TechSprint Rules

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By applying to the TechSprint, each applicant agrees to abide by these TechSprint Rules (the 

“Rules”).

Organizers

The TechSprint is organized and conducted by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

Objectives

FHFA, through its Office of Financial Technology (OFT), seeks to explore and demonstrate the use of 

technology as a tool in driving transparency, improving efficiency, and increasing access, fairness, 

affordability, and sustainability in mortgage processes. 

An overview of the TechSprint and the problem statements are available on the TechSprint webpage. 

Key Dates 

• Application Period: April 4, 2023, to May 31, 2023

• Virtual Boot Camp for Participants: June 28, 2023

• Virtual TechSprint Team Kick-Off: July 6, 2023 

• In-person TechSprint Week: July 10 to July 12, 2023 

• Demonstration Day (Demo Day): July 13, 2023

Eligibility for Application

Individuals must meet the eligibility criteria below to apply for participation in the TechSprint: 

• Individuals must be at least 18 years old on the date of TechSprint application. 

• Individuals must submit a complete application form, including acknowledgement of the Rules. 

• There may be only one application per eligible individual. 

• Federal grantees may not use federal funds to develop TechSprint solutions unless consistent 

with the purpose of their grant award. 

• Individuals may not be employees or active contractors of FHFA. 

• Individuals may not be employees or active contractors of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Common 

Securitization Solutions, any Federal Home Loan Bank, or the Office of Finance. 

Selection Criteria for Participation 

Application does not guarantee participation. An applicant that is selected to participate in the 

TechSprint is referred to as a Participant herein. Applicants selected to participate in the TechSprint will 

be notified. Applicants who are not selected also will be notified. Notwithstanding the eligibility and 

selection criteria, FHFA reserves the right to limit the number of Participants in the TechSprint due to 

capacity and the placement of Participants on a TechSprint team, including by applying the selection 

criteria below. No more than two individuals from any legal entity will be placed on the same team. 

The criteria that will be used to select Participants include: 
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• Experience in a field related to the mortgage processes subject to the problem statements of 

the TechSprint; 

• Experience that supports the objective of having cross-functional expertise on teams (e.g., 

product development, data science, consumer advocacy, financial industry, government 

entities, information security, academia, etc.); 

• Experience working in financial services and/or financial technology subject to the problem 

statements of the TechSprint; 

• Familiarity with user-centered design; and

• Familiarity working with publicly available datasets. 

Duration of Application 

The application period will be open from April 4, 2023, to May 31, 2023. The application period will close 

at 5:00 p.m. ET on May 31, 2023. Applications must be received before the deadline indicated. If any 

submissions are received after the deadline they will not be considered, unless otherwise announced. 

During the application period and after the application period closes, FHFA will review all applications 

and will use the selection criteria listed above to select Participants for the TechSprint. 

FHFA may modify these Rules, or modify or cancel the TechSprint at any time before or during the 

TechSprint. 

Evaluation and Recognition

Evaluation Panel 

Participating TechSprint teams’ submissions that comply with the TechSprint requirements will 

be reviewed and evaluated by a panel of judges consisting of non-FHFA subject matter experts 

from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. The panel of judges represent a variety of fields, 

including, but not limited to, mortgages, financial inclusion, affordable housing, data and 

analytics, and general technology. A judge’s participation does not automatically disqualify 

Participants from that judge’s organization. No more than one individual from any legal entity 

will be placed on the evaluation panel of judges.

Evaluation Criteria

The panel of judges will evaluate each TechSprint team’s submission using a scoring rubric that 

considers output, effectiveness, and ease of use, on a scale of 1-5 for each category. In 

conducting the evaluation, judges will determine the points that a submission merits up to the 

maximum value specified for each element. 

A TechSprint team selected for each category will be selected by adding all judges’ scores and 

calculating the highest scoring solution. In the event of a tie, multiple teams will be selected; 

however, a TechSprint team can only be selected for one category. 

Recognition:
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Descriptions of the recognitions are as below. No prize, cash or otherwise, will be awarded to 

teams. 

Fast: Quickest to Market

Jump: Most potentially impactful/transformational

Eureka: Most exciting/surprising due to creativity

Audience Favorite: Receiving most votes from the audience, both in-person and virtual

These recognitions will be announced on Demo Day. The Demo Day will be a hybrid event with 

in-person keynote speaker and panel sessions, which will be open to the public and 

livestreamed.

Terms and Conditions 

TechSprint applicants are subject to all applicable U.S. federal, state, local, and country of residence laws 

and regulations. 

Participation constitutes an unconditional agreement to adhere to the TechSprint Rules (which include 

these Terms and Conditions) as set forth by FHFA. By applying for the TechSprint, each Participant 

agrees to comply with and abide by all TechSprint Rules, the administrative decisions of FHFA, and the 

decisions of the evaluation panel of judges, which will be final and binding in all respects. 

FHFA reserves the right to disqualify any Participant found in violation of any TechSprint Rules. 

