Danville, VA maps geography in fun way for youth

A day of studying geography, mapping and Geographic Information Systems technology does not sound typical for young people in Danville.

But Wednesday, the city is going to teach it to around 150 youth — and they are going to make it fun.

The importance of learning about GIS technology has never been more important, according to people involved with “GIS Day.” The day of adventure will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Danville Science Center.

“It is a new age of mapping,” said Sonya Wolen, assistant director of the Science Center. “It is how we map information on to geographic images. If you think of a conventional map and you take all the information we have with the digital age, and you make it all meaningful in this map.”

Students will pinpoint their homes from an aerial perspective and learn how layers of data are combined to create effective maps. A local ““geocaching” group will train students on the technology and use of GPS units with and outdoor activities. The Department of Forestry will also take students on a virtual world tour, viewing earthquake and hurricane events with 3–D data.

The goal is to try to make the data more meaningful to young people and create an interest in GIS fields. Wolen said this is a “burgeoning career” and more and more people are looking for workers with training in this type of technology, which is relatively new. It can be used for marketing purposes to risk assessments for companies. It is part of a job wave of the future, according to Wolen.

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first published week of:   11/14/2011

Data–Enabled Government. How Well Is Our Personal Information Protected?

This paper examines the key issues surrounding the use and protection of personal data and draws on in-depth interviews with experts working on the front lines of public sector data management.

This is an HP prepared white paper, present by WashingtonTechnology magazine. A free registration may be required to access this paper.

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first published week of:   11/07/2011

DCAA opens new areas for audits

The Defense Contract Auditing Agency is turning up the heat on its hunt for unallowable costs. A blogger on About.com is reporting that the DCAA is increasing its focus on several areas including business development and marketing, per diem limits, project losses, procedure changes and forward pricing.

Michael Bame writes that DCAA briefed him on the new focus areas, which come out of several Government Accountability Office audits that criticized DCAA.

Among the changes are DCAA’s desire to focus on the separation of business development costs and marketing costs. Marketing costs are not an allowable cost, and DCAA wants more costs classified as marketing.

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first published week of:   09/19/2011

Delaware launches nation's first statewide E- 911 database

Deleware launched a database designed to help emergency responders and citizens with special needs prepare for an emergency before it happens. The Emergency Preparedness Voluntary Registry is a secure Web-based application tied into the state’s 911 system. It makes important information — such as special medical needs or conditions and emergency contacts — immediately available to first responders. On April 19, Delaware’s governor and secretary of Delaware’s Safety and Homeland Security, launched the registry. It is the nation’s first statewide database and has been in the works for more than 2 years. It cost about $35,000 and was funded by the state’s E-911 board, and a federal grant. Along with sharing specific medical conditions, such as Alzheimer’s, epilepsy or autism, the registry allows first responders to know if a resident has mobility issues and the exact location of those who are confined to hospital beds, the state 911 administrator said.

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first published week of:   05/02/2011

DHS changes approach to border technology
Draft request for proposals expected in early December

The Homeland Security Department intends to apply a “capability–based” purchasing framework for its next phase of video surveillance along the southwestern border, the department announced in an updated solicitation.

The chief capability being sought is the ability to detect individuals walking across the terrain up to 7.5 miles away. The detection must be possible under difficult visual and weather conditions.

DHS, in a Nov. 17 update released on the Federal Business Opportunities website, said it plans to issue a final Request for Proposals in January or February for an integrated tower system along the Arizona-Mexico border. A draft RFP is expected to be released in December.

“The RFP will provide a framework for performance/cost trades. In other words, the IFT system will be a “capability–based” acquisition and the RFP will indicate a set of desired capabilities in priority order,” the solicitation states.

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first published week of:   11/28/2011

DOD taking steps to prevent another Cablegate

The Department of Defense (DOD) is taking decisive action to secure- department networks to prevent an incident like the Cablegate scandal of 2010, the new- DOD CIO said the week of March 7. Speaking to the Senate Homeland Security and- Governmental Affairs committee, the DOD CIO said the department is in the midst of- deploying new security technology to the DOD classified network, SIPRNet, to prevent- future insider breaches. “The unauthorized release of U.S. information by WikiLeaks- has adversely affected our global engagement and national security and endangered the- lives of individuals who have sought to cooperate with the United States,” she said.- After conducting studies on how it can improve network security, the DOD has begun- to implement a Host Based Security System (HBBS) to all of its workstations to- prevent people from removing large amounts of data from SIPRNet by rewriting it to a- removable storage device, said the DOD CIO, whose testimony is available online.- Although the system will allow the removal of data from some machines, HBSS will- report in real time each operation, she said. It also will report every unauthorized- attempt to move data and rewrite it. The DoD also has a back-up plan to ensure another- Cablegate will not happen while it waits for a full deployment of the new system, she- added.

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first published week of:   03/21/2011

Volume 31

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