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Rick Knop offers a forecast for mergers andacquisitions for the remainder of 2008 in hisMarket Watch column online.The government contracting industry is onceagain weathering an economic downturn betterthan most industry sectors. The general tightnessof credit has not had as much of an impact onthe information technology sector as it has hadon other sectors of the economy. What's more,buyers will be looking to make strategic acquisitionsto better position themselves for the shiftingpolitical and budgetary prioritiesthat will accompanya new presidentialadministration.All things considered,the balance of 2008should result in the announcement of moreintriguing, high-profile deals.Steve Charles suggests a way to increase procurementcompetition in his Buylines columnonline. Program managers who conduct effectiveacquisition planning that offers limited or sole-sourcejustifications should not be penalized orsecond-guessed by contracting officers.The challenge is to find a way to measurecompetition at the acquisition planning and marketresearch stages so that contractingofficers can placeorders accordingly. If theGeneral ServicesAdministration was clearabout this process for allits schedule contracts, competition wouldincrease.The Web version of the 2008 Top 100 rankingsincludes a searchable database that lets userssort companies by rank, market, revenue andother parameters. There also are profiles of eachcompany, including its leadership, major customersand contracts, and lines of business. Go towww.washingtontechnology.com/top100/2008.Visit us daily for the latest news about thegovernment contracting industry, includingcontract wins, mergers and acquisitions, anddevelopments on the homeland security andpolicy fronts.