Title IV — Leveraging the Private Sector

114th Congress · Approved Jan 6, 2017 · 130 Stat. 2969

TITLE IV Leveraging the Private Sector

SEC. 401. Prize Competition Authority Update.

(a)

Short Title.— This section may be cited as the “Science Prize Competition Act”.

(b)

In General.— Section 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719) is amended—

(1)

in subsection (c)—

(A)

in the subsection heading, by striking “ Prizes” and by inserting “ Prize Competitions”;

(B)

in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “ prize may be one or more of the following” and inserting “ prize competition may be 1 or more of the following types of activities”;

(C)

in paragraph (2), by inserting “ competition” after “ prize”; and

(D)

in paragraphs (3) and (4), by striking “ prizes” and inserting “ prize competitions”;

(2)

in subsection (f)—

(A)

in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “ in the Federal Register” and inserting “ on a publicly accessible Government website, such as www.challenge.gov,”;

(B)

in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), by inserting “ prize” before “ competition”; and

(C)

in paragraph (4), by striking “ prize” and inserting “ cash prize purse or non-cash prize award”;

(3)

in subsection (g)—

(A)

in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “ prize” and inserting “ cash prize purse”; and

(B)

in paragraph (1), by inserting “ prize” before “ competition”;

(4)

in subsection (h), by inserting “ prize” before “ competition” each place it appears;

(5)

in subsection (i)—

(A)

in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting “ prize” before “ competition”;

(B)

in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting “ prize” before “ competition” each place it appears;

(C)

by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); and

(D)

by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:

“(3) Waivers.—

“(A) In general.—An agency may waive the requirement under paragraph (2).

“(B) List.—The Director shall include a list of all of the waivers granted under this paragraph during the preceding fiscal year, including a detailed explanation of the reason for granting the waiver.”

(6)

in subsection (j)—

(A)

in paragraph (1), by inserting “ prize” before “ competition”; and

(B)

by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:

“(2) Licenses.—As appropriate and to further the goals of a prize competition, the Federal Government may negotiate a license for the use of intellectual property developed by a registered participant in a prize competition.”

(7)

in subsection (k)—

(A)

in paragraph (1), by striking “ each competition” and inserting “ each prize competition” each place it appears;

(B)

in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting “ prize” before “ competition”; and

(C)

in paragraph (3), by inserting “ prize” before “ competitions” each place it appears;

(8)

in subsection (l), by striking “ an agreement with” and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting “ a grant, contract, cooperative agreement, or other agreement with a private sector for-profit or nonprofit entity or State or local government agency to administer the prize competition, subject to the provisions of this section.”;

(9)

in subsection (m)—

(A)

by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:

“(1) In general.—Support for a prize competition under this section, including financial support for the design and administration of a prize competition or funds for a cash prize purse, may consist of Federal appropriated funds and funds provided by private sector for-profit and nonprofit entities. The head of an agency may request and accept funds from other Federal agencies, State, United States territory, local, or tribal government agencies, private sector for-profit entities, and nonprofit entities, to be available to the extent provided by appropriations Acts, to support such prize competitions. The head of an agency may not give any special consideration to any agency or entity in return for a donation.”

(B)

in paragraph (2), by striking “ prize awards” and inserting “ cash prize purses or non-cash prize awards”;

(C)

in paragraph (3)—

(i)

by amending subparagraph (A) to read as follows:

“(A) Announcement.—No prize competition may be announced under subsection (f) until all the funds needed to pay out the announced amount of the cash prize purse have been appropriated or committed in writing by a private or State, United States territory, local, or tribal government source.”

; and

(ii)

in subparagraph (B)—

(I)

in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking “ a prize” and inserting “ a cash prize purse or non-cash prize award”;

(II)

in clause (i), by inserting “ competition” after “ prize”; and

(III)

in clause (ii), by inserting “ or State, United States territory, local, or tribal government” after “ private”; and

(D)

in paragraph (4)—

(i)

in subparagraph (A)—

(I)

by striking “ a prize” and inserting “ a cash prize purse or a non-cash prize award”; and

(II)

by striking “ Science and Technology” and inserting “ Science, Space, and Technology”; and

(ii)

in subparagraph (B), by striking “ cash prizes” and inserting “ cash prize purses or non-cash prize awards”;

(10)

in subsection (n)—

(A)

in the heading, by striking “ Service” and inserting “ Services”;

(B)

by striking “ the date of the enactment of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010,” and inserting “ the date of enactment of the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act,”; and

(C)

by inserting “ for both for-profit and nonprofit entities and State, United States territory, local, and tribal government entities,” after “ contract vehicle”;

(11)

in subsection (o)(1), by striking “ or providing a prize” and inserting “ a prize competition or providing a cash prize purse or non-cash prize award”; and

(12)

in subsection (p)—

(A)

in the heading, by striking “ Annual” and inserting “ Biennial”;

(B)

in paragraph (1)—

(i)

by striking “ each year” and inserting “ every other year”;

(ii)

by striking “ Science and Technology” and inserting “ Science, Space, and Technology”; and

(iii)

by striking “ fiscal year” and inserting “ 2 fiscal years”; and

(C)

in paragraph (2)—

(i)

by striking “ The report for a fiscal year” and inserting “ A report”;

(ii)

in subparagraph (C)—

(I)

in the heading, by striking “ prizes” and inserting “ prize purses or non-cash prize awards”; and

(II)

by striking “ cash prizes” each place it appears and inserting “ cash prize purses or non-cash prize awards”; and

(iii)

by adding at the end the following:

“(G) Plan.—A description of crosscutting topical areas and agency-specific mission needs that may be the strongest opportunities for prize competitions during the upcoming 2 fiscal years.”

