Tech Insider
Allan Holmes on what's happening and what's being discussed in the world of federal information technology.

• Predict What's Going to Happen in 2008
  

  We think you, the technology manager in the federal government and industry, have a pretty good insight into just what are the hot issues and events that will unfold in 2008 for the federal IT market. Over the past few weeks we've invited you to take an online survey to let us know what you think; we just want to take this opportunity to invite you to take the survey again, if you haven’t.

  We are conducting the survey in conjunction with our friends at Government Futures, which is also offering readers a chance to place bets on what’s going to happen in the federal IT community using the prediction markets on Government Future's Web site.

  If you have taken the survey and placed your bets, thank you. If you haven't, please visit the site and give us your opinions. The questions cover a number of hot areas, including information security, the next-generation Internet and federal information technology spending.

  In January, we’ll host a webinar to discuss the results of the survey and present an analysis of the predictions.

  In the December issue of Government Executive, we discuss some trends that IT experts told us would be important. Now, we want your opinion. So, please take the survey and join the government futures market to help us figure it out.

• Web Headlines
  

  Headlines from around the Web
  Compiled by Melanie Bender
  
  

  GSA Issues IPv6 Training RFI
  Washington Technology
  In a new request for information, GSA said it wants information on IPv6 training from companies that already have GSA contracts suitable for providing training. GSA is also asking companies about their current IPv6 training courses.
  
  

  Computer Servers in U.S., Japan and Europe are Power Hogs
  InformationWeek
  The worldwide consumption of energy to power computer servers, cooling equipment, and related infrastructure gear doubled from 2000 to 2005, and the U.S. devoured about 40 percent of that. However, research indicates the developing Asia-Pacific region will eclipse the U.S. by 2010.
  
  

  Holiday Season Fertile Ground for IM, Web-Based Threats
  NetworkWorld
  E-mail and instant messaging programs can be compromised such that threats will most often materialize in a way that they appear to have come from known contacts. Attackers are also compromising the home pages of popular Web sites, allowing them to inject malicious code onto any system that visits a Web site that isn't adequately protected.
  
  

  Survey: IT Managers Expect Problems with Projects
  InformationWeek
  According to a survey of 800 middle and senior IT managers in eight countries, 43 percent expect problems with their IT projects and have learned to live with IT project challenges.
  
  

  GAO to USPS: Address Database Errors
  Federal Computer Week
  USPS developed the Facilities Database in 2003 to capture and maintain data on the agency’s 34,000 facilities nationwide, but five years later, the database is still not the central source for facility data as planned and its information is inaccurate, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Dec. 10.
  
  

  States Must Designate Fusion Centers to Work with Feds
  Federal Computer Week
  The Homeland Security and Justice departments want state governors and other officials to name a single fusion center from every state to work directly with the federal government.
  
  

  Open Source and the Corporate Elephant
  InfoWorld
  A number of corporations are moving into the free software arena, resulting in legions of programmers, paid by companies, moving into free software communities.
  
  

  Georgia Outsourcing Tech Jobs, Cutting Positions
  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
  Gov. Sonny Perdue announced he plans to consolidate the 11 agencies that account for most of the state's information technology spending. Those agencies spend about $617 million on computers and other technology a year. A restructured Georgia Technology Authority will then bid out technology services to private companies. The contracts will be awarded late next year.
  
  

  First Responder Budget Cuts Draw Congressional Ire
  eWeek
  Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are blasting a Bush administration proposal to cut 2009 funding by as much as half for local emergency management operations, including interoperability grants. A lack of funding could jeopardize state and local emergency management agencies' plans to utilize spectrum that will be auctioned by the government in January.
  
  

  Data Breach Prompts Ohio Pact with McAfee for SafeBoot
  ComputerWorld
  State officials announced late last week that they have agreed to purchase about 60,000 licenses of McAfee Inc.'s SafeBoot encryption software. The state will begin rolling out SafeBoot's policy-based encryption technology to government offices beginning early next year, according to the Ohio Department of Administrative Services. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

• Encryption Isn't Everything
  

  Shannon Kellogg, director of government and industry affairs at USAJOBS vs. Monster
  

  Like companies in the private sector, federal agencies may eventually be required to notify citizens of an information security breach on a federal computer network that exposes citizens’ personal information, such as Social Security numbers, financial data, addresses and credit card numbers. (The Federal Agency Data Breach Protection Act, introduced by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., in May, would establish standards for how an agency informs the public if it loses personal information as does like legislation passed by more than two dozen states.)

  As is the case in most comparisons with the private sector, the federal government would likely not do as a good a job in notifying the public, most people would say. But that isn’t the case in one, real-world example. In its December/January issue (not yet posted online), CSO Magazine compares how Monster.com and the USAJOBS, the federal government’s site for job openings, handled the security breach of monster.com’s database of resumes in August. About 146,000 names and contact information of job seekers on the USAJOBS Web site were stolen.

  CSO Executive Editor Scott Berinato offers a side-by-side comparison of the notification letters that the organizations sent out to notify customers of the breach. (He describes such notification letters as requiring