Editor's Note

By Trish WilliamsLitton Industries' TASC subsidiary is scrambling to find more information assurance and intelligence work as it scours for acquisition deals worth less than $50 million.TASC, which earned about $500 million in 1999 revenue, provides high-end engineering, information technology and management consulting services to the federal government. It is part of Litton's Information Systems Group, which Litton executives have pegged the company's best growth business. This group chipped in $1.6 billion of Litton's $4.8 billion in 1999.Washington Technology Staff Writer Nick Wakeman talked to TASC President Jim Frey to find out his game plan for winning more intelligence agency business and trotting out new engineering management offerings.In a cover story in this issue, Frey said TASC's spot on a General Services Administration engineering services schedule and the engineering management offering later this year would help the company boost growth rates above 10 percent annually. On another front, I would like to thank the publication's staff and our loyal readers for making the past four years at Washington Technology my best editorial post yet. During this time, we have stepped up our coverage of the rapidly changing federal IT market and added several new sections. They include a business section that tracks the growth and performance of IT companies on the move, and a section that looks at companies pursuing business opportunities in the exploding state and local government IT market. Our most recent addition is the workplace section, which focuses on the innovative steps companies are taking to attract and retain skilled IT professionals in this highly competitive market.With this issue, I am turning over the reins of the publication to Steve LeSueur, who has done a stellar job of covering the state and local marketplace for Washington Technology since joining the staff in 1998.The promise of spending more time with my children beckons, as does the itch to get back into writing. So do not be surprised to see my byline in the days ahead in this newspaper, and continue to give us feedback on this evolving publication. XXXSPLITXXX-