§195e Transparency in Research and Development

Summary

The Secretary must keep a detailed list of all classified and unclassified research and development projects, plus task orders for Federally Funded Research and Development Centers and university centers that are not tied to a specific R&D project. The list must also include the indicators the Under Secretary for Science and Technology uses to track projects that have moved into use. Projects finished or ended before December 23, 2016 do not need to be listed. The list must be updated as often as possible, but at least once each quarter. The Secretary must also provide a definition of "research and development" for the list. By January 1, 2017 and every year after, the Secretary must send classified and unclassified reports, as appropriate, to the House Committee on Homeland Security and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that list each ongoing project and its details. For projects moved from research into practice, the Under Secretary must create and track measures showing if customers or end users adopt the work, and tracking should continue as much as possible for three years after the project is transitioned. Definitions provided include: "all appropriate details" (basic project facts like name, component, summary, funding, timeline, partners, goals, and related papers or patents), "classified" (national security information such as Restricted Data, SCI, or special access program material), "controlled unclassified information" (information labeled under Executive Order 13556), and "project" (any Department research or development activity, ongoing or completed). Nothing here overrides the rules in section 468 of this title.