Gov-tech as capture: public infrastructures under data capitalism

This paper examines the U.S. ‘gov-tech’ market, focusing on firms that partner with government agencies to redesign digital public infrastructures. Through interviews with founders and chief technology officers of gov-tech companies, it develops ‘capture’ as a framework for analyzing how these firms commodify public data, redefine state capacity, and foster dependencies through computational systems. The study identifies three mechanisms of capture: grabbing and aggregating public datasets (data capture), reconfiguring public services into computable units (value capture), and transforming public data into market assets (regulatory capture). Drawing on insights from critical data studies and political economy, the paper demonstrates how gov-tech firms redefine state capacity and public accountability while examining the broader implications of embedding private interests in public governance under data capitalism.