Governmentwide acquisition contracts (known as GWAC) is the process by which agencies of the
federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
purchase goods and services (
procurement); these involve legal
contracts between the agency and a private business. A GWAC is an
acquisition tool that facilitates and streamlines the purchasing of
IT solutions by United States federal government departments and agencies, while ensuring that the many government-mandated rules are followed. These rules are complex, deriving from laws and
regulations
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...
that guide the purchasing processes of each agency. According to the
GSA
GSA may refer to:
Commerce
* Citroën GSA, a French automobile
* GameSpy Arcade, a utility for use with network computer games
* General sales agent, an airline sales representative
* Global mobile Suppliers Association, a not-for-profit industry ...
website, "A Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) is a pre-competed, multiple-award, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (
IDIQ) contract that agencies can use to buy total
IT solutions, including both products and services."
Federal agencies may create GWACs to support the work of the federal government. This has been done by the GSA,
NIH (NITAA
and
NASA (
SEWP). A GWAC is not necessarily restricted to the agency that runs it (see the article on SEWP as an example).
All IDIQs, including GWACs, are regulated by
FAR, a set of rules and regulations that must be followed by federal agencies and resellers of goods and services (known as Contract Holders) to the government in the procurement process.
References
Federal government of the United States
Government procurement in the United States
{{US-gov-stub