Author Archive

Drew Robb

Infrastructure

CMS Dashboard delivers health care data STAT

The public portal lets people run custom reports and create graphs that cover Medicare Part A expenditures. Data for a given quarter is now published less than three months after the end of the quarter, compared with 18 months previously.

  • By Drew Robb
Infrastructure

What you can do with CMS' health care dashboard

Users get options such as a summary of patient volume and inpatient payments in a bubble chart or grid view, breakdowns by state and time analysis simulations.

  • By Drew Robb
Cybersecurity

CBP's border system tests include a drive-through sandbox

For its border-crossing system, Customs and Border Protection had to optimize the best configuration of radio frequency identification antennas in the lane, how to tune and angle the antennas, and how to set the radiated power for best performance in reading RFID-enabled cards

  • By Drew Robb
Cybersecurity

Consolidated ID cards and automated checkpoint systems streamline the flow at border crossings

On June 1, the project to deploy the new system at the 39 largest ports of entry was completed – on time and on budget, processing more than 1.7 million vehicles and 2.5 million travelers in the first week. More than 90 percent of the travelers had WHTI-compliant IDs, and the automated verification system had a query response time of less than two seconds.

  • By Drew Robb
Cybersecurity

Identity management a complex process with a simple goal

A failure to realize the process changes involved has doomed some identity management systems, but there have also been successful deployments. And integrated identity management and access control suites are making it easier to achieve the desired result.

  • By Drew Robb
Cybersecurity

Microsoft/ESRI app boosts GIS data sharing at Mass. fusion center

FusionX, developed with input from several agencies, combines ArcGIS data and SharePoint and other applications to integrate fusion center operations.

  • By Drew Robb
Digital Government

Thin clients are in season at Park Service

Zion National Park replaces some of its desktop PCs with thin clients, reducing power consumption when in use, allowing the machines to be shut down for half the year and cutting down the IT workload.

  • By Drew Robb