Project 2027: An RFC to rebuild public tech using the economics of Open Source

Project 2027 proposes rebuilding public technology with open-source principles, starting with state and local government software. Its case is that governments spend heavily on proprietary systems that charge for changes, lock agencies into vendors, and often deliver outdated, frustrating services. The plan cites roughly $313 billion in US government technology spending in 2026, projected to rise to $374 billion by 2029, as evidence that high costs have not produced good public tools. Rather than treating software as something governments must continually rent, it argues that public investment should create tools agencies own and can improve together.

The proposal sets four ambitions: rebuild local and state services to save money and improve lives; grow public-sector capacity for possible federal work in 2029; return technology and the internet to public control; and shift economic thinking toward shared ownership. It frames the effort as an idea anyone can adopt, not a centrally led organization dependent on donations. The plan is organized around building tools, sharing them, expanding their use, and maintaining them. To illustrate the potential economics, it contrasts current spending with a hypothetical workforce of 100,000 developers paid $200,000 each: $20 billion annually, leaving about $293 billion for hosting, services, and other needs.