Archive: homeland security
Dataveillance
Dear contractors, get ready to share more data with the folks at Homeland Security. Under new security provisions, authorities will collect information from foreign visitors, cargo companies and federal contractors "as part of an array of controversial last-minute security policies imposed by the Bush administration." That's according to a USA...
By Robert O'Harrow | January 8, 2009; 09:25 AM ET | Comments (0)
Lockheed Human Resources
The Transportation Security Administration was on Government Inc.'s mind recently, after Congress decided that the troubled agency now needs to follow the same procurement rules at the rest of the government. So this item by Alice Lipowicz at Washington Technology jumped out. It seems that Lockheed Martin, the government's...
By Robert O'Harrow | July 8, 2008; 09:37 AM ET | Comments (0)
Loophole: The Hearing
The promised hearing on The Loophole took place as planned. And just as expected, we got a potpourri of opinions from various quarters, including the Justice Department, Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the contractor world. Informed observers will recall that said loophole was inserted into a proposed OMB...
By Robert O'Harrow | April 16, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (0)
Nuke Detection
The Department of Homeland Security's multibillion-dollar plans for nuclear detection will come under scrutiny again tomorrow, during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing. At issue now is a report by an independent group formed by DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff after Congress, the Government Accountability Office and others raised questions....
By Robert O'Harrow | March 4, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (56)
Security, S & T
The Department of Homeland Security's science and technology branch is responsible for finding and nurturing technology to help protect the country. That has meant contracting out much work with private companies and federally funded research and development centers, special entities that often act like private companies. Over the last...
By Robert O'Harrow | February 13, 2008; 07:01 AM ET | Comments (0)
Sky's The Limit
Talk about a big potential market. The Department of Homeland Security has struck a deal with American Airlines and BAE Systems to install infrared missile defense systems on three commercial jets, according to a story by Alice Lipowicz in WashingtonTechnology. It's not a big deal, just $29 million. But...
By Robert O'Harrow | January 9, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (1)
Lobsters and Surveillance
Happy Holidays from Government Inc. Please take time to prepare yourself for another year of contracting, fraud, waste and abuse. And please, dear readers, don't be shy of sending documents and thoughts my way. By the way, here's a story from Government Computer News that is just plain intriguing....
By Robert O'Harrow | December 27, 2007; 06:51 AM ET | Comments (1)
Nukes and Budgets
Questions about the Department of Homeland Security's troubled efforts to protect against the import of nuclear weapons continue to bubble. And now it's congressional appropriators who are taking up the issue again. At issue is the department's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office. Government Inc. readers know that DNDO has been...
By Robert O'Harrow | December 20, 2007; 02:00 PM ET | Comments (0)
Anthrax, a Remedy and a Ticking Clock
The Government Accountability Office has just delivered a razor sharp analysis of why an $878 million contract for anthrax vaccine failed. It was spelled out in a story yesterday by my colleague Renae Merle -- and was the subject of a hearing by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental...
By Robert O'Harrow | October 24, 2007; 06:00 AM ET | Comments (7)
Inherently Governmental
A little contrition is warranted here. Government Inc. went quiet for a few days. I landed an opportunity to visit the Blackwater Worldwide headquarters in Moyock, N.C. with founder Erik Prince. Sorting out what I saw there and what it meant took most of my waking hours last week....
By Robert O'Harrow | October 17, 2007; 07:46 AM ET | Comments (0)
The Nuke Detection Beat Goes On - And On
A scathing audit report by the Department of Energy Inspector General's Office raises new questions about government efforts to prevent the smuggling of radiological materials into the country for nuclear weapons or dirty bombs. Please forgive the un-bloglike length of this post. I hope you'll find it's worth it. The...
By Robert O'Harrow | October 5, 2007; 06:00 AM ET | Comments (13)
Dry Runs And Dress Rehearsals
A house oversight panel held an interesting hearing last week about the troubled $1.2 billion worth of contracts at the Department of Homeland Security to buy radiation detectors known as Advanced Spectroscopic Portals. The focus of the hearing by the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee was tests conducted...
By Robert O'Harrow | September 27, 2007; 06:09 AM ET | Comments (0)
The Nuke Detection Beat Goes On
The to-and-fro on the Department of Homeland Security's $1.2 billion worth of contracts for new radiation detectors continues apparently. In an Aug. 30 memo, DHS under secretary Paul A. Schneider said Customs and Border Protection officials want two more months of testing before the department decides whether the machines...
By Robert O'Harrow | September 6, 2007; 06:42 AM ET | Comments (0)
Nukes, Monitors and Questions Continued
The dispute over the Department of Homeland Security's effort to buy a new kind of radiation detection machine continues to unfold. Though it may seem arcane, a lot more is at stake than the $1.2 billion in contracts, which have been stalled by questions from the Government Accountability Office...
By Robert O'Harrow | August 23, 2007; 05:28 AM ET | Comments (0)
