FCW is a news organization covering U.S. federal government technology, published today as part of Nextgov/FCW. Launched in 1987 as Federal Computer Week, a weekly print magazine established by International Data Group and headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, it became the authoritative trade publication for the business of federal information technology, chronicling federal IT contracts, policy, cybersecurity, and modernization across nearly four decades. In 2021 the publication was sold to GovExec, and in 2023 it merged with its longtime competitor Nextgov to form Nextgov/FCW. The publication’s mission today is to lead the national discussion about how technology is transforming the way government agencies serve citizens and perform vital functions, and it continues to operate at nextgov.com, where the fcw.com brand lives on within the merged newsroom.
Founding as Federal Computer Week
Federal Computer Week was established in 1987 by International Data Group as a weekly print magazine headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. suburbs. The publication set out to serve as the authoritative source of news and insight on the business of federal IT, aimed at the government technology professionals, contractors, and vendors who make up the federal IT marketplace. By 2003 it was part of FCW Media Group. Its coverage occasionally extends beyond the federal government to state, local, tribal, and international governments, but the federal IT beat has always been its core.
The print era
For its first decade and more, Federal Computer Week published as a weekly tabloid. The December 19, 1999 issue was the last tabloid-size edition the publication would produce; beginning with the January 10, 2000 issue, the magazine moved to a smaller, magazine format while launching a redesigned website that posted breaking news every business day morning. Editor in chief Paul McCloskey told readers at the time that the days when a big broadsheet was needed to soak up all the news were over, and that the publication would cover news on fcw.com as it happened while using print to distill reporting and provide context. The print edition carried the week’s late-breaking news, hardware and software reviews and comparisons from the FCW Test Center, and a stable of columnists familiar to federal IT professionals. The publication was later rebranded simply as FCW, with a further top-to-bottom redesign of the website in 2012 that sharpened its editorial focus on the policies, people, management challenges, controversies, and ideas shaping federal technology.
Ownership changes
After its founding by International Data Group, the publication’s ownership passed to the California-based 1105 Government Information Group, a privately held company backed by the private equity firms Nautic Partners and Alta Communications. In 2009, 1105 Media bought Post Newsweek Tech Media, which owned the rival publications Government Computer News and Washington Technology along with properties including the FOSE trade show, consolidating much of the federal IT trade press under one roof. In 2021, 1105 sold FCW and several sister publications to GovExec, whose own publication Nextgov had long competed directly with FCW. In 2023 GovExec merged the two titles, creating Nextgov/FCW, a combined newsroom covering federal technology.
Editorial leadership
The publication’s editors have included Paul McCloskey, who served as editor in chief during the transition from tabloid to magazine format and later helped chronicle the publication’s 30-year history. Christopher Dorobek led the newsroom before resigning in August 2008 to accept a position at the federal news-talk station WFED. In December 2008 David Rapp, formerly an executive with Congressional Quarterly, became the publication’s new editor and editorial director overseeing all of 1105’s government information publications. Since the merger with Nextgov, the title operates as Nextgov/FCW under GovExec’s ownership, with an editorial team delivering coverage on cybersecurity, IT modernization, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, innovative acquisition and digital management, the legislation and policy shaping the federal space, and the power players driving those efforts.
Coverage areas
The publication’s editorial team delivers definitive coverage of the issues that define federal technology. Cybersecurity has been a central and enduring beat, from early reports on hackers penetrating Defense Department networks to present-day coverage of federal cyber policy. IT modernization, including the movement of federal agencies to the cloud and the overhaul of legacy systems, is another core subject. Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies now anchor much of its forward-looking reporting. The publication also covers federal acquisition and contracting, the business side of selling technology to the government, digital management of government services, and the legislation and policy, from the Clinger-Cohen Act to recent AI executive actions, that set the rules for the federal IT marketplace.
Landmark stories: FCW at 30
To mark its 30th anniversary in 2016, FCW published a retrospective, FCW at 30, revisiting six seminal moments in federal IT that its journalists had covered firsthand. The milestones included the IRS’s June 1988 promise of nationwide electronic filing; hackers storming Defense Department networks in July 1994; the February 1996 passage of the Clinger-Cohen Act and the end of the Brooks Act, which transformed federal IT procurement; the May 2000 opening up of GPS for civilian use; the November 2002 creation of the Department of Homeland Security; and the March 2013 decision by the Central Intelligence Agency to commit to the cloud. Former editor in chief Paul McCloskey, who was present at the publication’s beginning, helped track how those stories continued to resonate, illustrating how FCW’s archives serve as a reference record for the major shifts in how the government works.
The merger with Nextgov
The 2023 creation of Nextgov/FCW brought together two publications that had competed for the federal technology audience for years. Nextgov had been a consistent leader since 2008 in exploring the intersection of cutting-edge technology and government, while FCW carried the legacy of the 1987 print weekly and its authority on the business of federal IT. The merged publication connects the federal IT community online, in print, and through a wide range of face-to-face events, publishing news, analysis, and insights from award-winning journalists and a nationwide community of expert voices. Its stated promise is to provide the first word on technology and government.
Ownership and corporate structure
Nextgov/FCW is owned by GovExec, described as the market-leading information platform for the government mission, which works to empower the full government ecosystem through data, media, and marketing services. GovExec acquired FCW from 1105 in 2021 as part of a deal that included several sister publications, and the 2023 merger with Nextgov completed the consolidation of GovExec’s federal technology editorial brands.
Events, newsletters, and community
Beyond its journalism, the FCW tradition includes newsletters that keep federal technology professionals current, reader engagement through social platforms and RSS, and a calendar of face-to-face events for the federal IT community. The publication also maintains writer’s guidelines for contributors, an editorial calendar and advertising information for industry partners, and a reprints program, reflecting its dual role as a news outlet and a business-to-government media platform.
Digital presence
Readers can follow the merged publication’s federal technology coverage through its newsletters and on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X under the Nextgov/FCW brand, with feedback welcomed at the GovExec editorial address. The fcw.com archive and the nextgov.com site together preserve one of the longest continuous records of federal IT journalism in the United States, stretching from the 1987 founding of Federal Computer Week through the present day.
