Note from Executive Editor Allan Holmes: Nextgov Editor at Large Bob Brewin, who writes the Defense IT What's Brewin' weekly column, will soon begin to post daily items in a new blog on Nextgov.com. You can still receive the What's Brewin' newsletter every Monday, which will include the previous week's blog items. Below is a sample of the kind of items Bob will write about. We'll post a few more before the What's Brewin' blog officially launches, when you will be able to read What's Brewin' daily.

The Government Accountability Office on Jan. 28 faulted the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments for failing to appoint a director of a joint Defense/VA Interagency Program Office to manage health information sharing between the two departments.

That's not for lack of trying, the folks at the Military Heath System public affairs office told me. They said an initial recruitment for the program office it conducted last year was unsuccessful, and a new recruitment package for a director with an SES-rank is being prepared. Defense plans a national search.

So, if you think you can fill the bill -- and have "Chicago toughness" when faced with three inches of Washington snow, as President Obama called for yesterday -- I suggest you get in touch with MHS.

Until a new director comes on board, MHS said Rear Adm. Gregory Timberlake will serve as acting director. Timberlake is a trauma surgeon, who retired from active duty in 1989. As a reservist recalled to active duty in 2005, he has served as command surgeon for the U.S. Joint Forces Command, as well as medical advisor to the supreme allied command for transformation.

Note from Executive Editor Allan Holmes: Nextgov Editor at Large Bob Brewin, who writes the Defense IT What's Brewin' weekly column, will soon begin to post daily items in a new blog on Nextgov.com. You can still receive the What's Brewin' newsletter every Monday, which will include the previous week's blog items. Below is a sample of the kind of items Bob will write about. We'll post a few more before the What's Brewin' blog officially launches, when you will be able to read What's Brewin' daily.

I'm picking up strong signals that the Obama team is looking at retired Radm. Robert "Willie" Williamson to succeed John Grimes as assistant secretary of Defense for networks and information integration, the Pentagon's top gadget, gizmo, network and data guy.

Williamson was one of a gaggle of flag officers who endorsed Obama at a highly publicized event in Chicago in March 2008, which was designed to boost Obama's credentials as commander-in-chief. At that event, Williamson said Obama "has all the great qualities and attributes required to carry out the most difficult duties of the presidency."

Note from Executive Editor Allan Holmes: Nextgov Editor at Large Bob Brewin, who writes the Defense IT What's Brewin' weekly column, will soon begin to post daily items in a new blog on Nextgov.com. You can still receive the What's Brewin' newsletter every Monday, which will include the previous week's blog items. Below is a sample of the kind of items Bob will write about. We'll post a few more before the What's Brewin' blog officially launches, when you will be able to read What's Brewin' daily.

Dr. Rob Kolodner told me he will stay on as the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, a position he held under the Bush administration, in the new Obama administration. It will truly be a demanding job considering Obama's commitment to health IT.

The House Ways and Means Committee approved a stimulus bill on Jan. 22, which incorporates the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, which includes a $20 billion health IT package.

Harris Corp. said it has tapped Dr. Bart Brad Harmon, who recently retired as chief medical information officer of the Military Health System (MHS), to serve as chief medical officer of the company’s new Healthcare Solutions unit.

Harris said its new Healthcare Solutions division will support commercial and military care customers with a range of information technology offerings including digital content management and visualization products.

Harmon, a retired Army colonel with both a medical degree and a Master’s in public health, spent the past decade working on electronic health record projects for MHS and chaired a working group that defined information sharing between MHS and the Veterans Affairs Department.

The Defense Information Systems Agency awarded Computer Sciences Corp. a $613 million contract to continue managing the Defense network that serves as the global communications backbone for the Defense Department.

CSC won the Defense Information System Network (DISN) Network Management Support Services-Global (DNMSS-G/R) Recompete Network Engineering contract, which has a ceiling value of $613 million over five years. CSC won the original DISN engineering services contract in 1999 and under the new award will continue to provide global digital voice, data and video services.

Another key task for CSC is support of the secure Defense Red Switch Network, a world-wide voice, video and data network used by top Defense officials, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), theater and support commanders, and other senior decision makers.

The DISN engineering contract has a two-year base period and three one-year options. CSC’s partners include AT&T, BAE Systems, CACI, General Dynamics, Telecordia and Qwest.