Building a more open, reusable future for government technology
Government should have greater control over the technology it relies on. Public investment in technology should create value beyond a single agency, project, or contract.
The Public Tech Pledge: Five Commitments to Modernize Government Technology is a shared commitment to building government technology in ways that make it easier to reuse, improve, collaborate, and adapt over time.
Our ambition
We want a future where government agencies have more control over the technology they rely on, can build on one another’s work, and are not forced to solve the same technology problems again and again.
Open source can help create that future by making publicly funded technology more reusable, strengthening collaboration across government, expanding competition, and reducing dependence on individual vendors.
We know every agency, state, and program is different. Working in the open does not mean everyone uses the same technology. It means government can start from a stronger foundation, adapt what already works, and contribute improvements back for others to use.
The pledge
The Public Tech Pledge calls on technology partners to ensure government agencies have these five rights in what they build, buy, and contribute.
The right to your data Government and individuals, not vendors, should be able to access, control, and move their own data.
The right to interoperability Government systems should work together through open standards and APIs, making it easier to connect services and evolve technology over time.
The right to portability Agencies should be able to change technology partners without having to rebuild everything from scratch. No single company should be impossible to replace.
The right to reuse When appropriate, technology built with public dollars should be discoverable and available for other agencies and teams to adapt and reuse rather than requiring government to solve the same problems over and over again.
The right to competition Government technology should create opportunities for multiple vendors, including smaller companies, to compete, contribute, and build on existing technology.