As a condition of participation, Participants agree to assume any and all risks and waive and release any 

claims against the Federal Government in relation to the subject event, except in the case of willful 

misconduct. Waived claims include those for any injury, death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or 

profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, arising from their participation in the TechSprint, 

whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or otherwise. Participants also 

agree, as a condition of participation, to indemnify the Federal Government against third-party claims 

for damages arising from or related to TechSprint activities. Participants also agree to hold the Federal 

Government harmless from all legal and administrative claims to include associated expenses that may 

arise from any claims related to the TechSprint solution or its use. 

All materials submitted to FHFA as part of the Participants’ submission become FHFA agency public 

records. Participants should only include information that they intend to disclose or that can be 

disseminated publicly.

If a Participant’s entry includes any third-party works (such as third-party content or non-public data), 

the Participant must be able to provide, upon request, documentation of rights to all appropriate 

licenses and releases for use of such third-party works. If a Participant cannot provide documentation of 

rights to all required licenses and releases, the individual Participant’s submission will be disqualified. All 
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third-party works must be approved by FHFA and made available to all teams prior to the 

commencement of the TechSprint. 

If open-source code is used in any aspect of a solution, then the Participant must only use the opensource code licensed under an open-source initiative-approved license (see www.opensource.org) that 

in no event limits commercial use of such code or model containing or depending on such code. 

Each Participant will not submit any harmful computer code (sometimes referred to as “malware,” 

“viruses,” or “worms”) and represent that the work is free of security threats. 

By participating in the TechSprint, each Participant warrants that there are no legal obstacles to 

providing the nonexclusive licenses of the Participant’s rights to the Federal Government as set forth in 

this TechSprint Rules. 

Non-Endorsement

Participation in the TechSprint does not imply that FHFA endorses, supports, or otherwise affirms any 

particular individual, team, entity, technology, methodology, or approach associated with the 

TechSprint. Participants may not indicate that by virtue of: participating in the TechSprint; FHFA making 

their demonstration available on the FHFA website; if applicable, their receipt of TechSprint selection or 

recognition; or, any other interaction with FHFA during the TechSprint, that the Participant, any entity 

with which they are associated, their TechSprint team, or any work product associated with the 

TechSprint has been endorsed, approved, or in any other way reviewed by FHFA. Selection and/or

recognition of TechSprint solutions will be determined by the independent judging panel, comprised of 

non-FHFA subject matter experts, not by FHFA. 

Participants may indicate to the public that (a) they participated in the TechSprint; (b) if applicable, the 

TechSprint demonstration they prepared is available on the FHFA’s website; and (c) if applicable, they 

received TechSprint selection or recognition. 

Ownership and License Terms 

By participating in the TechSprint, each Participant represents and warrants that they are the sole 

author or owner of the intellectual property or have third-party rights to the intellectual property used 

in connection with their entry, or that ownership is theirs alone or together with the other individuals on 

their TechSprint Team, or otherwise has the necessary rights to use the intellectual property for 

purposes of the TechSprint, including having any and all rights necessary to grant the nonexclusive 

license rights set forth in this TechSprint Rules. 

By participating in this TechSprint, each Participant represents and warrants that the Participant has the 

right to use any copyrightable works that the submission comprises, that the works are wholly original 

with the Participant, individually or together with the individuals on their TechSprint Team (or is an 

improved version of an existing work that the Participant has rights to use and improve), and that the

submission does not infringe any copyright or any other rights of any third party of which the Participant 

is aware, including the Participant’s employer. 
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All Participants grant to the Federal Government, through FHFA, a worldwide, non-exclusive, sublicensable, transferable, fully paid-up, royalty free, perpetual, irrevocable and unlimited right to use, 

apply or utilize the submission, including any software, created as part of their submission (submitted 

software will have no dependencies on commercial products, including software libraries), to create 

derivative works or to apply derivative work with other data not owned by the Participant and that all 

resulting data output is available to the Federal Government for unlimited use; and to distribute 

copies to the public, to reproduce, publish, post, link to, share and display publicly the submission on 

the web or elsewhere, in any media now known or hereafter developed, as well as derivative works, 

in any manner and for any purpose whatsoever, commercial or otherwise, and to have or permit 

others to do so, without further approval by or payment to the Participant. As such, it is highly 

recommended that participants do not contribute any form of Intellectual Property, owned personally 

or by their employer, to their submission.

The Federal Government is also granted the right to publicize Participant names and, as applicable, the 

names of Team members or legal entities that participated in the submission following the conclusion of 

the TechSprint. Participants may be featured on Federal websites, in newsletters, social media, and in 

other print and electronic outreach materials. Except where prohibited, participation in the TechSprint

constitutes the consent of each Participant to the Federal Government’s use of each Participant’s name, 

likeness, photograph, logo, voice, opinions, public summary, or hometown and state information for 

promotional purposes through any form of media, worldwide, without further permission, payment, or 

consideration. 

FHFA Point of Contact 

Questions regarding the TechSprint can be directed to FinTech@FHFA.gov.