SEC. 204. GAO STUDY ON INNOVATIVE FINANCING. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall conduct a study to identify— 
(1) financial and procurement mechanisms cur-
rently available to public and private entities to fund 
smart city or community activities and associated 
demonstration projects, including ‘‘pay for perform-
ance’’ financing that could deliver measurable and 
verifiable market and non-market values to smart 
cities or communities; 
(2) new and innovative financial and procure-
ment mechanisms under development or used experi-
mentally that may be available, in the near term, to 
public and private entities to fund smart city or 
community activities and associated demonstration 
projects; 
(3) barriers to creative financing solutions for 
smart city or community activities and associated 
demonstration projects, including procurement bar-
riers faced by State and local governments; and 
(4) ways to leverage private sector investments 
in smart cities and communities. 
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SEC. 205. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, SMART CITY VOUCHER, 
AND TECHNOLOGIST IN RESIDENCE PRO-
GRAMS. 
(a) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—The Sec-
retary of Energy (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’) shall establish a program to provide technical as-
sistance to cities and communities seeking to incorporate 
smart city or community technologies. 
(b) SMART CITY VOUCHER PILOT PROGRAM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 
a pilot program (referred to in this section as the 
‘‘pilot program’’) under which the Secretary shall 
provide assistance, including through vouchers, to 
cities and communities (including cities or commu-
nities partnered with a small business concern (as 
defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 
U.S.C. 632))) to improve, for the purposes of pro-
moting smart city or community technologies and 
commercialization— 
(A) the access of cities and communities to 
the expertise, competencies, and infrastructure 
of National Laboratories; and 
(B) the products, services, and capabilities 
of those cities and communities. 
(2) VOUCHER.—A voucher provided under the 
pilot program may be redeemed at any National 
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Laboratory or laboratory of the Department of En-
ergy. 
(3) COLLABORATION.—The Secretary shall 
carry out the pilot program in collaboration with the 
Director of each National Laboratory. 
(4) COST SHARING.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), section 988 of the Energy 
Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352) shall 
apply to financial assistance provided under this 
section. 
(B) 
EXCEPTION.—The 
Secretary 
may 
waive section 988 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 
16352) in providing financial assistance under 
the pilot program to cities or communities that 
partner with a small business concern that is 
socially or economically disadvantaged, as deter-
mined by the Secretary. 
(c) TECHNOLOGIST
IN
RESIDENCE
PILOT
PRO-
GRAM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall expand 
the Technologist in Residence pilot program of the 
Department of Energy to include partnerships be-
tween National Laboratories and cities or commu-
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nities with respect to research and development re-
lating to smart cities or communities. 
(2) REQUIREMENTS.—For purposes of the part-
nerships entered into under paragraph (1), tech-
nologists in residence shall work with an assigned 
city or community to develop an assessment of smart 
city or community technologies available and appro-
priate to meet the smart city or community objec-
tives of the city or community. 
(d) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary, in consultation with 
the Secretary of Commerce, shall issue guidance with re-
spect to— 
(1) the scope of the programs established under 
subsections (a) through (c); and 
(2) requests for proposals from cities and com-
munities interested in participating in those pro-
grams. 
(e) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing the programs 
under subsections (a) through (c), the Secretary shall seek 
to address the needs of small- and medium-sized cities, 
counties, and Tribal governments. 
(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029. 
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TITLE 
III—IMPROVING 
PER-
FORMANCE AND INTEROPER-
ABILITY 
SEC. 301. STANDARDS AND INTEROPERABILITY FRAME-
WORK. 
(a) PARTICIPATION.—To strengthen the public-pri-
vate partnership approach to smart city-related or commu-
nity-related standards development and interoperability, 
the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology, shall strongly en-
courage and support participation by Federal Government 
experts in private sector-led, standards-related activities 
that convene smart city or community stakeholders, in-
cluding representatives of applicable Federal agencies. 
