Based on a series of conversations we've had recently, we put together a list of principles that government procurement officers can use to help level the playing field.  The goal is to ensure competitive, goals-based procurement processes at all levels of government, and we want your support.

Join other innovators from around the country in signing the petition below and let elected officials and procurement officers around the country know that you STAND UP AGAINST PROCUREMENT PREFERENCES in IT and FOR COMPETITIVE, GOALS-BASED PROCESSES THAT RESPECT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.

WE BELIEVE THAT:

-- Procurement should be inclusive: Innovation often comes from the smallest companies, or from the industry participants who have a new way of looking at an old problem. The goal should be to choose the technology that best meets the government's needs.

-- Procurement should be neutral: In all IT procurement, software should be procured based on objective criteria, not with a preference for a specific development or licensing model. There are too many great ideas coming out of the open source and commercial software industries to simply ignore either of them categorically.

-- Every company, regardless of size, should be able to compete: The government should compile a list of goals and allow everybody--big and small and in-between, all varieties of intellectual property rights holders, well-known companies and new innovators--to offer solutions.

-- Cost analysis should be comprehensive: The goal is to ensure the best value for citizens. The total system "costs" should incorporate costs likely to be incurred over the anticipated useful life of the technology, including costs associated with maintaining, improving, servicing, and migrating from the existing technology. The privacy and security implications for users and governments should be documented and considered, including data security for email and documents accessed and stored remotely through cloud computing.

-- There is no "one size fits all": Knowing and accepting that, governments should keep in mind that IT goals can be achieved in many ways. It takes smart people creating innovative answers to problems to build sound solutions that will flourish throughout various industries. Governments should always oppose the addition of any language to bills that would prevent them from using new and innovative technologies and would bar thousands of American firms and their workers from competing to develop and supply such technologies.