The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has awarded three separate contracts totaling $54 million to transform the agency’s public company disclosure system from a form-based electronic filing cabinet to a dynamic real-time search tool with interactive capabilities.

The SEC said that its investment in an “interactive data” system signals the agency’s commitment to move away from the model of its current EDGAR database. It also presages widespread adoption of interactive data filing by companies that report their financial information to the SEC — a development that until now has been only a voluntary pilot program.

Until now, the SEC has not required companies to file their information in interactive format, largely because the XBRL labels haven’t all been completed, and because the SEC’s own database — nicknamed EDGAR — can’t yet use the extra capabilities of XBRL. The three contracts announced today will close that gap, paving the way for universal XBRL filings by companies, it said.

“Today’s announcement demonstrates the commission’s firm commitment to interactive data and represents a significant milestone on the road to achieving that goal,” said SEC chairman Christopher Cox. “The new system will make it easier both to file information with the commission, and to use it. For investors and analysts, it will represent a quantum leap over existing disclosure technologies. For companies, it will mean easier and less costly compliance with SEC requirements.”