The 2026 Ed-Fi Technical Congress marked an inflection point from vision to execution. The goal remains the same – ensure education data is connected, timely, and trustworthy – but this year made clear that what began as a vision is now operating at scale, with adoption taking hold across more than a quarter of states. Across sessions, the community shared how implementations are delivering real impact, from real-time alerts that support earlier interventions to streamlined data access that improves student advising and course placement decisions.
Interoperability delivers its greatest value when infrastructure is built once and shared – made possible by the sustained, collective effort of states, districts, and vendors across the Ed-Fi community working together to move from concept to scalable practice.
The Conversations That Matter Most
Tech Congress 2026 brought the community together to solve real implementation challenges and shape a shared roadmap grounded in what’s working in the field.
The community leaned into questions that go beyond what we build and squarely into how we build together:
- How do we simplify the work without losing the quality and reuse we need?
- Where do teams need clearer direction to build and sustain strong implementations?
- How can we leave room for innovation while still keeping things consistent enough to scale?
- What do teams need in place to use AI responsibly with shared data?
These questions reflect meaningful progress, while surfacing the work still ahead.
- Advancing the Ed-Fi API (the Data Management Service) and seeking a simpler, more scalable architecture – reducing deployment complexity and enabling more flexible extension management.
- Aligning the Ed-Fi Data Standard, Ed-Fi OneRoster, and CEDS to reduce fragmentation and make integrations more reusable across systems.
- Addressing key tradeoffs in use cases like assessment and rostering – clarifying system roles, supporting real-time data at scale, and reducing duplication across systems.
The AI town hall extended these discussions further, reinforcing that stronger data foundations, not just new tools, are essential. Conversations focused on shared definitions, metadata, and emerging capabilities like AI-assisted data mapping and quality support.
What We’re Taking Forward
Tech Congress 2026 set the direction for what comes next. Across these conversations, a few priorities came into sharp focus:
- Lead with high-value use cases: From early warning systems to credentialing and admissions, the community is prioritizing use cases that show immediate results while strengthening shared data systems.
- Reduce friction for implementers: Clearer guidance, better tools like Ed-Fi API 8, and more coordinated roadmaps are making high-quality implementations easier to deliver.
- Move forward together, instead of building separately: Alignment across the Ed-Fi Data Standard, Ed-Fi OneRoster, CEDS, and emerging AI capabilities reinforces a long-standing truth: interoperability only delivers at scale when systems are designed to work together.
These priorities are already shaping roadmap updates, workgroup formation, and upcoming releases, including the Ed-Fi Data Standard 6, Ed-Fi ODS/API 7.3.2, Ed-Fi OneRoster API with support of OneRoster (c) 1.2, Admin App 4.0 and continued Ed-Fi API development. The roadmap is a living strategy, and Tech Congress helped ensure it reflects both realities on the ground and future needs.
An Open Invitation to Keep Building – and to Shape the 2026 Summit
Progress across the community depends on states, districts, vendors, implementers, and partners continuing to align their efforts.
The conversations don’t end when Tech Congress ends.
We’re inviting you to stay engaged in two ways:
- Continue shaping the work through roadmap discussions, working groups, pilots, and implementation feedback.
👉 Join the Conversation - Bring your ideas, lessons learned, and hard‑won insights to the stage by proposing a session for the 2026, Ed‑Fi Alliance Summit (November 9-11, 2026 in Nashville, TN). If you are building, implementing, or learning something that could help the broader community – from architecture and governance to analytics, AI readiness, or cross‑standard alignment – we want to hear from you.
👉 Submit your Summit Session Idea
Together, we are building shared data systems that connect and deliver results for schools and classrooms, so educators can act quickly to keep students learning and moving forward.
