II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2113 

To harness the expertise, ingenuity, and creativity of all people to contribute 

to innovation in the United States and to help solve problems or scientific 

questions by encouraging and increasing the use of crowdsourcing and 

citizen science methods within the Federal Government, as appropriate, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. DAINES) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

To harness the expertise, ingenuity, and creativity of all 

people to contribute to innovation in the United States 

and to help solve problems or scientific questions by 

encouraging and increasing the use of crowdsourcing and 

citizen science methods within the Federal Government, 

as appropriate, 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 ‘‘Crowdsourcing and 

5 Citizen Science Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) the authority granted to Federal agencies 

4 under the America COMPETES Reauthorization 

5 Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–358) to pursue the 

6 use of incentive prizes and challenges has yielded 

7 numerous benefits, including— 

8 (A) paying only for success; 

9 (B) establishing an ambitious goal without 

10 having to predict which team or approach is 

11 most likely to succeed; 

12 (C) reaching out to individuals or a broad13 er group of people to increase the number of 

14 minds tackling a problem; 

15 (D) bringing out-of-discipline perspectives 

16 to bear; and 

17 (E) increasing cost-effectiveness to maxi18 mize the return on taxpayer dollars; 

19 (2) granting Federal agencies the direct, ex20 plicit authority to use crowdsourcing and citizen 

21 science will— 

22 (A) remove ambiguity about whether an 

23 agency can use these techniques; 

24 (B) encourage its appropriate use to ad25 vance agency missions; and 


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1 (C) stimulate and facilitate broader public 

2 participation in the innovation process; 

3 (3) crowdsourcing projects have a number of 

4 unique benefits, including— 

5 (A) improving the delivery of government 

6 services with significantly lower Federal or 

7 other public resource investments or at time 

8 scales or distribution scales that might not oth9 erwise be possible; 

10 (B) connecting citizens to the missions of 

11 Federal agencies by promoting a spirit of open 

12 government and volunteerism; 

13 (C) providing the acquisition of data at a 

14 greater geographic extent and in locations with 

15 a greater density or frequency than otherwise 

16 reasonably obtainable using conventional meth17 ods; and 

18 (D) enabling citizens to address commu19 nity and research-based concerns by gathering, 

20 analyzing, and sharing data and information; 

21 (4) citizen science has additional benefits, in22 cluding— 

23 (A) advancing and accelerating scientific 

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1 ation of knowledge, and the inclusion of diverse 

2 perspectives; 

3 (B) improving science literacy and pro4 viding skills needed to excel in science, tech5 nology, engineering, and math, thereby increas6 ing American competitiveness; 

7 (C) furthering science diplomacy through 

8 the worldwide collaboration between scientists 

9 and citizens; and 

10 (D) building trust and understanding be11 tween citizens and science and between citizens 

12 and scientists; and 

13 (5) since participants in crowdsourcing and cit14 izen science projects participate in crowdsourcing or 

15 citizen science for a variety of reasons, Federal 

16 agencies should consider meaningful incentives to 

17 engage and retain participants depending on the 

18 range of motivations for potential participants, in19 cluding— 

20 (A) receiving attribution for their contribu21 tions to research; 

22 (B) learning new skills and knowledge or 

23 educating others; 

24 (C) connecting with new individuals or 

25 communities and building relationships; and 


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1 (D) knowing that their work is helping to 

2 solve meaningful problems and contributing to 

3 broader scientific endeavors for the benefit of 

4 society. 

5 SEC. 3. CROWDSOURCING AND CITIZEN SCIENCE. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) CITIZEN SCIENCE.—The term ‘‘citizen 

8 science’’ means a form of open collaboration in 

9 which individuals or organizations participate in the 

10 scientific process in various ways, including— 

11 (A) enabling the formulation of research 

12 questions; 

13 (B) creating and refining project design; 

14 (C) conducting scientific experiments; 

15 (D) collecting and analyzing data; 

16 (E) interpreting the results of data; 

17 (F) developing technologies and applica18 tions; 

19 (G) making discoveries; and 

20 (H) solving problems. 

21 (2) CROWDSOURCING.—The term 

22 ‘‘crowdsourcing’’ means a method to obtain needed 

23 services, ideas, or content by soliciting voluntary 

24 contributions from a group of individuals or organi25 zations, especially from an online community. 


