US-VISIT boosts 2Q deals

Federal agencies awarded more than $23 billion in information technology-related prime contracts in the second quarter of 2004, according to officials from the research firm Input.

That's a 50 percent increase over the $15.5 billion in IT-related prime contracts in the second quarter of 2003, according to officials.

The Homeland Security Department awarded $10.7 billion of the 2004 deals, making it the single largest agency contributing to the total. Almost that entire amount — $10 billion — comes from the U.S. Visitor and Immigration Status Indication Technology (US-VISIT) program.

"Even without the quarter-defining US VISIT deal, it's apparent DHS is maturing," said Mike Boland, senior analyst of vendor profiles at Input. The agency awarded only $93 million in the second quarter of 2003, he said.

Set-aside awards to small businesses decreased by 20 percent to $451 million during the quarter, according to Input's report. During the same quarter of last year, that figure totaled $562 million.