When the FBI wanted to speed up installation of software and computers for its Trilogy modernization program after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, reseller GTSI Corp. shifted its delivery schedule into high gear.
	A General Accounting Office report released March 25 concluded that its own use of data mining is useful for finding some, though not all, accounting discrepancies. GAO identified cases in which data mining tools extracted unusual government credit card purchases -- for example, those made at toy stores -- which auditors tracked down. While "data mining alone is generally not sufficient to identify systemic breakdowns in controls," it is useful in understanding the scope of misuse and for providing managers with examples of abuse, according to the report. With the right mix of technology, expertise and data security measures, data mining can be an important tool to help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of audits and investigations, GAO said. The report is online at http://www.gao<BR>
	A new book from IT publisher O'Reilly and Associates Inc., Sebastopol, Calif., shows the many advanced ways the Google search engine (http://www.google.com) can be used. Tara Calishain and Rael Dornfest's "Google Hacks" ($24.95) reveals how organizations can write custom scripts to probe the search engine's application programming interfaces and locate hard-to-pinpoint public data.
	Using Carnegie Mellon University's Technology Insertion Demonstration and Evaluation program to improve its design process, Carco Electronics Inc., a missile guidance system vendor in Pittsburgh, was able to cut its control system design costs in half. After an evaluation, personnel from the program suggested that Carco use a commercial modeling tool to eliminate the need to physically prototype and test each design. The company expects to save $150,000 in design costs over the course of a year.
Potential buyers of wireless solutions abounded at the 27th annual FOSE government IT trade show, but industry observers said many parties still hesitated to purchase them, citing inadequate security guidance from their agencies.
Enterprise resource planning software has been around for about a decade as a tool to help government streamline business processes. If used wisely, it can help agencies meet their goals while squeezing more out of tight budgets.
A new solution developed by WebMethods Inc., Fairfax, Va., and Informatica Corp., Redwood City, Calif., is designed to help integrators save time and money on e-government and other modernization work.
The release of a new version of a storage solution offered by EMC Corp. meets Defense Department requirements for records management, said David Cahill, senior manager of compliance technology for EMC. Version 2.0 of EMC's Centera, a storage system built specifically for records management, complies with Department of Defense Directive 5015.2.
Equipment now being deployed by the coalition forces in Kuwait and Iraq to detect chemical or biological agents may be used routinely in U.S. cities in the not too distant future, according to government and industry officials.
There are plenty of good reasons for creating enterprise architectures: Such models can take the sting out of integrating agency functions, launching new initiatives or just optimizing existing functions and IT investments.
While the concept of an enterprise architecture may remain an abstract notion to many agency executives, one integrator is hoping to show managers at the Census Bureau how useful an enterprise architecture can be, mainly by deploying flexible modeling software from Computas NA Inc., Sammamish, Wash.
Earlier this month, Atlanta-based Vista-Scape Security Systems Corp. beat a large systems integrator for a contract to set up a 50-camera perimeter surveillance system for a Navy harbor in San Diego. Its key to victory? Information technology, said Glenn McGonnigle, the company's chief executive officer.
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology's Networking Lab have developed a protocol called Fast Active queue management Scalable Transmission Control Protocol, or FAST, that can facilitate 8.6 gigabit per second throughput. The protocol allows the largest simultaneous throughput to date using standard Internet data packets, according to the university. Caltech's partners included Cisco, the European Organization for Nuclear Research and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. More information on the protocol can be found at http://netlab.caltech<BR>
CableExpress Technologies Corp., Syracuse, N.Y., won a five-year General Services Administration schedule to sell refurbished networking equipment from Cisco Systems Inc., San Jose, Calif. Authorized by Cisco to resell the used equipment, CableExpress tests and cleans all hardware, which comes with five-year warranties. The company claims its refurbished hardware can cost 70 percent less than new gear.
Incident Command Technologies Inc., Clinton Township, Mich., has developed a handheld, computer-based solution to keep track of firefighters at the scene of an incident. Assignments can be noted and instantly updated using the software. The waterproof handheld can then be synched with a desktop computer to provide a detailed, chronological event log of who was assigned where and when. The company was formed by John Ellis, a lieutenant for the Fraser, Mich., Department of Public Safety.
When military personnel ship out for the Persian Gulf, they now have their complete medical history waiting for them when they arrive, and every physician who treats them will have access to that information through laptop computers at medical facilities on the battlefield.