We're delighted to welcome Pierre Pezziardi to the We Make Commons community — one of the people most responsible for proving that public administrations can build software like a startup, in the open, and in the public interest.
The architect of "startups d'État"
Pierre co-created beta.gouv.fr, the incubator inside France's digital administration (DINUM) that gave rise to the "startups d'État" model: small, autonomous teams building and iterating on public digital services — from job-hunting tools to disability rights simplification — the way a lean startup would, but with a public mission instead of a profit motive. That model has since spread across French public administration and inspired similar programs abroad.
Frugal by design, open by default
Pierre has long argued for "frugal innovation" in government: ship fast, measure real usage, kill what doesn't work, and — critically — build it as a public good rather than a walled-off contract deliverable. Many beta.gouv.fr products are open source from day one, precisely because Pierre and his peers treat public code as commons rather than as internal IP.
Why this matters for We Make Commons
The whole premise of We Make Commons is that public money spent on digital tools should produce shared, reusable infrastructure — not disposable software. Pierre didn't just argue for that principle; he built the institutional machinery that makes it routine practice inside the French state.
Welcome to We Make Commons, Pierre. Glad to have you.