The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards has formed a committee to create a framework for government agencies to share criminal records.
<FONT SIZE=2>The sheer bulk of the multibillion-dollar federal market for commercial services represents a significant opportunity for businesses interested in working with the government. Until now, however, the government's competitive-sourcing process for commercial activities under Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-76 has been routinely criticized as counterproductive, discouraging many would-be participants from entering the market.</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>The IRS launched Free File at IRS.gov, making it possible for 60 percent of taxpayers -- an estimated 78 million Americans -- to file their returns online at no extra cost. </FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>President Bush continues to fill out the top management team at the Homeland Security Department. Bush is nominating Charles McQueary as undersecretary for science and technology and Michael Brown as undersecretary for emergency preparedness and response.</FONT>
Two potentially disruptive technologies watched closely by government systems integrators today are open-source software and nanotechnology. Each holds the promise of radically changing the landscape of information technology.</FONT><FONT SIZE=2>The concept of open-source software, for example, challenges many notions about how software should be created and sold. "If you are an entrenched proprietary software vendor, this paradigm shift can be alarming," said <b>John Weathersby</b>, chairman of the Oxford, Miss.-based Open Source Software Institute.</FONT>
President Bush will request $59.1 billion in federal information technology funding for fiscal 2004, White House official Mark Forman said Monday. The request is about $4.9 billion more than the $54.2 billion in IT spending expected in fiscal 2003.
The Bush administration's request for federal IT funding for fiscal 2004 could increase by more than 15 percent over the 2003 request, OMB's director says.
The General Services Administration wants to charge subscribers to its FedBizOpps service an annual fee for using its special e-mail notification features. The fee, which would be no more than $30, would be charged beginning Oct. 1. It would be charged only for subscribers who sign up to receive all notices from selected organizations and product service classifications, or to receive all procurement notices on the site.
Federal information technology vendors will have until Oct. 1, 2004, to ensure that government purchasers of electronic and IT products under $2,500 are able to buy goods that comply with Section 508 technical standards.
<FONT SIZE=2>Been there, done that.</FONT><FONT SIZE=2>California most likely will not re-establish a statewide technology office this year after the old one was shut down in 2002 for malfeasance.</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>Over the past few years, there has been a big push toward arbitration and away from resolving disputes through traditional litigation processes. The common claim of alternative dispute resolution enthusiasts is that arbitration is faster and cheaper than litigation. But is arbitration indeed a more streamlined, economic method of resolving disputes than litigation?</FONT>
A new report projects federal spending on information technology outsourcing services will increase from $6.6 billion to nearly $15 billion by fiscal 2007.