SEC. 402. Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science.

(a)

Short Title.— This section may be cited as the “Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Act”.

(b)

Sense of Congress.— It is the sense of Congress that—

(1)

the authority granted to Federal agencies under the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–358; 124 Stat. 3982) to pursue the use of incentive prizes and challenges has yielded numerous benefits;

(2)

crowdsourcing and citizen science projects have a number of additional unique benefits, including accelerating scientific research, increasing cost effectiveness to maximize the return on taxpayer dollars, addressing societal needs, providing hands-on learning in STEM, and connecting members of the public directly to Federal science agency missions and to each other; and

(3)

granting Federal science agencies the direct, explicit authority to use crowdsourcing and citizen science will encourage its appropriate use to advance Federal science agency missions and stimulate and facilitate broader public participation in the innovation process, yielding numerous benefits to the Federal Government and citizens who participate in such projects.

(c)

Definitions.— In this section:

(1)

Citizen science.— The term “citizen science” means a form of open collaboration in which individuals or organizations participate voluntarily in the scientific process in various ways, including—

(A)

enabling the formulation of research questions;

(B)

creating and refining project design;

(C)

conducting scientific experiments;

(D)

collecting and analyzing data;

(E)

interpreting the results of data;

(F)

developing technologies and applications;

(G)

making discoveries; and

(H)

solving problems.

(2)

Crowdsourcing.— The term “crowdsourcing” means a method to obtain needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting voluntary contributions from a group of individuals or organizations, especially from an online community.

(3)

Participant.— The term “participant” means any individual or other entity that has volunteered in a crowdsourcing or citizen science project under this section.

(d)

Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science.—

(1)

In general.— The head of each Federal science agency, or the heads of multiple Federal science agencies working cooperatively, may utilize crowdsourcing and citizen science to conduct projects designed to advance the mission of the respective Federal science agency or the joint mission of Federal science agencies, as applicable.

(2)

Voluntary services.— Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United States Code, the head of a Federal science agency may accept, subject to regulations issued by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, services from participants under this section if such services—

(A)

are performed voluntarily as a part of a crowdsourcing or citizen science project authorized under paragraph (1);

(B)

are not financially compensated for their time; and

(C)

will not be used to displace any employee of the Federal Government.

(3)

Outreach.— The head of each Federal science agency engaged in a crowdsourcing or citizen science project under this section shall make public and promote such project to encourage broad participation.

(4)

Consent, registration, and terms of use.—

(A)

In general.— Each Federal science agency shall determine the appropriate level of consent, registration, or acknowledgment of the terms of use that are required from participants in crowdsourcing or citizen science projects under this section on a per-project basis.

(B)

Disclosures.— In seeking consent, conducting registration, or developing terms of use for a project under this subsection, a Federal science agency shall disclose the privacy, intellectual property, data ownership, compensation, service, program, and other terms of use to the participant in a clear and reasonable manner.

(C)

Mode of consent.— A Federal agency or Federal science agencies, as applicable, may obtain consent electronically or in written form from participants under this section.

(5)

Protections for human subjects.— Any crowdsourcing or citizen science project under this section that involves research involving human subjects shall be subject to part 46 of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation).

(6)

Data.—

(A)

In general.— A Federal science agency shall, where appropriate and to the extent practicable, make data collected through a crowdsourcing or citizen science project under this section available to the public, in a machine readable format, unless prohibited by law.

(B)

Notice.— As part of the consent process, the Federal science agency shall notify all participants—

(i)

of the expected uses of the data compiled through the project;

(ii)

if the Federal science agency will retain ownership of such data;

(iii)

if and how the data and results from the project would be made available for public or third party use; and

(iv)

if participants are authorized to publish such data.

(7)

Technologies and applications.— Federal science agencies shall endeavor to make technologies, applications, code, and derivations of such intellectual property developed through a crowdsourcing or citizen science project under this section available to the public.

(8)

Liability.— Each participant in a crowdsourcing or citizen science project under this section shall agree—

(A)

to assume any and all risks associated with such participation; and

(B)

to waive all claims against the Federal Government and its related entities, except for claims based on willful misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits (whether direct, indirect, or consequential) arising from participation in the project.

