10 Stories You've Been Following

1. 4 named to Army RFID contract
Let the competition begin. Savi Technology Inc., Northrop Grumman Information Technology, Unisys Corp., and Systems and Processes Engineering Corp. will vie for task orders under the Army’s Radio Frequency Identification III contract, worth $429 million over 10 years. The new contract allows the Army to move away from a sole-source approach.

2. Northrop streamlines
As part of a companywide restructuring, Northrop Grumman Corp. combined its Information Technology and Mission Systems units into a new Information Systems unit, led by Linda Mills. The combined units have an annual revenue of about $10 billion.

3. Talk about stimulation
Market research firm Input estimates that contractors could see more than $350 billion in new opportunities under President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus proposal. The projects would include infrastructure improvements, electronic health records, green initiatives and school modernizations.

4. Tough times up north for Nortel
Nortel Networks Corp., the parent company of Nortel Government Solutions, filed for bankruptcy in Canada and the United States. The government unit is not part of the proceedings, but there is speculation that the bankruptcy could lead to the breakup of Nortel Networks.

5. GSA sees more STARS
The General Services Administration plans to launch a second version of its governmentwide technology contract for small businesses. The success of the first Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resources for Services warrants a follow-on contract, according to GSA.

6. Tax day looms for BearingPoint
BearingPoint is facing an April 15 deadline for paying back creditors who loaned the company $200 million three years ago. The creditors can either receive stock or cash as repayment.

7. Schedule 70 under review
The $16 billion General Services Administration Schedule 70 program is undergoing a makeover under the Vision 2010 initiative, which seeks to improve operations and rebuild employee morale.

8. Satellite program hits static
The Air Force plans to scale back its $16 billion Transformational Communications Satellite system. Officials want to lower the cost of the program by dropping some requirements.

9. Raytheon exec picked as DOD deputy
President Barack Obama nominated William Lynn to serve as deputy defense secretary. Lynn was DOD comptroller under the Clinton administration and most recently Raytheon Co.’s senior vice president of government operations and strategy.

10. No way says TAA
A government proposal to thwart counterfeiters would require federal contractors to certify the authenticity of their products. However, the Technology Association of America said the proposal won’t work and would instead create major liabilities for contractors.

These stories received the most traffic on Washington Technology’s Web site in January. For more daily news coverage, go to www.washingtontechnology.com.