The 99th Contracting Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada is considering a firm-fixed-price contract for engineering, operations and technical support for evaluating at least one class of unmanned aerial vehicles. This will include support in areas such as financial management, configuration management and conference support, among others. Top-secret clearance with SCI eligibility may be required. Responses are due Feb. 23. Information is at fedbiz<BR>
	The Patent and Trademark Office is seeking companies that can offer systems development and integration to support its chief information officer in a follow-on deal to the Systems Development & Maintenance contracts. Contractors will provide staff, tools and processes to develop, enhance and maintain systems and software within the agency's enterprise architecture. Contractors also will offer technical and managerial resources to design, develop, integrate, maintain, re-engineer and provide specialized services for more than 120 application information systems. Responses are due March 1. Details are at fedbizopps.gov, solicitation no. DOCSSPAPT0410002
	The Broadcasting Board of Governors is looking for technologies and tools to reach countries that have censorship limits and restrictions on Internet access. It wants tools that can give access to Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Radio Farda and other news sources. Written comments are due Feb. 23. Details of the request for information are on fedbizopps.gov, solicitation no. Reference-Number-04-001.
The General Accounting Office has expanded its investigation examining the use of bogus degrees by federal employees amid concerns that the problem is more widespread than federal officials thought.
The federal government's reluctance to fully fund programs that it foists onto the states is stirring unrest among state officials, according to budget and legislative experts.
The Prime Integration Services contract to modernize IRS systems has had its budget for 2005 cut more than 26 percent, from $387.7 million in fiscal 2004 to $285 million next year, a drop of almost $103 million.
The Energy Department's fiscal 2005 budget request includes $204 million for its Advanced Scientific Computing Research program, a slight increase over 2004 funding.
The National Science Foundation is seeking $305 million to fund research into nanotechnology, which is the research and development of technologies at the atomic, molecular and macromolecular level.
The General Services Administration is proposing to bolster President Bush's $5 million e-government fund request in the fiscal 2005 budget with $40 million in fees collected from agencies that buy products and services off of GSA's purchasing vehicles.
The proposed fiscal 2005 budget for the Homeland Security Department, released Monday, includes substantial new funding for aviation security, biodefense and state and local first response.
Of the $32.3 billion in IT funds the Bush administration is seeking for civilian agencies for fiscal 2005, a large chunk would go to projects to fight bioterrorism.
Massachusetts issued an open-standards policy this month that directs agencies to consider using open-source software when purchasing new information technology systems.
State and local governments will continue their full-scale retreat from offshore outsourcing this year to avoid the political backlash that often accompanies the loss of government jobs to overseas sites, industry and government officials said.
	Delays in creating a unified terrorist watch list stem from "a lack of leadership" by the Bush administration, not a lack of technology, said Rep. Jim Turner, D-Texas.
	The House Government Reform Committee this year will focus on implementation of the E-Government Act of 2002 and agency compliance with the Federal Information Security Management Act, according to committee chairman Tom Davis.
