10 U.S.C. § 2374a : US Code - Section 2374A: Prizes for advanced technology achievements

Search 10 U.S.C. § 2374a : US Code - Section 2374A: Prizes for advanced technology achievements

(a) Authority. - The Secretary of Defense, acting through the
Director of Defense Research and Engineering and the service
acquisition executive for each military department, may carry out
programs to award cash prizes in recognition of outstanding
achievements in basic, advanced, and applied research, technology
development, and prototype development that have the potential for
application to the performance of the military missions of the
Department of Defense.
(b) Competition Requirements. - Each program under subsection (a)
shall use a competitive process for the selection of recipients of
cash prizes. The process shall include the widely-advertised
solicitation of submissions of research results, technology
developments, and prototypes.
(c) Limitations. - (1) The total amount made available for award
of cash prizes in a fiscal year may not exceed $10,000,000.
(2) No prize competition may result in the award of more than
$1,000,000 in cash prizes without the approval of the Under
Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics.
(d) Relationship to Other Authority. - A program under subsection
(a) may be carried out in conjunction with or in addition to the
exercise of any other authority of an official referred to in that
subsection to acquire, support, or stimulate basic, advanced and
applied research, technology development, or prototype projects.
(e) Annual Report. -
(1) In general. - Not later than March 1 of each year, the
Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the
Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of
Representatives a report on the activities carried out during the
preceding fiscal year under the authority in subsection (a).
(2) Information included. - The report for a fiscal year under
this subsection shall include, for each program under subsection
(a), the following:
(A) A description of the proposed goals of the competitions
established under the program, including the areas of research,
technology development, or prototype development to be promoted
by such competitions and the relationship of such areas to the
military missions of the Department of Defense.
(B) An analysis of why the utilization of the authority in
subsection (a) was the preferable method of achieving the goals
described in subparagraph (A) as opposed to other authorities
available to the Department, such as contracts, grants, and
cooperative agreements.
(C) The total amount of cash prizes awarded under the
program, including a description of the manner in which the
amounts of cash prizes awarded and claimed were allocated among
the accounts of the Department for recording as obligations and
expenditures.
(D) The methods used for the solicitation and evaluation of
submissions under the program, together with an assessment of
the effectiveness of such methods.
(E) A description of the resources, including personnel and
funding, used in the execution of the program, together with a
detailed description of the activities for which such resources
were used and an accounting of how funding for execution was
allocated among the accounts of the Department for recording as
obligations and expenditures.
(F) A description of any plans to transition the technologies
or prototypes developed as a result of the program into an
acquisition program of the Department.
(3) Suspension of authority for failure to include information.
- For each program under subsection (a), the authority to
obligate or expend funds under that program is suspended as of
the date specified in paragraph (1) if the Secretary does not, by
that date, submit a report that includes, for that program, all
the information required by paragraph (2). As of the date on
which the Secretary does submit a report that includes, for that
program, all the information required by paragraph (2), the
suspension is lifted.
(f) Period of Authority. - The authority to award prizes under
subsection (a) shall terminate at the end of September 30, 2010.