Foundation for Public Code
The Foundation for Public Code is a Dutch nonprofit membership association that helps public administrations collaboratively develop and reuse open source software through its Standard for Public Code, codebase stewardship, auditing, and training services, serving governments globally.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersAmsterdam, Netherlands
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Foundation for Public Code does
The Foundation for Public Code is a nonprofit member-owned association (vereniging) established under Dutch law in 2017 and headquartered in Amsterdam, with a 501(c)(3) North America chapter. Its mission is to enable public administrations to collaboratively develop, maintain, and reuse open source software ("public code") through the creation of public product organizations. The Foundation does not sell commercial software; instead it provides a portfolio of standards, frameworks, and professional services. The core offering is the Standard for Public Code, a set of criteria (currently at version 0.8.0, released March 2024) that guides policymakers, managers, developers, and vendors on building codebases that are usable, open, legible, accountable, accessible, and sustainable. Supporting this standard are the Process Codes (step-by-step implementation guidebooks), the Standard for Public Code Review Template, the Governance Game, and direct professional services including codebase stewardship, codebase auditing, trainings, and workshops.
The Foundation's business model is membership-driven and philanthropic: only wholly publicly owned organizations may become members, voting rights are proportional to membership dues, and the organization additionally accepts philanthropic grants and donations in multiple currencies (USD, EUR, JPY, GBP), as well as stock and cryptocurrency. Go-to-market is a hybrid of community-led stewardship and direct-to-public-organization engagement, with services distributed globally through self-serve online resources and direct team contact. Notable engagements include the Ukrainian DIIA mobile application (19 million users, 120+ government services), the UK GOV.UK Notify service, and replication partnerships with the Canadian Digital Service, US Digital Service, and the Government of Estonia. The Standard is recognized as a Digital Public Good by the DPGA/UNDP, and the Foundation joined the Digital Public Goods Alliance in October 2022.
Foundation for Public Code firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Foundation for Public Code
- Legal name
- Foundation for Public Code vereniging
- Website
- https://publiccode.net
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- The Foundation for Public Code is a Dutch nonprofit membership association that helps public administrations collaboratively develop and reuse open source software through its Standard for Public Code, codebase stewardship, auditing, and training services, serving governments globally.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Foundation for Public Code industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Civic Technology Services
- NAICS
- Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)
- SIC
- Services-Management Services (8741)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Open-Source & Developer Communities (BPAMABAM)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Construction Codes & Building Standards Publishing (MPAJACAH), Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)
Keywords
Where Foundation for Public Code is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Amsterdam
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Foundation for Public Code business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Membership Dues: Only wholly publicly owned organizations may become members. Members are responsible for and steer the Foundation's operations, including priorities and annual budget. Voting rights are proportional to members' membership dues.
- Philanthropic Grants: Public funding and philanthropic grants enable public product organizations to fund their activities and product development.
- Donations: The organization accepts donations in multiple currencies (USD, EUR, JPY, GBP), as well as stock and cryptocurrency contributions.
- Vendor Certification and Service Contracts: Public product organizations can generate revenue through vendor certification and service contracts as part of their financial sustainability model.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels7 records
Foundation for Public Code product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Foundation for Public Code provides codebase stewardship services and the Standard for Public Code to enable public administrations to collaboratively develop and reuse open source software. It acts as a neutral steward that coaches, mentors, and advises public organizations on open source codebases and the establishment of public product organizations, rather than developing or selling commercial software itself.
Product overview
The Foundation for Public Code offers a portfolio of standards, frameworks, and professional services focused on enabling public-purpose software and policy that is open and collaborative. The core offering is the Standard for Public Code, a set of criteria for building open source solutions that enable successful reuse by public organizations. Supporting this core standard are tools including the Governance Game (a card game for visualizing governance issues), Process Codes (step-by-step implementation guidebooks), and the Review Template (for codebase auditing). The Foundation also provides direct professional services including codebase stewardship (acting as coach and advisor to codebase communities), codebase auditing (assessing compliance with the Standard), trainings (educational resources for newcomers), and workshops (governance, business model mapping, and risk assessment). The organization does not develop or sell commercial software products; rather, it provides frameworks, guidance, and support services to help public organizations collaborate on open source solutions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Standard for Public Code: A set of criteria that supports public organizations in developing and maintaining software and policy together, providing guidance for government open source collaboration.
- Codebase Stewardship
- Governance Game
Products and services
- Standard for Public Code A set of criteria that supports public organizations in developing and maintaining software and policy together, enabling collaborative creation of codebases that are usable, open, legible, accountable, accessible and sustainable.
- Codebase Stewardship The Foundation's primary activity supporting public code codebase communities to meet the Standard for Public Code, acting as coach, mentor and advisor rather than hands-on developer.
- Codebase Auditing Process of auditing codebases including source code, policy, documentation and conversations to verify compliance with the Standard for Public Code.
- Process Codes Step-by-step guidebooks for implementing public code in organizations, covering software procurement and building codebase stewardship teams.
- Governance Game A card game about codebase governance that helps visualize key issues, existing models and beneficial changes for codebase communities.
- Standard for Public Code Review Template Template used by Foundation for Public Code stewards for codebase review against the Standard for Public Code criteria.
- Trainings Educational resources including Open Source for newcomers, GitHub for newcomers, Writing issues, and other training materials for codebase stewardship.
- Workshops Governance game, customized governance workshops, mapping business models and mapping risk workshops to support codebase communities.
Quantifiable outcome
- DIIA application connects 19 million Ukrainians with 120+ government services
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Foundation for Public Code
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Foundation for Public Code technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Foundation for Public Code partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Digital Public Goods AlliancecoreThe Foundation for Public Code joined the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA) in October 2022. This membership helps the Foundation act on its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals and positions the Standard for Public Code within the global digital public goods ecosystem.
- Audrey Tang (Digital Minister of Taiwan)minorAudrey Tang joined the Foundation's Strategic Council, providing expert guidance and high-profile endorsement of the public code movement and Standard for Public Code.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Foundation for Public Code competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Foundation for Public Code social profiles
Digital presenceFoundation for Public Code compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Foundation for Public Code financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Foundation for Public Code leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Foundation for Public Code subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Foundation for Public Code funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Foundation for Public Code M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Foundation for Public Code
What does Foundation for Public Code do?
The Foundation for Public Code provides codebase stewardship services and the Standard for Public Code to enable public administrations to collaboratively develop and reuse open source software. It acts as a neutral steward that coaches, mentors, and advises public organizations on open source codebases and the establishment of public product organizations, rather than developing or selling commercial software itself.
Is Foundation for Public Code a public or private company?
Foundation for Public Code is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Foundation for Public Code founded?
Foundation for Public Code was founded in 2018. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Foundation for Public Code based?
Foundation for Public Code is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
How does Foundation for Public Code make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Membership Dues are the primary driver. The others are philanthropic Grants, donations and vendor Certification and Service Contracts.
Does Foundation for Public Code have an API?
No public API is recorded for Foundation for Public Code.
What industry is Foundation for Public Code in?
Foundation for Public Code's product category is Civic Technology Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMABAM, Open-Source & Developer Communities, with a secondary code of MPAJACAH, Construction Codes & Building Standards Publishing. Its NAICS code is 81321 and its SIC code is 8741.