HR-6414 : Still Just a Bill

Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Act of 2016

This bill authorizes executive agencies to: (1) use crowdsourcing and citizen science approaches to conduct activities designed to advance their missions, (2) accept volunteer services performed as part of a crowdsourcing or citizen science project, and (3) enter into an agreement to share administrative duties for such activities with private sector entities or state, tribal, local, or foreign government agencies.

"Citizen science" means a form of open collaboration in which individuals or organizations participate in the scientific process. "Crowdsourcing" means a method to obtain needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting voluntary contributions from a group of individuals or organizations, especially from an online community.

Agencies shall: (1) make public and promote such projects to encourage broad participation of consenting participants, and (2) endeavor to make data collected through such projects open and available, in machine readable formats, to the public.

The General Services Administration shall identify and develop relevant products, training, and services to facilitate the use of crowdsourcing and citizen science activities.