{
  "name": "U.S. and Canadian Software Vendor Evidence Index",
  "version": "1.0.0-beta.1",
  "status": "verified-initial-release",
  "generated_at": "2026-08-29T05:42:38.070Z",
  "publisher": "Essential Designs",
  "canonical_url": "https://www.essentialdesigns.net/tools/software-vendor-evidence-index",
  "geographic_scope": [
    "United States",
    "Canada"
  ],
  "verified_vendor_count": 50,
  "procurement_candidate_count": 7023,
  "us_procurement_candidate_count": 6862,
  "canada_procurement_candidate_count": 161,
  "active_supplier_universe": {
    "gsa_54151s_contractors": 796,
    "canada_sosa_software_candidates": 137,
    "interpretation": "These are discovery universes, not automatically verified or published vendors."
  },
  "vendors_with_procurement_evidence": 49,
  "source_frame_complete": true,
  "source_status": {
    "usaspending": {
      "status": "available",
      "complete_for_method": true,
      "recipient_records": 6862,
      "verified_award_examples": 35
    },
    "canadabuys": {
      "status": "available",
      "source_rows": 21890,
      "deduplicated_contracts": 13373
    }
  },
  "source_frame": {
    "us_start_date": "2021-01-01",
    "us_end_date": "2026-08-29",
    "us_naics_codes": [
      "541511",
      "541512"
    ],
    "canada_resource": "https://canadabuys.canada.ca/opendata/pub/contractHistoryComplete-contratsOctroyesComplet.csv"
  },
  "country_breakdown": [
    {
      "label": "Canada",
      "count": 25
    },
    {
      "label": "United States",
      "count": 25
    }
  ],
  "service_breakdown": [
    {
      "id": "custom_software",
      "label": "Custom software",
      "count": 49
    },
    {
      "id": "web_apps",
      "label": "Web applications",
      "count": 38
    },
    {
      "id": "mobile_apps",
      "label": "Mobile applications",
      "count": 14
    },
    {
      "id": "enterprise",
      "label": "Enterprise systems",
      "count": 46
    },
    {
      "id": "ai",
      "label": "AI-enabled applications",
      "count": 30
    }
  ],
  "interpretation": "Inclusion means the organization had current first-party evidence for at least one software-delivery service when reviewed. Procurement records are factual transaction evidence, not endorsements or quality ratings.",
  "limitations": [
    "This is a documented evidence index, not a census of every U.S. or Canadian software vendor.",
    "Government classifications can include organizations whose awarded work is broader than custom software development.",
    "A missing service flag means the review did not capture sufficient first-party evidence; it does not prove the service is unavailable.",
    "No commercial-directory rankings, ratings, or copied reviews are used."
  ]
}