Our Mission
To define and maintain a collaborative framework that enables transparent, modular, and sovereign-aligned collaboration across government, FFRDCs, UARCs, and industry partners in defense technology.
About Us
About the ICD Foundation
The Industry Commons for Defense (ICD) Foundation is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit that accelerates defense innovation by providing a neutral, shared framework for building and reusing mission software.
Our Vision
A defense ecosystem where trusted partners can share and adopt technology quickly, where security and collaboration reinforce each other, and where the best capabilities reach warfighters faster than adversaries can adapt.
Core Values
Collaboration
Multi-stakeholder participation across government, research, and industry.
Innovation
Rapid validation and deployment of new capabilities into real programs.
Transparency
Open governance, clear standards, and auditable decisions.
Security
Cyber-hardened frameworks with strong provenance and audit trails.
Sovereignty
Alignment with national security priorities and trusted allied partnerships.
Governance Structure
ICD Steering Body (ICD-SB)
A nonprofit, IETF-modeled body that owns the technical roadmap, approves standards, and preserves the framework’s neutrality.
Technical Steering Committees (TSCs)
Government-led committees that evaluate proposals from PEOs/PMs and operational users, ratify domain-specific standards, and submit recommendations to the ICD-SB.
Government Oversight
OUSD(A&S) and OUSD(R&E) provide policy guidance, participate as non-voting members, manage classification and releasability, and ensure ICD remains aligned with DoD priorities.
501(c)(6) Nonprofit
As a 501(c)(6) organization, the ICD Foundation provides a neutral forum for competitors and partners to collaborate while complying with federal regulations and defense security requirements.
This structure enables multi-stakeholder collaboration while enforcing clear accountability, transparency, and security in how defense software is developed, shared, and governed.