Research site eMarketer yesterday published a survey of some of the latest government-related IT stats. The Government Online, "a 31-country study of nearly 29,000 people from the international market research firm Taylor Nelson Sofres," had an interesting finding: "30% of the adult population around the world now accesses some aspect of government on the Internet. Although this 30% figure is significant, the service adoption curve has displayed little variation; information searches and form downloads show fairly widespread and growing (albeit moderately) usage, while the percentage of users providing personal information to their governments over the Internet and those paying for government services online have remained largely static."
A Forced Embrace of Open Source Software?
The move by some European governments to eschew proprietary software in favor of open-source systems like Linux sparked an angry response from James V. DeLong, director of the Washington-based Center for the Study of Digital Property. The pro-open-source software movement is the "latest anti-Americanism to sweep Europe," he wrote in an opinion piece published on CNET's News.com.
DeLong offers a high-level argument for why mandating open source can be problematic, the gist of which is that it's wrong to tilt the playing field in favor or proprietary or open-source software. He insists that those who want to use laws to lock out proprietary systems "fear that the open-source model will not be able to compete over time, and want to persuade governments to use their buying power to rig the game." DeLong's outfit, is affiliated with the conservative Progress & Freedom Foundation.
Meanwhile, open source is proving to be a driving factor behind crucial European government tech decisions these days. ZDNet UK reported earlier this week that a European Commission report concludes "that open standards, and to an extent open source, are crucial to making new e-government services work with each other and with enterprise systems. The paper, which will be used as a reference point for policy and decision-makers around Europe, is the latest document pushing forward the far-reaching eEurope initiative on e-government services."
Germany's Linux Push
The city of Munich got some publicity earlier this year when it selected open-source software to power its government's IT operations, news that was portrayed as a blow to Microsoft's efforts to win government clients in Europe. But maybe Microsoft is getting the last laugh. On Sunday, the tech news site Slashdot.org featured this post: "Remember that story about the city of Munich choosing Linux to power 14,000 desktop computers? One aspect of this story that most people don't know about is that up to 80 percent of those Linux desktops will be equipped with VMWare, a virtual machine emulator, under which they will run Windows and Windows applications. That's right, folks: The majority of those 'Linux desktops' will be used to run ... Windows."'
USA Today last week ran an in-depth piece on Munich's decision to go with Linux, detailing Microsoft's extraordinary efforts to keep the city as a customer. Microsoft lowered its prices substantially below the Linux deal and offered many other incentives, but Munich still chose open source. And the loss for Microsoft could have serious consequences. "What's striking about the Munich deal is the use of Linux on the desktop," Directions on Microsoft analyst Paul DeGroot told USA Today. "It's a threat to Microsoft's real source of strength, the desktop, where it has no competition and is used to winning all sorts of battles."
The USA Today piece explained why Munich was willing to turn a cold shoulder to the world's largest software firm: "[C]ity officials were concerned about the unpredictable long-run cost of Microsoft upgrades, says Munich council member Christine Strobl, who championed the switch to Linux. And the more Microsoft discounted, the more it underscored the notion that as a sole supplier, Microsoft could -- and has been -- naming its own price, she says."
Meanwhile, Bill Gates might want to take note of open-source rumblings in Australia. The Australian newspaper reported that the pressure to adopt open source is growing Down Under: "The Australian Democrats are trying to embarrass governments into supporting legislation mandating open source software, by asking questions in parliament about how much departments spend on Microsoft products."
More Ink For In-Q-Tel
In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture capital arm, has extended a licensing deal with software company Tacit of Palo Alto, Calif., to supply various intelligence agencies with its software. "In-Q-Tel Chief Executive Officer Gilman Louie, whose blessing for some companies carries the glitz and prestige of an actor being signed by a major Hollywood talent agency, said in a statement that Tacit's product held 'undeniable value to a wide range of government contractors,'" GovExec.com reported on Tuesday. The article explained why the CIA likes Tacit: "The company's data-sharing software allows people within a law enforcement or intelligence agency to search their organization's databases for potentially valuable reports, and also to send e-mail messages to their colleagues asking for assistance. But the product also has a patented secrecy feature that lets employees choose whether they want to respond to those queries, which would reveal their identity and, potentially, their sources of information."