(9)

Research misconduct.— Federal science agencies coordinating crowdsourcing or citizen science projects under this section shall make all practicable efforts to ensure that participants adhere to all relevant Federal research misconduct policies and other applicable ethics policies.

(10)

Multi-sector partnerships.— The head of each Federal science agency engaged in crowdsourcing or citizen science under this section, or the heads of multiple Federal science agencies working cooperatively, may enter into a contract or other agreement to share administrative duties for such projects with—

(A)

a for profit or nonprofit private sector entity, including a private institution of higher education;

(B)

a State, tribal, local, or foreign government agency, including a public institution of higher education; or

(C)

a public-private partnership.

(11)

Funding.— In carrying out crowdsourcing and citizen science projects under this section, the head of a Federal science agency, or the heads of multiple Federal science agencies working cooperatively—

(A)

may use funds appropriated by Congress;

(B)

may publicize projects and solicit and accept funds or in-kind support for such projects, to be available to the extent provided by appropriations Acts, from—

(i)

other Federal agencies;

(ii)

for profit or nonprofit private sector entities, including private institutions of higher education; or

(iii)

State, tribal, local, or foreign government agencies, including public institutions of higher education; and

(C)

may not give any special consideration to any entity described in subparagraph (B) in return for such funds or in-kind support.

(12)

Facilitation.—

(A)

General services administration assistance.— The Administrator of the General Services Administration, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall, at no cost to Federal science agencies, identify and develop relevant products, training, and services to facilitate the use of crowdsourcing and citizen science projects under this section, including by specifying the appropriate contract vehicles and technology and organizational platforms to enhance the ability of Federal science agencies to carry out the projects under this section.

(B)

Additional guidance.— The head of each Federal science agency engaged in crowdsourcing or citizen science under this section may—

(i)

consult any guidance provided by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, including the Federal Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Toolkit;

(ii)

designate a coordinator for that Federal science agency’s crowdsourcing and citizen science projects; and

(iii)

share best practices with other Federal agencies, including participation of staff in the Federal Community of Practice for Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science.

(e)

Report.—

(1)

In general.— Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall include, as a component of an annual report required under section 24(p) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719(p)), a report on the projects and activities carried out under this section.

(2)

Information included.— The report required under paragraph (1) shall include—

(A)

a summary of each crowdsourcing and citizen science project conducted by a Federal science agency during the most recently completed 2 fiscal years, including a description of the proposed goals of each crowdsourcing and citizen science project;

(B)

an analysis of why the utilization of a crowdsourcing or citizen science project summarized in subparagraph (A) was the preferable method of achieving the goals described in subparagraph (A) as opposed to other authorities available to the Federal science agency, such as contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, and prize competitions;

(C)

the participation rates, submission levels, number of consents, and any other statistic that might be considered relevant in each crowdsourcing and citizen science project;

(D)

a detailed description of—

(i)

the resources, including personnel and funding, that were used in the execution of each crowdsourcing and citizen science project;

(ii)

the project activities for which such resources were used; and

(iii)

how the obligations and expenditures relating to the project’s execution were allocated among the accounts of the Federal science agency, including a description of the amount and source of all funds, private, public, and in-kind, contributed to each crowdsourcing and citizen science project;

(E)

a summary of the use of crowdsourcing and citizen science by all Federal science agencies, including interagency and multi-sector partnerships;

(F)

a description of how each crowdsourcing and citizen science project advanced the mission of each participating Federal science agency;

(G)

an identification of each crowdsourcing or citizen science project where data collected through such project was not made available to the public, including the reasons for such action; and

(H)

any other information that the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy considers relevant.

(f)

Savings Provision.— Nothing in this section may be construed—

(1)

to affect the authority to conduct crowdsourcing and citizen science authorized by any other provision of law; or

(2)

to displace Federal Government resources allocated to the Federal science agencies that use crowdsourcing or citizen science authorized under this section to carry out a project.

SEC. 403. Nist Director Functions Update.

Section 2(b) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 272(b)), as amended by section 403 of this Act, is further amended—

(1)

in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “ authorized to take” and inserting “ authorized to serve as the President’s principal adviser on standards policy pertaining to the Nation’s technological competitiveness and innovation ability and to take”;

(2)

in paragraph (3), by striking “ compare standards” and all that follows through “ Federal Government” and inserting “ facilitate standards-related information sharing and cooperation between Federal agencies”; and

(3)

in paragraph (13), by striking “ Federal, State, and local” and all that follows through “ private sector” and inserting “ technical standards activities and conformity assessment activities of Federal, State, and local governments with private sector”.

SEC. 404. Nist Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology Update.

Section 10 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278) is amended—

(1)

in subsection (a)—

(A)

in the second sentence, by striking “ 15 members appointed by the Director, at least 10 of whom” and inserting “ not fewer than 9 members appointed by the Director, a majority of whom”; and

(B)

in the third sentence, by striking “ National Bureau of Standards” and inserting “ National Institute of Standards and Technology”; and

(2)

in subsection (h)(1), by striking “ , including the Program established under section 28,”.

Title IV — Leveraging the Private Sector