Forecasters suggest that federal IT contractors can expect 2006 to be almost as good as 2005, but contractors also should expect several new or increased legal risks to arise in the new year. Here's a rundown:
Many IT contractors for the Homeland Security Department have seen new initiatives bogged down by policy issues and political concerns. Four persistent policy questions are likely to affect major upcoming IT programs in 2006.
Roseanne Gerin will host an online forum from noon to 1 p.m. Jan. 25 with Mary Karen Wills and Tony Fuller of Beers & Cutler. For more information, go to www.washingtontechnology.com.
Few things can instill more fear in a contractor's heart than a notice announcing a government audit. Preparedness is best defense when the auditor calls, experts advise.
Testifying before the Senate last July, Emily Murphy, chief acquisition officer of the General Services Administration, said the agency was considering bringing back its practice of doing post-award contract audits on its multiple-award schedules.
The Senate is seeking vendors to help it establish a portable credentialing and identification system that will produce photo ID badges linked to a database containing information about the badge holder.
The immigration bill expected to begin House debate this week contains a controversial provision that would dramatically expand use of a Homeland Security Department IT program that employers use to verify Social Security numbers for prospective employees.
The Homeland Security Department's inspector general issued 16 reports highlighting IT weaknesses within the agency in the past six months, according to the just-released Semiannual Report to the Congress.
The National Disaster Medical System is in disarray due to a lack of leadership and to persistent breakdowns in its planning, logistics and communications systems, according to a new report from senior Democrats on two key House committees.
The House of Representatives is seeking industry input on the availability of dark fiber infrastructure within the Washington metropolitan area that could be incorporated into the House's wide area network.
Just in case there's a question in anyone's mind that those convoluted, multipage intellectual property and data rights clauses in government contracts mean what they say, the U.S. Court of Federal Claim last month provided one contractor with a painful lesson that they do.
At $4 billion, the Infrastructure Modernization program is one of the biggest Army opportunities of 2006 ? and one of the biggest federal government telecommunications awards as well.
The Common Alerting Protocol, an XML standard for sending warning messages over many different types of networks, has picked up high-profile users since it debuted in 2004.
Prospects might be brightening slightly for procurement activity on the multibillion-dollar federal Integrated Wireless Network (IWN) as a result of lessons learned from hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Mihir Shah and Stella Mercado Colwell of Suh'dutsing Technologies LLC and MerCom, respectively, met Kim Bowley at State Department small-business networking events early this autumn. By November, both 8(a), HUBZone companies were teamed with ManTech International Corp., where Bowley has been the small-business liaison officer since 1990.
Private equity groups and companies looking to make deals in the homeland security and government contracting market are about to face a new competitor.
