In just a few short weeks, 2010 begins — the dawn of a new decade. The question now is: Who’ll be leading change in and around government contracting?

We’ve got a few suggestions.

For the second consecutive year, ExecutiveBiz brings you its annual list of Top 20 People to Watch. From government leaders to CEOs, policy leaders to industry leaders, each has something in common with the new decade that dawns: They’re on the cusp of pivotal transition, navigating the most critical issues of the day: cybersecurity, insourcing, OCI, defense, the push for more open government. We’re just getting started …

The people we’ve selected (below) are at the epicenter of that change. How will they respond? Who will be the winners and losers? We’re placing our bets on this much: They’ll be keeping the headlines going into 2010 and beyond. See if you agree:

ROGER BAKER

Current: Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology, Department of Veterans Affairs

Career history: Early in his career, Baker helped grow and sell three software companies. Between 1998 and 2001, he served as CIO at the U.S. Department of Commerce, then held key executive roles at CACI International, General Dynamics Information Technology, and Dataline LLC.

Alma mater: Baker holds a B.S. in Computer Science and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Why he matters

Back in May, Roger Baker was confirmed as Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology for the Department of Veterans Affairs — an organization with 6,500 IT professionals and a budget of over $2.5 billion. It wasn’t long before Baker spearheaded a massive overhaul of IT projects. In July, Baker halted 45 IT projects that were more than a year behind schedule or more than 50 percent over budget. The catalyst was a new metrics-driven project management initiative, the Project Management Accountability System. In Baker’s view, being “completely inflexible” on project benchmarks is the key for both the VA and contractors to stay on track. Under Baker’s watch, the VA is now backing another major IT effort: the Transformation Twenty-One Total Technology program, or T4. The VA has proposed awarding a multivendor contract for services and hardware for “requirements that span across the entire spectrum of existing and future technical environments, systems, lifecycle and applications.” How much T4 will cost is still unknown, though, as InformationWeek reports, Baker has said that much of the agency’s $3.3 billion 2010 IT budget could be outsourced. How will Baker continue to drive IT project efficiency — and tap industry support along the way?

GREG BARONI

Current: Chairman and CEO, Eclat

Career history: Most recently served as Corporate Senior Vice President and President Federal Systems, Unisys.

Alma mater: Bachelor’s in economics from University of Southern California

Personal: Baroni is a vegetarian, loves the Oakland Raiders and the number “seven,” is the proud father of six, and lives in Potomac, Md.

Why he matters

When Greg Baroni left Unisys a little over a year ago, everyone wondered what his next move would be. Baroni has since founded a professional services company, Eclat — literally, “brilliance of success.” “Our success is defined by the brilliance of our clients’ success,” says Baroni. With a public sector focus, Eclat delivers a broad range of services across federal, state, and local, higher education, and nonprofit markets. The company already has a robust pipeline and industry experts, thanks to its August 2009 purchase of BearingPoint’s remaining public sector assets. Through that transaction, Eclat acquired nearly 200 people and approximately 100 contracts. “We’ve challenged ourselves to leverage this initial platform from BearingPoint, and build a professional services company that achieves $500 million in revenue in five years,” says Baroni. Strategic projects include the U.S. Army Reserve Component Automation System (RCAS) project, which connects 10,500 Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve units at approximately 4,000 sites worldwide; an outsourcing initiative with Northrop Grumman and the County of San Diego, California; and a grants management outsourcing contract with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. In 2010, expect the company to keep up the pace with a new name — and this vision from Baroni: “We plan to grow organically and through acquisition, tripling our size as we exit 2010,” he says. Will Baroni meet his goal?

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Go PTSC Onwards and Upwards!

Cheers~