The federal government awarded over 650 IT contracts worth more than $60 billion in 2002, according to a report released by research company Input. In terms of dollars awarded, the top five departments combined were responsible for $44 billion in awards.

From an agency perspective, the Department of Transportation led the federal government in technology contract awards by a significant margin, with a total contract award value exceeding $24 billion. This figure was driven largely by the award of the Coast Guard's $17 billion Deepwater Project, the largest procurement in Coast Guard history.

Topping the 2002 list in award dollars was the IT outsourcing services category, including applications operations, desktop services, and data center operations, with more than $24.3 billion awarded. The professional services sector was a close second for IT contract awards at $20.8 billion with the network/telecommunications services sector coming in a distant third at $9.5 billion.

"In the top IT service sectors, outsourcing and professional services, one or two large contract awards encompassed over half of the leading agency's total contract value for the sector," said Erik TerHaar, manager of Federal Market Development Services at the Chantilly, Va.-based Input.