Armed Forces Digital Advantage Act
This bill requires the Department of Defense to (1) maintain digital expertise and software development as core competencies of civilian and military workforces to support the National Defense Strategy, (2) appoint a civilian officer responsible for the development and implementation of a policy to promote and maintain such expertise, and (3) create a plan to carry out the policy.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5353 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5353
To establish a policy to promote and maintain digital and software
development expertise in the workforce of the Department of Defense.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 6, 2019
Ms. Houlahan (for herself and Mr. Meadows) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a policy to promote and maintain digital and software
development expertise in the workforce of the Department of Defense.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Armed Forces Digital Advantage
Act''.
SEC. 2. POLICY ON THE TALENT MANAGEMENT OF DIGITAL EXPERTISE AND
SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS.
(a) Policy.--
(1) In general.--It shall be a policy of the Department of
Defense to promote and maintain digital expertise and software
development as core competencies of civilian and military
workforces of the Department, and as a capability to support
the National Defense Strategy, which policy shall be achieved
by--
(A) the recruitment, development, and
incentivization of retention in and to the civilian and
military workforce of the Department of individuals
with aptitude, experience, proficient expertise, or a
combination thereof in digital expertise and software
development;
(B) at the discretion of the Secretaries of the
military departments, the development and maintenance
of civilian and military career tracks related to
digital expertise, and related digital competencies for
members of the Armed Forces, including the development
and maintenance of training, education, talent
management, incentives, and promotion policies in
support of members at all levels of such career tracks;
and
(C) the development and application of appropriate
readiness standards and metrics to measure and report
on the overall capability, capacity, utilization, and
readiness of digital engineering professionals to
develop and deliver operational capabilities and employ
modern business practices.
(2) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, ``digital
engineering'' is the discipline and set of skills involved in
the creation, processing, transmission, integration, and
storage of digital data (including but not limited to data
science, machine learning, software engineering, software
product management, and artificial intelligence product
management).
(b) Responsibility.--
(1) Appointment of officer.--Not later than 270 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense
shall appoint a civilian official responsible for the
development and implementation of the policy set forth in
subsection (a). The official shall be known as the ``Chief
Digital Engineering Recruitment and Management Officer of the
Department of Defense'' (in this section referred to as the
``Officer'').
(2) Expiration of appointment.--The appointment of the
Officer under paragraph (1) shall expire on September 30, 2029.
(c) Duties.--In developing and providing for the discharge of the
policy set forth in subsection (a), the Officer shall work with the
Assistant Secretaries of the military departments for Manpower and
Reserve Affairs to carry out the following:
(1) Develop for, and enhance within, the recruitment
programs of each Armed Force various core initiatives,
programs, activities, and mechanisms, tailored to the unique
needs of each Armed Force, to identify and recruit civilian
employees and members of the Armed Forces with demonstrated
aptitude, interest, and proficiency in digital engineering, and
in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
generally, including initiatives, programs, activities, and
mechanisms to target populations of individuals not typically
aware of opportunities in the Department of Defense for a
digital engineering career.
(2) Identify and share with the military departments best
practices around the development of flexible career tracks and
identifiers for digital engineering and related digital
competencies and meaningful opportunities for career
development, talent management, and promotion within such
career tracks.
(3) Develop and maintain education, training, doctrine,
rotational opportunities, and professional development
activities to support the civilian and military digital
engineering workforce.
(4) Coordinate and synchronize digital force management
activities throughout the Department of Defense, advise the
Secretary of Defense on all matters pertaining to the health
and readiness of digital forces, convene a Department-wide
executive steering group, and submit to Congress an annual
report on the readiness of digital forces and progress toward
achieving the policy set forth in subsection (a).
(5) Create a Department-wide mechanism to track digital
expertise in the workforce, develop and maintain organizational
policies, strategies, and plans sufficient to build, maintain,
and refresh internal capacity at scale, and report to the
Secretary quarterly on the health and readiness the digital
engineering workforce.
(6) Assist the military departments in designing,
developing, and executing programs and incentives to retain,
track, and oversee digital expertise among civilian employees
of the Department and members of the Armed Forces on active
duty.
(7) At the request of the Chief of Staff of an Armed Force,
or the head of another component or element of the Department,
undertake an executive search for key leadership positions in
digital engineering in such Armed Force, component, or element,
and develop and deploy agile hiring processes to fill such
positions.
(8) Identify necessary changes in authorities, policies,
resources, or a combination thereof to further the policy set
forth in subsection (a), and submit to Congress a report on
such changes.
(d) Implementation Plan.--Not later than May 1, 2020, the Secretary
of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the
House of Representatives and the Senate a plan to carry out the
requirements of this section. The plan shall include the following:
(1) An assessment of progress of the Secretary in
recruiting an individual to serve as the Officer required to be
appointed under subsection (b).
(2) A timeline for implementation of the requirements of
this section, including input from each military department on
its unique timeline.
(3) Recommendations for any legislative or administrative
action required to meet the requirements of this section.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
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