what is a government wide acquisition contract gwac 
a government wide acquisition contract gwac is a contract in which multiple government agencies align their needs and purchase a contract with external providers for goods or services gwacs allow agencies to purchase new technology such as computers and information technology solutions at a better price since taxpayers are the ones footing the bill contracts may be spearheaded by one agency with the expectation that others will sign on gwacs allow for economies of scale which usually reduce per unit costs understanding government wide acquisition contracts gwacs as noted above gwacs are contracts for it and computer related services for government agencies provided by third parties one agency normally initiates the contract while other agencies sign on by having one agency evaluate a vendor the federal government can reduce the likelihood that other agencies will have to reinvent the wheel by undertaking their own separate vetting process gwacs provide access to it solutions including systems design software engineering information assurance and enterprise architecture solutions 1 contracts are commonly provided through the u s general services administration nasa and the national institute of health all of these entities allow for the government to procure a variety of contracts to obtain informational technology solutions at a low cost with a variety of tech companies that have been approved to participate the rise of government wide acquisition contracts allows government agencies to take advantage of their size to negotiate lower prices this reduces the burden on taxpayers who are ultimately responsible for the bill the use of gwacs also creates an environment in which a single vendor provides product and service support to more personnel a government wide acquisition contract consolidates purchases as opposed to having each agency enter into an individual contract special considerationsthe gwac prices paid tool provides federal agencies with detailed information on how their it dollars are spent on gsa gwacs these tools help provide realistic price analyses negotiations and independent government cost estimates they also help agencies benchmark competitive prices 2government contracts amounted to roughly 694 billion in the 2022 fiscal year this figure included multiple contract categories including software as well as food healthcare and aircraft the department of defense spent the most at 414 5 billion headed by the navy with 123 9 billion while contracts through civilian federal agencies totaled 279 7 billion veterans affairs 56 2 billion the department of energy 42 9 billion and hhs 38 9 billion were the top spenders 3gwacs are delivery or task order contracts this means they do not provide a specific amount of services rather the terms are set for a certain period during which the provider delivers an unlimited supply of services until the contract expires for instance company x may be contracted to provide unlimited it solutions to three agencies for a full year types of gwacs