As most CIOs know, government policies have a major impact on corporate IT.

Yet in presidential politics, the connection between policy and IT has gone largely unacknowledged. Recent laws, however, have brought the link between policy and IT to the forefront, making it impossible to ignore any longer. For example, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which established new corporate reporting regulations, forced companies to reevaluate the way they manage financial data and in many cases overhaul the systems that handle it. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act mandated that health and financial organizations follow rigid information privacy and security practices. And that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Technology is on the agenda this election. It will not be its own issue, but rather one embedded in other, overarching themes. "IT issues are not packaged in a way that finds a voice in national elections," says Jonathan Zittrain, codirector of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. "There are other political issues that are easier to understand and have been better shaped and lobbied for." As a result, CIOs will have to examine a candidate’s stance on numerous issues to get a clear picture of his overall IT policy. "You don’t have to be a political junkie," says Sue Kozik, executive vice president and CTO of TIAA-CREF. "But I believe it is vitally important to keep abreast of the candidates’ positions on issues."

The economy, Iraq and a score of other issues will likely dominate the presidential campaigns and may well be the decisive factors in your vote. But technology issues, says Zittrain, are important enough that candidates should have well-developed positions on subjects such as the future of hardware and software, privacy, corporate governance and offshore outsourcing (see Page 60 for candidate profiles). As such, the next administration will have the most profound effect on the future of U.S. IT departments yet. "Each election going forward has an ever-increasing impact on CIOs because the technology that runs America is continuing to evolve and affect more facets of our lives," says Kozik. "The government?and all candidates?are playing an increasingly vocal role in commenting on or influencing technology usage."

Here we present an overview of five of the most important IT policy issues and how the next administration could shape them. Knowing the next president’s options will help you understand what each policy will mean for the future of IT and business, and the country as a whole. (For more on what you can do, see "Three Steps to Getting Heard," Page 58.)