The buzz factor

1. iPad: 10 reasons feds should be eager
Summary: Apple's new iPad has some features that feds will be excited about.
Outlook: Agencies are growing more open minded about consumer technologies, which makes it important to understand what the devices can and can't do. (See No. 4 below.)

2. The CIO 14 years later: Power vs. paperwork
Summary: As the 1996 Clinger-Cohen Act envisioned, some agency CIOs are driving the agenda and effecting change.
Outlook: Technology is now part and parcel of strategy and decision-making, so strong leaders are key. Still, CIOs struggle for respect.

3. Good job, acquisition workforce. Here's a raise.
Summary: Proposed legislation would create a system that uses incentives and career development to build the acquisition workforce.
Outlook: Finding enough skilled acquisition professionals — and keeping them once they're found — is a perennial problem for agencies, and this is one of several efforts to address it.

4. IPad: 10 reasons feds should be wary
Summary: Apple's new iPad has some downsides for feds.
Outlook: Adopting consumer technologies means assessing their risks and functionality, and the new iPad lacks some important features that feds might find important.

5. Cyber chief slams security efforts
Summary: Howard Schmidt said the government's cybersecurity efforts to date have been inadequate. He called for enterprisewide network intrusion detection and math and science training in U.S. schools.
Outlook: Good ideas, but no one yet knows whether Schmidt has the pull to make them happen.

6. Agencies struggle to secure computers
Summary: No major agency fully meets the specifications of two of the government's most important security initiatives, the Trusted Internet Connections and Federal Desktop Core Configuration, auditors say.
Outlook: Now that agencies and the public know they fall short of security expectations, will they step up their efforts? Or just give up?

7. Cyber Command nominee lays out rules of engagement
Summary: Army Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander fielded questions from a Senate panel during his confirmation hearing to lead the new Cyber Command.
Outlook: Despite the Senate slow walk, Alexander will likely be confirmed. Expect some rapid moves once he takes office.

8. Huge savings forecast for cloud computing
Summary: Agencies stand to save millions of dollars by moving some operations to the cloud, but adoption is still proceeding slowly.
Outlook: Money talks. Cloud's time has come despite some lingering hesitation.