TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle A—Acquisition Policy and Management.

P. L. 118-31

SEC. 806. PRINCIPAL TECHNOLOGY TRANSITION ADVISOR.

 (a) Designation.--Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, each service acquisition executive of a military department shall designate a Principal Technology Transition Advisor who shall advise each Secretary of a military department on the transition of technologies, including technologies from science and technology programs of the Department, private commercial entities, research institutions, and universities, to fulfill identified and potential warfighter requirements for the military department.

 (b) Advisor Status.--The Principal Technology Transition Advisor of a military department designated under subsection (a) shall be a member of the Senior Executive Service or a general officer and directly
report to the service acquisition executive of such military department.

 (c) Responsibilities.--The Principal Technology Transition Advisor of a military department designated under subsection (a) shall do the following:

 (1) Identify technologies being researched, developed, tested, or evaluated by science and technology programs of the Department, including Defense research facilities (as defined in section 4125(b) of title 10, United States Code), that the military department may use to meet identified and potential warfighter requirements, including technologies for which the Department owns and maintains the intellectual property rights.

 (2) Consult with Department of Defense innovation programs to identify technologies from private commercial entities, research institutions, universities, and other entities that the military department may use to meet identified and potential warfighter requirements.

 (3) Make recommendations to the service acquisition executive of the military department regarding the acquisition of technologies identified under paragraphs (1) and (2) for acquisition decisions  at the service acquisition executive level.

 (4) Inform program managers (as defined in section 1737 of title 10, United States Code) and other relevant acquisition officials of the military department of relevant technologies identified under paragraphs (1) and (2).

 (5) Develop policies and processes for promoting to small business concerns (as defined under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)) and nontraditional defense contractors (as defined in section 3014 of title 10, United States Code) opportunities to license intellectual property developed by the Department, including opportunities and methods for small business concerns and nontraditional defense contractors to engage with the Department regarding such licensing.

 (6) Develop and maintain metrics tracking the outcomes of projects and other activities of the military department for which the military department expended amounts designated as budget activity 3 (Advanced Technology Development), budget activity 4 (Advanced Component Development and Prototypes), and budget activity 5 (System Development and Demonstration), as those budget activity classifications are set forth in volume 2B, chapter 5 of the Department of Defense Financial Management Regulation (DOD 7000.14-R).

 (d) Congressional Report.--Not later than one year after the designation of the Principal Technology Transition Advisor of a military department under subsection (a), and annually thereafter, the Principal Technology Transition Advisor of such military department shall submit to Congress a report on the following for the one-year period preceding the submission of the report:

 (1) The activities of the Principal Technology Transition Advisor.

 (2) The outcomes of projects and other activities described in subsection (c)(6), including the metrics described in such subsection.

 (e) Definitions.--In this section--

 (1) the term ``Department'' means the Department of Defense;

 (2) the term ``Department of Defense innovation programs'' means the Defense Innovation Unit of the Department of Defense, AFWERX of the Air Force, and other programs sponsored by the Department of Defense, or any component thereof, with a focus on accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies for mission-relevant applications or innovation; and

 (3) the terms ``military department'' and ``service acquisition executive'' have the meanings given such terms in section 101(a)of title 10, United States Code. 

Sec. 806--Principal Technology Transition Advisor

The House bill contained a provision (sec. 803) that would require each military department to designate a senior civilian official to serve as an advisor to help transition technology from the science and technology ecosystem to programs of record within the services.

The Senate amendment contained no similar provision.

The Senate recedes with a clarifying amendment.

H. Rept. 118-125

Section 803--Principal Technology Transition Advisor

This section would require each military department to designate a senior civilian official to serve as an advisor to help transition technology from the science and technology ecosystem to programs of record within the services.