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1 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

2 the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 

3 Policy. 

4 (4) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

5 agency’’— 

6 (A) except as provided in subparagraph 

7 (B), means— 

8 (i) any Executive agency (as defined 

9 in section 105 of title 5, United States 

10 Code); and 

11 (ii) any military department (as set 

12 forth in section 102 of such title); and 

13 (B) does not include any legislative branch 

14 agency. 

15 (5) PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘participant’’ 

16 means any individual or other entity that has con17 sented as a volunteer in a crowdsourcing or citizen 

18 science project under this section. 

19 (6) RELATED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘related enti20 ty’’ means— 

21 (A) a Federal Government contractor or 

22 subcontractor, at any tier; and 

23 (B) a supplier, user, customer, cooperating 

24 party, grantee, investigator, fellow, or detailee 

25 of a Federal agency. 


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1 (b) CROWDSOURCING AND CITIZEN SCIENCE AU2 THORIZED.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each Federal 

4 agency, or the heads of multiple Federal agencies 

5 working cooperatively, may utilize crowdsourcing 

6 and citizen science approaches to conduct activities 

7 designed to advance the mission of the respective 

8 Federal agency or the joint mission of Federal agen9 cies, as applicable. 

10 (2) VOLUNTARY SERVICES.—Notwithstanding 

11 section 1342 of title 31, United States Code, the 

12 head of a Federal agency may accept, subject to reg13 ulations issued by the Office of Personnel Manage14 ment, voluntary services from participants under 

15 this section if such services— 

16 (A) are performed as a part of a 

17 crowdsourcing or citizen science project author18 ized under paragraph (1); 

19 (B) are not financially compensated for 

20 their time; and 

21 (C) will not be used to displace any em22 ployee of the Federal Government. 

23 (c) PARTICIPATION.— 

24 (1) ADVERTISING.—The head of each Federal 

25 agency engaged in a crowdsourcing or citizen science 


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1 project under this section shall make public and pro2 mote such project to encourage broad participation 

3 of consenting participants. 

4 (2) CONSENT, REGISTRATION, AND TERMS OF

5 USE.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal agency is 

7 authorized to determine the appropriate level of 

8 consent, registration, or acknowledgment of the 

9 terms of use that is required from participants 

10 in crowdsourcing or citizen science projects on 

11 a per-project basis. 

12 (B) DISCLOSURES.—In seeking consent, 

13 conducting registration, or developing terms of 

14 use for a project under this subsection, a Fed15 eral agency shall disclose the privacy, intellec16 tual property, data ownership, compensation, 

17 service, program, and other terms of use to the 

18 participant in a clear and reasonable manner. 

19 (C) MODE OF CONSENT.—A Federal agen20 cy or Federal agencies, as applicable, may ob21 tain consent electronically or in written form 

22 from participants to the volunteer service terms 

23 of a crowdsourcing or citizen science project au24 thorized under this section. 


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1 (3) HUMAN SUBJECTS.—Any crowdsourcing or 

2 citizen science project that involves research involv3 ing human subjects shall be subject to part 46 of 

4 title 28, Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc5 cessor regulation). 

6 (4) DATA.—Notwithstanding security and pri7 vacy protections, Federal agencies shall endeavor to 

8 make data collected through a crowdsourcing or cit9 izen science project authorized under this section 

10 open and available, in machine readable formats, to 

11 the public. As part of the consent process, the Fed12 eral agency shall notify all participants— 

13 (A) of the expected uses of the data com14 piled through the project; 

15 (B) if the Federal agency will retain own16 ership of such data; 

17 (C) if and how the data and results from 

18 the project would be made available for public 

19 or third party use; and 

20 (D) if participants are authorized to pub21 lish such data. 

22 (5) TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS.—Not23 withstanding the intellectual property rights of the 

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1 vations of such intellectual property developed 

2 through a crowdsourcing or citizen science project 

3 under this section open and available to the public. 

4 (6) LIABILITY.—Each participant in a 

5 crowdsourcing or citizen science project under this 

6 section shall agree— 

7 (A) to assume any and all risks associated 

8 with such participation; and 

9 (B) to waive all claims against the Federal 

10 Government and its related entities, except for 

11 claims based on willful misconduct, for any in12 jury, death, damage, or loss of property, rev13 enue, or profits (whether direct, indirect, or 

14 consequential) arising from participation in the 

15 project. 

16 (7) SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY.—Federal agencies 

17 coordinating citizen science projects shall make all 

18 practicable efforts that participants adhere to all rel19 evant scientific integrity or other applicable ethics 

20 policies. 

