goal setting in the forthcoming Department of Homeland Security, General Accounting Office officials have told Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va.