Defense Hackathon Act of 2024

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10333 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                               H. R. 10333

To establish a hackathon program in the Department of Defense, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 10, 2024

  Mr. Bacon introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a hackathon program in the Department of Defense, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 ``Defense Hackathon Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE HACKATHON PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence 
Officer of the Department of Defense, in coordination with the Chairman 
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Chief Information Officer of the 
Department of Defense, shall establish a program (to be known as the 
``Department of Defense Hackathon Program'') under which the commanders 
of combatant commands and the Secretaries of the military departments 
shall carry out not fewer than four Hackathons each year.
    (b) Program Management.--The Chief Digital and Artificial 
Intelligence Officer of the Department of Defense shall develop and 
implement standards for carrying out Hackathons, provide supporting 
technical infrastructure to the host of each Hackathon, and determine 
the hosts each year under subsection (c)(1).
    (c) Hosts.--(1)(A) Each year, two commanders of combatant commands 
shall each carry out a Hackathon and two Secretaries of military 
departments shall each carry out a Hackathon, as determined by the 
Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer of the Department of 
Defense in accordance with this subsection.
                    (B) The commanders of combatant commands and the 
                Secretaries of military departments carrying out 
                Hackathons pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall change 
                each year.
                    (C) Each host of a Hackathon shall--
                            (i) provide to the participants invited to 
                        participate in such Hackathon a per diem 
                        allowance in accordance with section 5702 of 
                        title 5, United States Code, or section 452 of 
                        title, United States Code, as applicable; and
                            (ii) not later than 60 days after the 
                        completion of such Hackathon, make available to 
                        the Department of Defense a report on such 
                        Hackathon.
    (2) Any commander of a combatant command or Secretary of a military 
department may carry out a Hackathon in addition to the Hackathons 
required under paragraph (1).
    (d) Hackathon Objectives.--(1) The host of each Hackathon shall 
establish objectives for the Hackathon that address a critical, 
technical challenge of the combatant command or military department of 
the host, as applicable, through the use of individuals with 
specialized and relevant skills, including data scientists, developers, 
software engineers, and other specialists as determined appropriate by 
the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer of the Department 
of Defense or the host.
    (2) In addition to the objectives established by the host of a 
Hackathon under paragraph (1), the objectives for each Hackathon shall 
include--
            (A) fostering innovation across the Department of Defense, 
        including in military departments and the combatant commands; 
        and
            (B) creating repeatable processes enabling the commanders 
        of combatant commands and the Secretaries of the military 
        departments to more rapidly identify and develop solutions to 
        critical, technical challenges across the Department of 
        Defense.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``Hackathon'' means an event carried out under 
        the Program at which employees across the Department of Defense 
        meet to collaboratively attempt to develop functional software 
        or hardware solutions during the event to solve a critical, 
        technical challenge determined by the host;
            (2) the term ``host'', with respect to a Hackathon, means 
        the commander of the combatant command or the Secretary of the 
        military department carrying out the Hackathon;
            (3) the term ``military department'' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 101(a) of title 10, United States Code; 
        and
            (4) the term ``Program'' means the program established 
        under subsection (a).
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