The winner of the Nov. 4 presidential election will have his hands full. He will be challenged to right the financial ship, deal with growing health-care costs, shrink the deficit and attack an energy crisis. And beyond these serious problems, he will have plenty to fix in the information-technology arena. The federal government is treading water on a number of important initiatives regarding information technology.

The new administration will have to standardize security practices and deal with improving the Federal Information Security Management Act. In addition, he will have to deal with a national information privacy act and standardize identity technologies for federal workers and contractors.

These IT issues may seem insignificant compared to the financial tsunami that hit Wall Street and threatened the financial security of tens of millions of Americans. But the public will suffer an even greater loss if information is not protected, safeguards are not standardized and there is no consistent measure to deal with IT breaches.

These initiatives will be costly at a time when extra money is not readily available. But just think about what will happen if databases are not secure and best practices are not in place to protect the data that keeps the federal government functioning. Some extra expenses now, even in such difficult times, will save money and avoid many serious headaches in the future. Read this week's article on what the next president faces in the IT arena. - Judi