Ensuring Government-wide reuse rights for custom code that is developed using Federal funds has numerous benefits for American taxpayers. To realize these benefits, agencies must comply with the following requirements:
Agencies that enter into contracts for the custom development of software shall—at a minimum—acquire and enforce rights sufficient to enable Government-wide reuse of custom-developed code. Agencies must ensure appropriate contract administration and use of best practices to secure the full scope of the Government’s rights, including—but not limited to—sharing and using the code with other Federal agencies.
Additionally, in order to ensure the ability to exercise these rights, agencies must use best practices to ensure delivery of the custom-developed code, documentation, and other associated materials from the developer throughout the development process.
Securing adequate rights to enable Government-wide reuse of custom-developed code is a critical first step in gaining efficiencies in Federal software purchasing; however, without broad and consistent dissemination of the code across the Federal Government, these efficiencies cannot be fully realized. Therefore, in addition to securing the rights discussed above, agencies shall do the following:
Agencies may refer to Section 7 of this document for additional information regarding their individual responsibilities related to implementing this policy.