§4128 Laboratory Quality Enhancement Program

Summary

The Secretary of Defense, through the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, must run a program called the Laboratory Quality Enhancement Program. The program must create four panels to review and advise on how DoD science and technology reinvention laboratories work. The panels will look at policies and practices to make labs more effective, review new lab projects and legal interpretations that help lab directors manage their labs, help put changes into action, and study how well lab authorities and other issues are working. The four panels focus on workforce and talent; facilities and equipment; research strategy, technology transfer, and partnerships; and governance and oversight. The first three panels may include experts from Army, Navy, and Air Force labs, Defense agencies, the Under Secretary’s office, and others. The governance panel must have at least one member from each reinvention lab. Panel members pick their chair. Panels will share findings with the Department’s Science and Technology Executive Committee through the Under Secretary. The Under Secretary must write rules explaining how statutes apply to these labs, try to give lab directors the most practical flexibility, consult the military department secretaries and others when needed, and seek advice from the governance panel. A “science and technology reinvention laboratory” is a DoD lab designated under section 4121.