It's back to the blackboard for Bill Chou
Wushow "Bill" Chou left his post as the Treasury Department's chief information officer this month and returned to academic life after being at the vortex of several sweeping changes in federal information technology policy. Chou oversaw the early implementation of the Information Technology Management and Reform Act, increased congressional scrutiny of IRS' troubled Tax Systems Modernization program and the cutover to a new departmentwide communications network in the three years he was deputy assistant secretary of
IRS and union come to terms on buyout plan
Aiming to head off wholesale layoffs, IRS and its employee union have negotiated an agreement to provide buyouts and voluntary job reassignments. IRS will eliminate 2,371 jobs, IRS spokeswoman Jodi Patterson said, including 819 in information systems. The agreement will provide employees who volunteer to quit or retire with one-time payments of up to $25,000, depending years of service, according to National Treasury Employees Union officials.
DOJ incident exposes Web insecurities
When Adolf Hitler showed up as the attorney general on the Justice Department's Web pages last month, it was just the latest hacker invasion into government systems. With the proliferation of federal World Wide Web sites, such tinkering is just a hint of what's to come. Many industry and government systems experts are suggesting that Web servers are the weak link in the security chain. Because many Web sites were created to get information on
4 agencies earn A's on 2000 report card
Of 24 agencies that responded to a congressional survey, only seven are effectively preparing their systems to deal with dates after Dec. 31, 1999, a House subcommittee reported last week. All but two Cabinet agencies--the Energy and Transportation departments-- responded to the survey orchestrated by Rep. Stephen Horn (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Subcommittee on Government Management, Information and Technology.
Postal Service's WINGS pilot takes flight with 14 kiosks
The Postal Service last week rolled out the first 14 kiosks for the governmentwide kiosk program at sites around Charlotte, N.C. The maiden versions of the service's multiagency information delivery system launch a six-month test. USPS will install 30 more kiosks this summer and perhaps another 70 or so during the course of the test.
House committee OKs bill to decimate IRS spending power
While Capitol Hill budgeteers fight over funding and contract management for the IRS' Tax Systems Modernization program, a new commission chaired by two congressmen will consider ways to restructure the service. The commission, created at Congress' behest as part of the Treasury Department's 1996 appropriations, met for its first organizational meeting last month. At the meeting, the group chose Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) and Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) as its co-chairmen.
Congress passes IT overhaul
By the end of July, the Brooks Act will be history. After languishing because of a presidential veto, the 1996 Defense authorization bill that repeals the law was resuscitated and approved by both the House and Senate. At press time, President Clinton was awaiting the bill for signature. White House and congressional aides said he would sign it into law.
Agencies face serious game of catch-up when shutdown ends
Although the second government shutdown was affecting fewer agencies and government personnel than the first, the impact proved more focused and intense for some federal computer operations. Nine cabinet departments and 38 agencies and commissions had their doors shuttered as a result of the budget showdown. Information technology officials at some of those agencies said the shutdown, which passed the 20-day mark last week, would have significant repercussions for their operations.
Tax Systems Modernization gets $300 million less than IRS wants
To far, the biggest systems loser in the fiscal 1996 budget negotiations is--once again--the Internal Revenue Service. Congress approved and President Clinton last month signed a Treasury appropriations bill that allocates roughly $300 million less than the $1 billion the agency had requested for its Tax Systems Modernization program. What's more, Congress created a new commission to review the overall plans for TSM.
House approves overhaul of e-mail for Cyber-Congress
E-mail for House offices will be totally overhauled under House Speaker Newt Gingrich's "Cyber-Congress" plan, giving members a common directory and on-line collaboration. Integral to the plans is the purchase of new PCs for all 435 House members' offices. The House Oversight Committee earlier this month unanimously approved the House systems upgrade proposal, which it dubbed the Office 2000 Project.
Web projects revive debate over data sales
The debate over how much information the government should give away is heating up again because of new Internet projects at the Patent and Trademark Office and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Whether the government encroaches on industry turf when it disseminates documents publicly is not a new issue. But in the past decade the arguments have gotten more intense as more agencies move into the on-line services arena, a realm the private sector almost
Thomas' promises unfulfilled, users of House Web site complain
Heralded eight months ago as the people's information superhighway ramp to Congress, the House's Thomas World Wide Web site is getting mediocre grades from users. Although generally popular, serving nearly 1 million users each month since its January launch, Thomas fails to allow those outside the Beltway equal access to political insiders, users said.
Hill holds off on IT reforms until autumn
Changes in how the government buys computers are likely to be included in a broader, governmentwide procurement reform, not in the plan proposed by Sen. William Cohen, House and Senate staff members speculated last week. The Senate has adjourned for its summer recess, postponing final action on the fiscal 1996 Defense authorization bill. The Maine Republican succeeded attaching his Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1995 to that bill before lawmakers left town earlier this
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