Contracts & Procurement
Contract terms agencies should include in technology contracts
The clauses that protect an agency's data, budget, and ability to change vendors.
Standard agency contract templates were written for construction and professional services. Technology contracts need additional terms. These are the ones that matter most, described so that program staff can raise them with counsel and purchasing.
Data ownership and export
The agency owns its data. The vendor must export it in documented, usable formats on request and at contract end, and must delete it afterward with certification. Without this, changing vendors is nearly impossible.
Security requirements
Specific controls the vendor must maintain, aligned to the data involved: encryption, multi-factor authentication, background screening where required, logging, and vulnerability management. Breach notification within a defined time. The right to audit or to receive independent assessment reports.
Accessibility
Conformance to WCAG 2.1 Level AA for anything with a user interface, verified at acceptance, with remediation obligations for defects found later.
Integration and APIs
Documented, supported APIs with reasonable data access, so that the agency can integrate the system with others and is not dependent on the vendor for every data need.
Acceptance
Objective acceptance criteria tied to requirements, a testing period, and payment tied to acceptance rather than delivery.
Service levels
Availability, response and resolution times, and remedies that are meaningful.
Change control
How scope changes are proposed, priced, and approved, so that the price on the contract is the price paid.
Intellectual property
Ownership or license of deliverables, treatment of pre-existing tools and open-source components, and the agency's right to share work product with other public entities.
AI-specific terms
Where the product includes artificial intelligence: no training on agency data without consent, notice before model changes, performance measured on agency data, and support for explanation and audit.
Termination and transition
Termination for convenience, and a transition assistance obligation so that the vendor helps move to a successor.
Non-appropriation
Standard in public contracts: the agency may terminate if funds are not appropriated in a future year.
These terms are not exotic, and capable vendors expect them. The absence of any one of them is where agencies later find themselves stuck.