I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3528 

To direct the Secretary of Commerce to carry out a program to facilitate 

the development of digital products for the public, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Mr. LIPINSKI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Commerce to carry out a program 

to facilitate the development of digital products for the 

public, 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 Opportunity Project 

5 Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Opportunity Project of the Department 

9 of Commerce is based on a process that engages the 

10 technology industry to create digital products that 


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1 expand economic opportunity for the people of the 

2 United States. 

3 (2) The Opportunity Project facilitates cross4 sector collaboration, makes Federal Government 

5 data more usable and accessible, and creates a posi6 tive impact for families, communities, and busi7 nesses. 

8 (3) Since launching in 2016, The Opportunity 

9 Project has yielded dozens of new digital products, 

10 including products that connect veterans and their 

11 families with jobs, connect people experiencing 

12 homelessness with services and shelter, and rebuild 

13 rural economies. 

14 (4) The Opportunity Project provides Federal 

15 agencies with new ways to use existing Federal data 

16 to solve problems and create innovative products by 

17 combining the skills and knowledge of Federal agen18 cy personnel, end users, and technology experts. 

19 (5) The process used by The Opportunity 

20 Project can be adopted by any Federal agency or 

21 non-Federal entity interested in transforming data 

22 into digital products for the public. 

23 (6) The Opportunity Project is consistent with 

24 the President’s cross-agency priority goal of 

25 leveraging data as a strategic asset. 


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1 SEC. 3. THE OPPORTUNITY PROJECT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

3 program, to be known as ‘‘The Opportunity Project’’, to 

4 facilitate the development of digital products for the public 

5 through collaboration between Federal agency personnel, 

6 end users, and technology experts. 

7 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out The Oppor8 tunity Project, the Secretary shall— 

9 (1) provide regularly updated guidance on pri10 orities for digital product development and objectives 

11 to be accomplished by the products developed; and 

12 (2) facilitate— 

13 (A) the identification of data that may be 

14 useful in the development of such products; 

15 (B) the formation of teams of Federal 

16 agency personnel, end users, and technology ex17 perts to develop such products; and 

18 (C) a process that leads the teams through 

19 the development of a digital product or a min20 imum viable technology product as a main com21 ponent of the work associated with The Oppor22 tunity Project as a program. 

23 (c) SOURCES OF DATA.—Data identified under sub24 section (b)(2)(A) may include the data of Federal agen25 cies, States, political subdivisions of States, and private26 sector entities. 


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1 (d) TOPIC SUBMISSIONS.—The Secretary shall estab2 lish a process for a Federal agency to submit for consider3 ation under The Opportunity Project a priority for digital 

4 product development or an objective to be accomplished 

5 by a digital product developed. 

6 (e) AGREEMENTS WITH OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES

7 AND STATES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter 

9 into an agreement (written, verbal, or informal) with 

10 a Federal agency, State, or political subdivision of a 

11 State to— 

12 (A) provide for participation by employees 

13 of such agency, State, or political subdivision in 

14 digital product development conducted through 

15 The Opportunity Project; or 

16 (B) make available employees of the De17 partment of Commerce to assist in teaching and 

18 implementing the processes of The Opportunity 

19 Project for use in digital product development 

20 by such agency, State, or political subdivision. 

21 (2) REIMBURSEMENT.—An agreement entered 

22 into under paragraph (1) may provide for the reim23 bursement to the Secretary for the services provided 

24 by employees of the Bureau of the Census under 

25 such agreement, as the Secretary and the Federal 


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1 agency, State, or political subdivision of a State (as 

2 the case may be) deems appropriate. 

3 (f) PERFORMANCE METRICS.—The Secretary shall— 

4 (1) develop metrics to track the performance of 

5 The Opportunity Project and the resulting products; 

6 and 

7 (2) collect data to enable ongoing assessment of 

8 The Opportunity Project. 

9 (g) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

11 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 

12 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

13 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor14 tation of the Senate a report on the performance of The 

15 Opportunity Project, including an assessment of the effec16 tiveness of The Opportunity Project in— 

17 (1) increasing the usability and accessibility of 

18 Federal data by the public; and 

19 (2) increasing the use of Federal data by the 

20 public. 

21 (h) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

23 of the United States shall submit to Congress a report 

24 assessing the effectiveness of The Opportunity Project 

25 in— 


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1 (1) increasing the usability and accessibility of 

2 Federal data by the public; 

3 (2) increasing the use of Federal data by the 

4 public; and 

5 (3) the impact of the resulting products on 

6 members of the public. 

7 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

9 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘agency’’ 

10 in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

11 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Commerce. 

13 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 

14 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

15 each commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 

16 United States, and each federally recognized Indian 

17 Tribe. 

Æ 


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