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It comes as no surprise to readers of FCW that the federal government buys a lot of IT. The annual spend by agencies on IT is pegged at about $79 billion by the Office of Management and Budget, and this plays out every day on the FedBizOpps.gov website with calls for millions of dollars in software, equipment, and services.

Much of it is commodity stuff. But between the calls for basic enterprise software upgrades, server racks, video screens and handhelds, there are interesting procurements, requests for information and sources sought notices that point to trends in the future of government IT, and preview changes in federal buying patterns.

The Spec, a new blog from FCW, mines FedBizOpps and other sources to peek into the pipeline of federal IT projects. Our coverage here helps to show how agencies' IT wish lists will shape about the future of technology, procurement, national defense, and citizen-facing government services. For example:

• DARPA seeks model to forecast fast-moving virus
  
  
• Army hits reset button on intelligence-sharing system
  
  
• NIST test bed will probe industrial systems for cyber flaws
  
  
• The IC wants a peek at the future of your brain

So check in several times a week for updates, and please email us with your thoughts about The Spec's coverage. And if you know of an interesting project in the planning stages, please let us know!