Caron Carlson

Key federal agencies are receiving low or failing grades on the security of their IT infrastructures, fueling criticism of the departments charged with keeping the nation safe. In a report card issued March 16 by the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform, the government last year earned a D+. Both the Department of Homeland Security […]

In preparation for what is expected to be the largest and most complex federal government hearing ever, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is upgrading its hearing rooms in Las Vegas and greater Washington to make the proceedings available online. The hearing involves the U.S. Department of Energys application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license […]

The FBI awarded Lockheed Martin a $305 million, six-year contract to oversee the development of the planned electronic case management system dubbed Sentinel. “Sentinel will strengthen the FBIs capabilities by replacing its primarily paper-based reporting system with an electronic system designed for information sharing,” said Robert Mueller, FBI director. “Sentinel will support our current priorities, […]

Seeking to encourage the health care industry to better use IT to improve care and reduce costs, lawmakers heard ideas from industry representatives and consumer advocates on March 16. At a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Health, Ivo Nelson, who leads IBMs health care business consulting services group, said that any legislation Congress considers […]

If consistency were the goal, the federal government would score high in complying with computer security requirements—year after year Washington performs consistently poorly. On the 2005 report card issued March 16, the government earned a D+, with agencies responsible for keeping the nation safe receiving some of the lowest grades: The Department of Homeland Security […]

Concerned that the United States may lose its competitive edge in innovation to countries like China and India, captains of American industry are turning to Washington for help. At a March 15 hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Craig Barrett, chairman of Intel, and John Kelly, senior vice president for technology […]

Investment analysts who were called to Capitol Hill to testify on the telecommunications market lent their support to the incumbent telephone companies lobbying agenda for reduced regulation. The chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, said that he plans to introduce a bill on telecom reform toward […]

Even after being forced to scrap its $170 million case management initiative one year ago, and replacing it with the proposed “Sentinel” system, the FBI has already fallen behind in crafting required security and validation plans for the new system. Nonetheless, a contract for Sentinel, estimated to cost between $400 million and $500 million, is […]

Voice over IP is still stumbling over business continuity, reliability and ease of use, so thats where telecommunications equipment vendors plan to shine during the week of March 6 at VoiceCon, in Orlando, Fla. Avaya is upgrading its MultiVantage Communications Applications line to help companies improve failover potential. Version 3.1 of Avayas Communication Manager will […]

WASHINGTON—Thumping the open-source bible before an audience of government IT professionals on March 8, Sun Microsystems Chairman and CEO Scott McNealy warned that ongoing adherence to a hodgepodge of proprietary architectures will leave the IT environment inefficient and insecure. Delivering a keynote address at the annual FOSE Conference and Exhibition in Washington, McNealy spelled out […]