Contracting Agile Developments for the Public Sector: The Italian Case

摘要

Even if Agile is a well established software development paradigm, major concerns rise when it comes to contracting issues. How to contractualize the Agile production of software, especially for security and mission critical public organizations, is a major concern. In literature, little has been done, from a foundational point of view regarding the formalization of such contracts. Especially when the development is outsourced to a different organization, the management of the contractual life is difficult. This happens because the interests of the two parties are not aligned. Software houses strive for the minimization of the effort, while the customer expects high quality artifacts. This structural asymmetry can hardly be overcome with traditional "Waterfall" contracts. We propose a foundational approach to the law and economics of Agile contracts. Moreover, we explore the key elements of the Italian procurement law and outline a suitable solution to merge some basic legal constraints with Agile requirements. This is a first framework to start building Agile contracts for the Italian public sector.