In-Q-Tel "often invests in follow-on rounds of startups it backs, but rarely takes out two licensing agreements, says Kim Cook, director of technology assessment for In-Q-Tel in Arlington, Va.," The San Jose Business Journal reported, adding: "Also rare for Silicon Valley, the company is still doing what it set out to do when it was founded in 1998, although its original targeted customers were large companies, not the government." That has been the tune of many tech companies that have embraced Uncle Sam as the commercial tech market has remained weak.
DOA For TIA?
An update on the Pentagon's controversial Terrorism Information Awareness program: The U.S. Senate voted last Thursday to axe funds for the program, a move The Washington Post said was included as "part of a $369 billion military spending bill that passed unanimously. The Bush administration, which requested $54 million for the program over three years, had urged the Senate to remove the provision cutting off funding, saying in a statement ... 'This provision would deny an important tool in the war on terrorism.' A provision in the House defense appropriations bill that passed last week left room for further work on the program, though it prohibited use of the program's technology on U.S. citizens without congressional permission. The House and Senate will meet in conference to discuss the differences between the bills."
The project, which is focused on building sophisticated database mining technology to identify and track terrorist threats, has come under intense fire due to privacy concerns. But don't bet against John Poindexter, the retired admiral of Iran-Contra fame who's running the TIA project. While the Senate vote doesn't bode well, the Defense Department is working fast and furiously to lobby for the project. "We're working the Hill, I'll leave it at that," Robert Popp, director of DARPA's Information Awareness Office told Federal Computer Week.
But Can It Make a Coffee Run?
In other DARPA project news, here is one software project that might not cause so much grief for the agency. "The Pentagon is doling out $29 million to develop software-based secretaries that understand their bosses' habits and can carry out their wishes automatically. Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science will get $7 million to build a Perceptive Assistant that Learns, or PAL, a kind of digital flunky that can schedule meetings, maintain websites and reply to routine e-mail on its own. A total of $22 million is going to SRI International, Dejima and a coalition of other researchers for the construction of a wartime PAL," Wired said on Wednesday. Wired noted that critics are already scratching their heads and wondering how the uber-secretary system will help the Army and other branches be all they can be. Noah Shachtman penned the Wired piece and posted additional thoughts on his Defense Tech blog.
Carnegie Mellon announced the contract earlier this month. More on PAL from DARPA's announcement of the contract: "The system will help busy managers to cope with time consuming tasks such as organizing their E-mail, planning meetings, allocating scarce resources such as office space, maintaining a web site, and writing quarterly reports. Like any good assistant, RADAR must learn by interacting with its human master and by accepting explicit advice and instruction."
Kudos For Lockheed
Lockheed Martin is on the list of best companies for black Americans working in technology, according to an award handed out by the Black Data Processing Associates and WorkplaceDiversity.com. Allstate Insurance, Blackwell Consulting Services and FleetBoston Financial were also on the list, announced yesterday. An award for the top company for blacks in technology will be presented at the BDPA annual conference in Philadelphia next month, the groups said. BDPA was founded in 1975 to represent African Americans working in the IT sector, according to the group's Web site.
"In this economy, many African Americans in technology are concerned about opportunities for both employment and advancement. It is important to recognize those exceptional companies that have provided African Americans with challenging and fulfilling career opportunities in Information Technology," BDPA President Milt Haynes said in a statement. Companies were chosen from surveys ranking diversity programs, tenure, promotions and terminations and other factors at companies.
In other Lockheed news, the defense contractor this morning reported second-quarter earnings. Even though its $242 million quarterly profit was down from the same year ago quarter, Reuters noted the results "beat Wall Street forecasts and the company raised its outlook for 2003 and 2004."
