The 20 biggest government contracts to be awarded in fiscal 2010 will be valued at more than $180 billion, much of going toward IT, research firm INPUT estimates.

That's a 50% increase over last year's $120 billion tab, according to INPUT's annual report on the top 20 federal contracts.

New contract vehicles for task force orders and re-competition of existing contracts will make up most of that. "Large task order contracts created in the previous decade are reappearing for the next iteration in FY 2010, taking the place of new initiatives in most instances," according to the report.

INPUT calculates that, under the Obama administration, civilian agency spending will surpass military spending in the top 20 for the first time in several years. "Civilian agencies are where there are social priorities that are Obama priorities and where there will be growth," says INPUT senior VP Kevin Plexico.

Plexico estimates that 80% of the top projects predominantly involve IT. Several are large contracts or contract vehicles intended to make it easier for federal agencies to procure IT.

The largest IT-heavy contract will be the Department of Homeland Security's EAGLE II, which will have an estimated ceiling of $45 billion over its lifetime. EAGLE is currently the main IT contract vehicle at the Department of Homeland Security; DHS plans to award a new multi-vendor contract next year.

Other big IT contracts to be awarded in the coming year include GSA's CONNNECTIONS follow-on, the Army's Strategic Services Sourcing, Health and Human Services' CIO Solutions and Partners III (CIO-SP3), and the Air Force's NetCents II.

InformationWeek Analytics has published a guide to the Open Government Directive and what it means for federal CIOs. Download the report here (registration required).