I 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Defense Hackathon 

5 Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DE7 FENSE HACKATHON PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Chief Digital and 

10 Artificial Intelligence Officer of the Department of DeVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Jan 02, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10333.IH H10333

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1 fense, in coordination with the Chairman of the Joint 

2 Chiefs of Staff and the Chief Information Officer of the 

3 Department of Defense, shall establish a program (to be 

4 known as the ‘‘Department of Defense Hackathon Pro5 gram’’) under which the commanders of combatant com6 mands and the Secretaries of the military departments 

7 shall carry out not fewer than four Hackathons each year. 

8 (b) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT.—The Chief Digital and 

9 Artificial Intelligence Officer of the Department of De10 fense shall develop and implement standards for carrying 

11 out Hackathons, provide supporting technical infrastruc12 ture to the host of each Hackathon, and determine the 

13 hosts each year under subsection (c)(1). 

14 (c) HOSTS.—(1)(A) Each year, two commanders of 

15 combatant commands shall each carry out a Hackathon 

16 and two Secretaries of military departments shall each 

17 carry out a Hackathon, as determined by the Chief Digital 

18 and Artificial Intelligence Officer of the Department of 

19 Defense in accordance with this subsection. 

20 (B) The commanders of combatant com21 mands and the Secretaries of military depart22 ments carrying out Hackathons pursuant to 

23 subparagraph (A) shall change each year. 

24 (C) Each host of a Hackathon shall— 


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1 (i) provide to the participants invited 

2 to participate in such Hackathon a per 

3 diem allowance in accordance with section 

4 5702 of title 5, United States Code, or sec5 tion 452 of title, United States Code, as 

6 applicable; and 

7 (ii) not later than 60 days after the 

8 completion of such Hackathon, make avail9 able to the Department of Defense a re10 port on such Hackathon. 

11 (2) Any commander of a combatant command or Sec12 retary of a military department may carry out a 

13 Hackathon in addition to the Hackathons required under 

14 paragraph (1). 

15 (d) HACKATHON OBJECTIVES.—(1) The host of each 

16 Hackathon shall establish objectives for the Hackathon 

17 that address a critical, technical challenge of the combat18 ant command or military department of the host, as appli19 cable, through the use of individuals with specialized and 

20 relevant skills, including data scientists, developers, soft21 ware engineers, and other specialists as determined appro22 priate by the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Offi23 cer of the Department of Defense or the host. 


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1 (2) In addition to the objectives established by the 

2 host of a Hackathon under paragraph (1), the objectives 

3 for each Hackathon shall include— 

4 (A) fostering innovation across the Department 

5 of Defense, including in military departments and 

6 the combatant commands; and 

7 (B) creating repeatable processes enabling the 

8 commanders of combatant commands and the Secre9 taries of the military departments to more rapidly 

10 identify and develop solutions to critical, technical 

11 challenges across the Department of Defense. 

12 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

13 (1) the term ‘‘Hackathon’’ means an event car14 ried out under the Program at which employees 

15 across the Department of Defense meet to collabo16 ratively attempt to develop functional software or 

17 hardware solutions during the event to solve a crit18 ical, technical challenge determined by the host; 

19 (2) the term ‘‘host’’, with respect to a 

20 Hackathon, means the commander of the combatant 

21 command or the Secretary of the military depart22 ment carrying out the Hackathon; 

23 (3) the term ‘‘military department’’ has the 

24 meaning given such term in section 101(a) of title 

25 10, United States Code; and 


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1 (4) the term ‘‘Program’’ means the program es2 tablished under subsection (a). 

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