The Department of Education Acquisition Regulation was last updated in 1987, and in the years since, the Federal Acquisition Regulation has changed significantly. These changes caused a need for the Department of Education to update the EDAR so it accurately adopts the FAR and reflects department policy, the notice said.
Department officials are proposing a requirement that calls all solicitations and contracts where IT hardware and software will be developed, maintained or operated on any system using the FDCC configuration. This clause requires software used on FDCC computers to be FDCC compatible.
According to the notice, these changes are intended to implement multiple ITÂ initiatives and standards developed in the past several years by the IT industry and adopted by the government, including the Office of Management and Budget.