(b) ACTIVITIES.—To promote innovation and eco-
nomic competitiveness and to achieve interoperability of 
smart city or community devices and systems, while 
strengthening the United States approach to private sec-
tor-led standardization activities and the participation of 
Federal representatives under subsection (a), the Sec-
retary, in consultation with private and public sector 
stakeholders, shall— 
(1) survey and review domestic and inter-
national smart city or community performance 
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standards, existing architectures, applications, and 
deployments, and interoperability standards; 
(2) make consensus-based recommendations— 
(A) to identify gaps in the smart city or 
community performance standards and inter-
operability standards under paragraph (1); 
(B) to harmonize existing standards and 
deployment efforts and enable greater inter-
operability across smart city or community 
technologies; 
(C) to coordinate domestic and inter-
national performance standards and interoper-
ability standards to promote uniform perform-
ance standards and interoperability standards 
worldwide, including with respect to the need 
for testing and demonstration; and 
(D) for guidelines to enable interoperability 
in the collection, storage, ownership, and shar-
ing of data; 
(3) based on the recommendations under para-
graph (2), develop a consensus-based framework 
that includes protocols and model standards for the 
management and exchange of information, including 
existing guidelines, best practices, and industry con-
sensus standards; 
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(4) ensure that cybersecurity and privacy are 
core elements of the recommended performance 
standards and interoperability standards; and 
(5) lead international coordination efforts to de-
velop industry-led, technology-neutral, voluntary, 
consensus-based global smart city or community per-
formance standards and interoperability standards. 
TITLE IV—INTERNATIONAL CO-
OPERATION AND BEST PRAC-
TICES 
SEC. 401. DEVELOPMENT OF GLOBAL SMART CITY OR COM-
MUNITY BEST PRACTICES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries may carry out ac-
tivities— 
(1) to enable cities and communities in the 
United States and other countries to work together 
toward shared smart city- or community-related 
goals; 
(2) to promote smart city or community solu-
tions that provide measurable benefits to local gov-
ernments and residents; 
(3) to enable an open, global marketplace for 
smart city or community technologies based on vol-
untary, consensus-based, and technology-neutral 
standards; and 
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(4) to connect innovators from industry and 
academia to local governments to catalyze the emer-
gence of open and advanced technologies that— 
(A) meet community needs; and 
(B) advance innovation and open competi-
tion. 
(b) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—The activities described 
in subsection (a) may include grants, contracts, chal-
lenges, prize competitions, public-private partnerships, 
and other innovative mechanisms. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretaries to carry out this sec-
tion $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 
through 2029. 
(2) LIMITATION
ON
USE
OF
FUNDS.—Funds 
made available under paragraph (1) may not be used 
to provide assistance to— 
(A) a foreign country; or 
(B) a foreign company (excluding any 
United States subsidiary of a foreign holding 
company). 
SEC. 402. TRADE PROGRAM. 
The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 
State, such other members of the Council as the Secretary 
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determines to be appropriate, and private stakeholders, 
shall establish a strategic international smart cities and 
communities trade program, which shall include trade mis-
sions— 
(1) to promote the export of United States 
smart cities or communities technologies; 
(2) to stimulate job growth in the United 
States; 
(3) to identify potential partners and strategies 
for companies in the United States in target foreign 
market sectors; 
(4) to organize events with local governments, 
businesses, associations, academia, and other stake-
holders to promote smart city or community partner-
ships; 
(5) to assist in the development of competitive 
strategies and foreign market access for smart city 
or community technology business interests of the 
United States; 
(6) to assist in developing appropriate Federal 
policy relating to interests of businesses in the 
United States and businesses in international smart 
cities or communities; 
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(7) to assist in achieving commitments of the 
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 
Change; 
(8) to assist in lowering the cost to consumers 
of smart cities or communities technologies; 
(9) to leverage expertise in infrastructure to de-
liver solutions that can help make communities more 
efficient, equitable, livable, and sustainable; and 
(10) to work with the United States Agency for 
International Development, the United States Inter-
national Development Finance Corporation, and the 
Export-Import Bank of the United States to identify 
opportunities to finance international investment in 
smart cities or communities technology companies of 
the United States. 
Æ 
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