2009: Year-in-review timeline

JANUARY

Jan. 14: Rep. Edolphus Towns takes the helm of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Jan. 16: The General Services Administration awards 72 contracts under the Alliant Small Business program.

Jan. 26: Obama is outfitted with a maximum-security smart phone.

Jan. 26: Obama announces the creation of Recovery.gov to track economic stimulus funds.

Jan. 30: DOD launches Forge.mil site to develop open-source software.

FEBRUARY

Feb. 10: FAA reports that the personal info on more than 45,000 employees and retirees had been hacked.

Feb. 10: Obama orders an immediate review of the government's cybersecurity strategy.

Feb. 17: The new stimulus law includes a provision favoring the use of fixed-price contracts.

Feb. 25: NIST assembles a team to identify and address risks associated with cloud computing.

Feb. 26: Obama’s 2010 budget request includes more money for cybersecurity.

MARCH

March 6: The House Armed Services Committee establishes an acquisition panel to guide reform efforts.

March 18: OPM authorizes agencies to hire temporary employees to help with stimulus-related work.

March 31: Acquisition officials propose new rules for reporting stimulus spending.

APRIL

April 2: TSA's Secure Flight prescreening system for airline passengers goes live.

April 9: VA, DOD discuss plans to create a lifetime electronic health record for service members, veterans.

April 29: The Obama administration outlines a plan to increase teleworking at agencies.

MAY

May 7: Obama announces a plan to reduce costs at DOD by trimming the defense contractor workforce.

May 11: A White House budget document endorses the use of cloud computing to modernize IT services.

May 21: Agencies rate low on telework and other family-friendly options, according to a survey of federal employees.

May 22: Aneesh Chopra is confirmed as federal chief technology officer.

May 29: DHS officials begin performing an extra review of all professional service contracts worth more than $1 million.

JUNE

June 23: Sen. McCaskill calls for a hearing on the set-aside contracting program for Alaska Native Corporations.

June 24: It’s official: The Army cancels the Future Combat Systems program.

June 24: DOD creates a Cyber Command to oversee offensive and defensive cyber operations.

JULY

July 8: A number of federal Web sites fall victim to a denial-of-service attack of unknown origin.

July 17: Federal officials add mapping tools to Recovery.gov.

July 24: VA officials halt 45 IT projects with a budget of $200 million that are behind schedule or over budget.

July 29: Office of Management and Budget tells agencies to cut 7 percent of contract spending.

AUGUST

Aug. 3: White House cyber adviser Melissa Hathaway resigns, takes herself out of the running for the cybersecurity coordinator job.

Aug. 11: A plan to allow tracking technology on government Web sites draws both protests and support.

Aug. 20: VA’s inspector general finds abuse of authority and ethical breaches in the agency’s IT office.

Aug. 28: VA blames a computer coding error for wrongly informing 60-plus veterans that they have Lou Gehrig's disease.

SEPTEMBER

Sept. 3: A survey finds that agencies will need 11,000 more IT workers in the next three years.

Sept. 16: Google announces a plan to offer secure cloud services to federal agencies through Apps.gov.

Sept. 21: Dell acquires systems integrator Perot Systems.

Sept. 22: Linda Cureton is named NASA’s CIO.

Sept. 29: National Archives project makes reams of Holocaust records available online.

OCTOBER

Oct. 6: The government breaks its small-business contracting goals for stimulus spending.

Oct. 6: The Army creates a new office for managing upgrades of battlefield systems.

Oct. 7: Obama orders agencies to make data centers more energy-efficient.

Oct. 19: NSA’s Keith Alexander is nominated to lead DOD’s Cyber Command.

Oct. 27: New DOD guidance puts open-source software on equal footing with proprietary offerings.

Oct. 29: CDC expands flu-tracking efforts in response to the H1N1 virus.

NOVEMBER

Nov. 4: Craigslist founder joins VA initiative to speed processing of disability claims.

Nov. 6: The military uses social media to share info on Fort Hood shootings.

Nov. 6: A study finds a rise in fixed-price contracting under the stimulus law.

Nov. 19: A new DOD rule requires some employees to check with ethics office before taking a job with a contractor.

Nov. 22: Daniel Gordon gets Senate panel's nod as administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.