No. 8: Fluor's ready in a pinch

Texas construction and engineering firm comes when disaster calls.

No. 7: General Dynamics in full sprint

Fueled by a steady stream of major acquisitions, GD expects to win its share of contract trophies.

No. 6: Raytheon strives for balance

From complex biometrics to service-oriented architectures, the company rides high on the latest technology waves.

The 2.9% solution

Contractors are not deterred by the predicted flat growth in core government markets.

The perfect fix

Internal IT collaboration at HUD cuts chaos.

Leading by example

Abbas Yazdani, founder and CEO of Artel, could delegate the hunt for alliances to other officers. But he often chooses to lead the quest himself, as he did recently at the DISA Customer Partnership Conference.

Briefs

Despite an $893 million outlay on information-sharing networks in the past two years, the Homeland Security and Justice departments do not have effective networks in place, a GAO report states.

14 agencies worth watching

Federal Sources Inc. expects the following agencies to be the top information technology spenders in fiscal 2008.

House restores small biz contract dollars to 30 percent

After some wrangling earlier this week, the House has decided agencies should give 30 percent of their contracting dollars to small businesses.

DHS awards $445M for infrastructure protection

DHS has issued grants totaling $445 million for projects to protect the nation's critical infrastructure.

Airline industry balks at US-VISIT fingerprint plan

The airline industry is opposed to DHS' plan to put airlines in charge of fingerprint checks for foreign passengers departing the U.S., the president of a major airline trade association said.

University of California consortium holds onto Lawrence-Livermore work

The Energy Department chose a University of California-led team to continue operating the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California for the next seven years.

GAO: Key elements missing from DHS architecture plan

DHS' most recent enterprise architecture shows improvements but is still missing key pieces and is only of limited usefulness, according to a new GAO report.

Telecom firms get wired for Networx

AT&T Government Solutions, Verizon Federal and Qwest Communications International have hit the ground running trying to build business through the Networx Universal contracts.

Three companies to train peacekeepers

L-3 Communications, Northrop Grumman and Blackwater USA were awarded the State Department contract.

DHS pushes biometric exit plan despite flaws

DHS has pushed biometric exit procedures out of the pilot testing phase even though officials recently said they are not ready to be implemented.

State IT consolidation can succeed

Successful IT consolidation in state government usually means culture change, and that can require the deft use of carrots and sticks to overcome resistance.

Homeland security networks require coordination: GAO

DHS and DOJ have spent $893 million on information-sharing networks in the last two years but still do not have effective networks in place, GAO reported.

CDW-G scouts for small business partners

CDW Government Inc. has issued a request for proposals soliciting small businesses to partner with on federal business opportunities.

RetrievalWare customers search for transition advice

Convera Corp. is selling its RetrievalWare search business to a Norwegian company, and Convera's federal government customers are bracing for the change.