21 (d) MULTI-SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS.—The head of 

22 each Federal agency engaged in crowdsourcing or citizen 

23 science under this section, or the heads of multiple Federal 

24 agencies working cooperatively, may enter into a contract 


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1 or other agreement to share administrative duties for such 

2 activities with— 

3 (1) a for-profit or nonprofit private sector enti4 ty, including a private institution of higher edu5 cation; or 

6 (2) a State, tribal, local, or foreign government 

7 agency, including a public institution of higher edu8 cation. 

9 (e) FUNDING.—In carrying out crowdsourcing and 

10 citizen science activities under this section, the head of 

11 a Federal agency, or the heads of multiple Federal agen12 cies working cooperatively— 

13 (1) may use funds appropriated by Congress; 

14 (2) may request and accept funds or in kind 

15 support for such activities from— 

16 (A) other Federal agencies; 

17 (B) for-profit or nonprofit private sector 

18 entities, including private institutions of higher 

19 education; or 

20 (C) State, tribal, local, or foreign govern21 ment agencies, including public institutions of 

22 higher education; and 

23 (3) may not give any special consideration to 

24 any entity described in paragraph (2) in return for 

25 such funds or in kind support. 


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1 (f) FACILITATION.— 

2 (1) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION AS3 SISTANCE.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

4 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

5 the General Services Administration, in coordination 

6 with the Director, shall identify and develop relevant 

7 products and services to facilitate the use of 

8 crowdsourcing and citizen science activities under 

9 this section, including by specifying the appropriate 

10 contract vehicles and technology and organizational 

11 platforms to enhance the ability of Federal agencies 

12 to carry out the activities under this section to fur13 ther the policy objectives of the Federal Government. 

14 (2) OSTP GUIDANCE.—The heads of each Fed15 eral agency engaged in crowdsourcing or citizen 

16 science under this section is encouraged to consult 

17 any guidance provided by the Director. 

18 (g) REPORT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 4 

21 years thereafter, as a component of the report re22 quired under section 24(p) of the Stevenson-Wydler 

23 Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 

24 3719(p)), the Director shall report on the activities 

25 carried out under this subsection. 


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1 (2) INFORMATION INCLUDED.—Each report re2 quired under paragraph (1) shall include— 

3 (A) a summary of each crowdsourcing and 

4 citizen science project conducted by any Federal 

5 agency during the most recently completed 2 

6 fiscal years (for the first report) or since the 

7 last report was submitted (for subsequent re8 ports), including a description of the proposed 

9 goals of each crowdsourcing and citizen science 

10 project; 

11 (B) the participation rates, submission lev12 els, number of consents, or any other statistic 

13 that might be considered relevant in each 

14 crowdsourcing and citizen science project; 

15 (C) a description of— 

16 (i) the resources (including personnel 

17 and funding) that were used in the execu18 tion of each crowdsourcing and citizen 

19 science project; 

20 (ii) the activities for which such re21 sources were used; and 

22 (iii) how the obligations and expendi23 tures relating to the project’s execution 

24 was allocated among the accounts of the 

25 Federal agency; 


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1 (D) a description of— 

2 (i) the ways in which each 

3 crowdsourcing and citizen science project 

4 advanced the mission of the Federal agen5 cy; 

6 (ii) the project’s results, including the 

7 publications, results, tools, products, or 

8 services that the project created; 

9 (iii) the general methods used to en10 sure data quality and make the data pub11 licly available; and 

12 (iv) any savings realized or costs in13 curred by the Federal Government, wheth14 er financial or human resources, as a re15 sult of using crowdsourcing or citizen 

16 science projects instead of Federal agency 

17 resources, as possible; 

18 (E) a summary of the main challenges and 

19 barriers that constrained the ability of Federal 

20 agencies to conduct crowdsourcing and citizen 

21 science projects, including— 

22 (i) any steps that were taken to ad23 dress such challenges; and 

24 (ii) recommendations for future ad25 ministrative or legislative action; 


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1 (F) a summary of the use of 

2 crowdsourcing and citizen science methods by 

3 all Federal agencies since the submission of the 

4 last report, including interagency and multi-sec5 tor partnerships; and 

6 (G) any other information that the Direc7 tor considers relevant. 

8 (h) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—Nothing in this section 

9 may be construed— 

10 (1) to affect the authority to conduct 

11 crowdsourcing and citizen science authorized by any 

12 other provision of law; or 

13 (2) to displace Federal Government resources 

14 allocated to the Federal agencies that use 

15 crowdsourcing or citizen science authorized under 

16 this section to carry out a project. 

Æ 


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