113 S2502 IS: Global Development Lab Act of 2014
U.S. Senate
2014-06-19
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EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.
This Act may be cited as the Global Development Lab Act of 2014
.
2.
In this Act:
(1)
The term Administrator means the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.
(2)
The term Lab means the United States Global Development Lab established under section 4.
(3)
The term USAID means the United States Agency for International Development.
3.
Congress finds the following:
(1)
Leveraging academic research and private sector expertise to effectively apply science and
technology to United States foreign aid can increase the effectiveness of
United States aid dollars and lead to better outcomes.
(2)
In the last 20 years, human ingenuity and entrepreneurship around the world has reduced child
mortality rates by 42 percent and poverty rates by 52 percent, lifting
hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.
(3)
Over the next 40 years, the developing world is expected to be the largest source of product and
services growth. Breakthroughs pioneered for the developing world can
translate into jobs and economic growth in the United States.
(4)
In 2014 the Office of Science and Technology and the Office of Innovation and Development
Alliances at the United States Agency for International Development were
abolished to pave the way to bring their staffing and other resources into
the United States Global Development Lab.
(5)
The Lab represents a new approach to invest, test, and apply more effective solutions to humanity’s
greatest challenges.
(6)
The Lab will partner with entrepreneurs, experts, nongovernmental organizations, universities, and
science and research institutions to solve development challenges in a
faster, more cost-efficient, and more sustainable way.
(7)
The Lab will utilize a pay-for-success model, which uses science, technology, and innovation-driven
competitions to expand the number and diversity of solutions to
development challenges.
(8)
In contrast with traditional grants or contracts, where USAID pays for a proposal to be
implemented, pay-for-success awards are given to a winner only after the
objectives of the competition have been achieved.
(9)
Expanding pay-for-success authority to allow the Lab to use these awards globally will increase the
number of high value solutions to choose from at a significantly reduced
cost.
4.
United States Global Development Lab
(a)
There is established in USAID an entity to be known as the United States Global Development Lab.
(b)
Duties and responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities of the Lab should include—
(1)
increasing the application of science, technology, innovation, and partnerships to develop and
scale
new solutions to end extreme poverty;
(2)
discovering, testing, and scaling development innovations to solve development challenges to
increase cost effectiveness and support United States foreign policy and
development goals;
(3)
leveraging the expertise, resources, and investment of businesses, nongovernmental organizations,
science and research organizations, and universities to increase program
impact and sustainability;
(4)
utilizing innovation-driven competitions to expand the number and diversity of solutions to
development challenges; and
(5)
supporting USAID missions and bureaus in applying science, technology, innovation, and partnership
approaches to decisionmaking, procurement, and program design.
(c)
(1)
In carrying out the duties and responsibilities of the Lab under subsection (b), the Administrator
may, in addition to such other authorities as may be available to the
Administrator—
(A)
use not more than $15,000,000 of funds appropriated or otherwise made available by an Act making
appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and
related programs under the heading Development Assistance
for any fiscal year for the provision of grants that are focused on science, technology, or
innovation and designed to improve health outcomes;
(B)
make awards in accordance with section 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980
(15 U.S.C. 3719), except that foreign citizens and foreign private
entities may be eligible for such prizes notwithstanding the eligibility
requirements of subsection (g) of such section; and
(C)
if the authority to appoint individuals on a limited term basis pursuant to schedule A or B of
subpart C of part 213 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, is
authorized for the Lab by the Office of Personnel Management, use funds
appropriated to carry out part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22
U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) for the employment of not more than 30 of such
individuals.
(2)
(A)
In carrying out the duties and responsibilities of the Lab under subsection (b), the Administrator
may provide that a cooperative agreement or other transaction for
performance of basic, applied, or advanced research entered into between
USAID and a person or other entity include a clause that requires the
person or other entity to return to USAID program income generated under
the agreement or other transaction.
(B)
(i)
The amount of any program income returned to USAID pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be credited
to the account from which the obligation and expenditure of funds under
the cooperative agreement or other transaction described in subparagraph
(A) was made.
(ii)
(I)
Except as provided in subclause (II), amounts returned and credited to an account under clause (i)—
-
(aa)
shall be merged with other funds in the account; and
-
(bb)
shall be available for the same purposes and period of time for which other funds in the account
are available for programs and activities of the Lab.
(II)
Amounts returned and credited to an account under clause (i) may not be used to pay for the
employment of individuals described in paragraph (1)(C).