Unless you work in the financial services industry, the proposal Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson issued last week to reform U.S. financial institution regulations won't have much, if any impact on how your business runs. But it could benefit your IT strategy to pay attention as the debate over the proposal unfolds.

For many CIOs, the go-go, profligate nineties were followed by the parsimonious naughties. Now IT budgets are beginning to grow again . . . but under an intense level of scrutiny by executive management that wants proof that all those IT dollars actually redound to the bottom line

When corporate spending is tight, spend money on better ways of working, not on better computers. Here are eight ways to cut wisely.

Determining the bottom-line contributions of all those intangible IT benefits may not be easy, but it is possible

ASIC launches online registration system ... NSW govt plans smart card transport ticketing ... Russians skip NATO IT exercise ... New Zealand vote counting to go online ... Government e-trade framework creates level playing field ... Scuttled GST could provide IT opportunities: ACS ... Telstra's more than just phones: Switkowski ... Asia connects virtual communities for e-commerce ... Aus tax system prohibitive: Gartner ... GartnerGroup announces e-commerce findings ... Sun makes bold Y2K warranty move ... Deregulation hits harder ... Govt sets strategy to attract IT&T funding ... Despite fraud, comfort with e-commerce rises ... Y2K glitches on the rise

Can United Nations delegates spread the Y2K gospel in their countries soon enough?

Focus on some basic elements of physics -- position, direction and movement -- to engineer the best performance from your IS department

How are you going to be sure that your Y2K conversion works? First, test and document - then test and document some more.

Attacking the millennium bug calls for a prudent battle plan