About - Technology Roadmap

The Ed-Fi Alliance has several interconnected, interdependent threads of development underway at any given time. These threads encompass the Ed-Fi Data Standard, software development, and programmatic support. The Ed-Fi Technology Roadmap brings these threads together by showing a schedule of planned releases and updates to all Ed-Fi technology components. The goal is to provide the Ed-Fi Community with visibility to near-term objectives paired with the long-term, strategic vision of the Alliance.

The Ed-Fi Technology Roadmap page contains the latest schedule.

Roadmap Process

This section answers a few common questions about the Ed-Fi Technology Roadmap.

How often is the Ed-Fi Technology Roadmap Updated?

The Roadmap is published annually and updated quarterly at the conclusion of each calendar quarter. On occasion, minor updates may be made during a quarter. All dates are estimates, of course, and so significant changes are noted with each update.

How does work get on the Ed-Fi Technology Roadmap?

Things don't just appear on the Roadmap. The Ed-Fi Alliance core team solicits input from the entire Ed-Fi Community, including vendors, classroom teachers, schools, districts, and state education agencies. In addition, the feedback we receive from field implementers and the general public is also included. The Alliance also performs an annual "State of the Market" research effort that looks for technology trends both within and outside of the education space.

These various inputs are synthesized by the Ed-Fi core team, the Governance Advisory Team, and the Technical Advisory Group on an ongoing basis, with major updates made annually. The inputs are distilled into technical requirements, technical deliverables, and a plan that aligns with available financial and technical resources. The Ed-Fi core team solicits initial feedback, usually in the fall of each year, and a draft intended for active community input is shown at the annual Summit, with the annual Roadmap published on or around the start of each year.

Most Ed-Fi technology is field tested prior to release — often in live projects. As a result, projects on the Roadmap often bump up against reality, and so the Roadmap is updated at least quarterly to reflect changing schedules, updated feature sets, and so forth.

Most items on the Roadmap fall into one of two categories – Data Standards or Software. The next section of the Tao covers detail about the Ed-Fi Data Standards.