Boeing's Satellite Salvo
The commercial satellite sector is in the dumps, prompting companies like Boeing to shift their sights to military applications. The aerospace company announced earlier this week that it is restructuring to its satellite units after reporting last week it would take a $1 billion charge in the division. Among the changes, Boeing Satellite Systems will be lumped into Space and Intelligence Systems to "weather the downturn in the commercial satellite market," the company said. And Expendable Launch Systems, operator of the Delta launch vehicles, will mostly work as a government contractor now, counting the Air Force as its major customer.
The Financial Times reported that the restructuring is designed in part to "focus [Boeing] even more on the military market." More from the article: "Last year Boeing moved to merge its satellite division with its defence operations, in a move that prompted speculation it was designed to hide already obvious problems with commercial satellites. Jim Albaugh was appointed president of the overall IDS division. However, the continuing problems in the satellite division have raised questions about whether Boeing and Mr Albaugh should have acted earlier to address them. Those concerns were underlined by the charge and the appointment last week of Dave Swain as chief operating officer at IDS, focusing on 'operational excellence.'"
Rocket Contract Probe Widens
In other Boeing news, the company's legal woes with rival Lockheed Martin are heating up. "Federal investigators, expanding their criminal investigation into document gathering by Boeing Co. employees, are focusing on a high-ranking executive in the company's rocket unit for allegedly helping snare a rival's proprietary documents during a major military-contract competition, people familiar with the case said," The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. The paper said government officials are probing "the activities of Thomas Alexiou, currently program director of the military version of Boeing's Delta IV rocket and the immediate supervisor of two former Boeing employees charged in the case, these people said. Last week, the two men were indicted for conspiring to illegally gather and distribute within Boeing proprietary Lockheed Martin Corp. documents in a multibillion-dollar competition to build the government's next-generation rocket." Boeing and Alexiou did not comment to the paper.
The fallout from the rocket controversy could intensify for Boeing as early as today, The Los Angeles Times reported. "In a decision that could ground much of Boeing Co.'s rocket business, the Air Force is expected to announce as early as today some of the stiffest penalties ever imposed on a defense contractor. The penalties -- including the possible barring of Boeing from seeking military rocket contracts -- were being weighed at the Pentagon late Wednesday. They could include requiring Boeing to hand off a third of its Delta IV rocket launch contracts, potentially worth nearly $1 billion, to rival Lockheed Martin Corp., according to people familiar with the discussions among top military officials. The harshest punishment would be to indefinitely suspend Boeing from contracts for rockets to lift military satellites into orbit, a move that could be financially devastating," the paper said.
Boeing Eyes Homeland Security
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is slated to tour Boeing's aircraft plants in Seattle today, and Boeing's chief executive is readying a proposal for Ridge, Bloomberg reported. "Boeing Co. Chief Executive Phil Condit is seeking a contract from the U.S. government to build a computer network aimed at disrupting terrorist plots. ... Boeing is courting government officials for military and security contracts as commercial airlines reduce orders," the paper said. Albaugh, president of Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems, will also make an appearance today, the Daily Herald of Everett, Wash., noted.
Pentagon HR Outsourcing Contract; CSC to Expand Agriculture E-Learning Program
Government contractor SI International today said it has been awarded a contract worth up to $13 million with the Army Military Personnel Services Center. The Reston, Va.-based company said it will provide human resource support for the Offices of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of the Army and other key Army operations.
In other contract news, Computer Sciences Corp. said today it won a $11 million contract with the Department of Agriculture to expand an existing deal with the department for project management and other services related to e-learning and "knowledge management."
Don't Know Much About Technology
Most politicians like to show that they have a grasp on technology issues, but it's clear that Iowa's governor needs to play some major catch-up. Seems working on a computer is an alien concept to Gov. Tom Vilsack (D), who admitted recently that he doesn't know how to use one. It's part of his defense of why some public records were destroyed, according to an article earlier this month in The Des Moines Register. "I'm 52 years old, and I don't know much about technology," Vilsack told the paper. "I don't even know how to send a response to an e-mail, that's how technologically deficient I am."
Quelle: Washington Post
