The modern state increasingly resembles a tenant. In the current configuration of governance, public institutions rely heavily on proprietary digital systems—platforms owned, maintained, and governed by private entities. This relationship, while often framed as a pragmatic necessity for efficiency, creates a structural dependency that fundamentally alters the nature of human agency and institutional power. According to Nesta ↗, the UK innovation agency for social good, this reliance on proprietary tenant systems serves as a significant constraint on both economic growth and institutional capacity.
The concept of the 'tenant state' suggests that the digital foundations of our society are not built upon public ground, but are instead leased from corporate landlords. This arrangement introduces a precarious asymmetry. When the infrastructure of public life—the digital tools used to manage resources, services, and information—is owned by external actors, the state loses its ability to dictate the terms of its own operations. The long-term consequence of this, as identified in recent analysis, is a degradation of the state's ability to act as an independent agent of the public interest.
To move beyond this state of dependency, there is a growing argument for the development of digital public infrastructure (DPI). DPI is envisioned as a foundational layer of technology that is publicly governed and designed to support, rather than extract from, the state. By shifting away from proprietary silos, governments can reclaim the capacity to innovate and respond to the needs of their citizens without the mediation of private interests. This transition is not merely a technical upgrade; it is a fundamental reclamation of institutional sovereignty.
Economic growth, often stifled by the high costs and restrictive terms associated with proprietary software, stands to benefit from a more open, interoperable digital environment. When infrastructure is treated as a public good, it lowers the barrier to entry for innovation and ensures that the benefits of technological advancement are distributed more equitably. The evidence provided by Nesta underscores that digital public infrastructure is critical for building a more resilient and capable state. It allows for a decoupling of public service delivery from the commercial imperatives of platform owners, thereby restoring the state's role as a steward of public memory and agency.
Ultimately, the challenge of the coming decade is to dismantle the architecture of the tenant state. By investing in digital public infrastructure, institutions can move from a posture of passive consumption to one of active design. This is the only path toward ensuring that the digital foundations of our future remain aligned with democratic values and the collective agency of the public.