[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4508 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4508

 To authorize a pilot program to explore the use of consumption-based 
    solutions to address software-intensive warfighting capability.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 6, 2020

  Mr. Rounds introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
              referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize a pilot program to explore the use of consumption-based 
    solutions to address software-intensive warfighting capability.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Warfighting Software Enhancement Act 
of 2020''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM EXPLORING THE USE OF CONSUMPTION-BASED SOLUTIONS 
              TO ADDRESS SOFTWARE-INTENSIVE WARFIGHTING CAPABILITY.

    (a) Finding.--In its final report, the Section 809 Panel 
recommended the adoption of consumption-based approaches at the 
Department of Defense, stating, ``More things will be sold as a service 
in the future. XaaS could really mean everything in the context of the 
Internet of things (IoT). Consumption-based solutions are appearing in 
many industry sectors, from last mile transportation (e.g., bike shares 
and electric scooters) to agriculture (e.g., tractor-as-a-service for 
farmers in developing countries). Most smart phone users are familiar 
with software updates that provide bug fixes or new features. A more 
extreme example of technology innovation enabled by the IoT is the 
ability to deliver physical performance improvements to vehicles 
through over-the-air software updates . . . In the not-so-distant 
future, cloud computing and the IoT will enable consumption-based 
solution offerings and delivery models that are hard to imagine 
today.''
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress--
            (1) that the Department of Defense should take advantage of 
        ``as-a-service'' or ``aaS'' approaches in commercial capability 
        development, particularly where the capability is software-
        defined, and cloud-enabled;
            (2) to support the Department of Defense's commitment to 
        new approaches to development and acquisition of software;
            (3) that the Department should explore a variety of 
        approaches, to include the use of consumption-based solutions 
        for software-intensive warfighting capability; and
            (4) that, in conducting activities under the pilot program 
        established under this program, the Department should use the 
        Software pathway under the new Adaptive Acquisition Framework.
    (c) In General.--Subject to the availability of appropriations, the 
Secretary of Defense is authorized to establish a pilot program to 
explore the use of consumption-based solutions to address software-
intensive warfighting capability.
    (d) Selection of Initiatives.--The Secretary of each military 
department and the commander of each combatant command with acquisition 
authority shall propose for selection by the Secretary of Defense for 
the pilot program at least one and not more than three initiatives that 
are well-suited to explore consumption-based solutions to address 
software-intensive warfighting capability. The initiatives may be new 
or existing programs of record and shall focus on software-defined or 
machine-enabled warfighting applications, and may include applications 
that--
            (1) rapidly analyze sensor data;
            (2) secure warfighter networks, including multi-level 
        security;
            (3) swiftly transport information across various networks 
        and network modalities; or
            (4) otherwise enable joint all-domain operational concepts, 
        including in a contested environment.
    (e) Contract Requirements.--Contracts for consumption-based 
solutions entered into pursuant to the pilot program shall provide 
for--
            (1) the solution to be measurable on a frequent interval 
        customary for the type of solution;
            (2) the contractor to notify the government when 
        consumption reaches 75 percent and 90 percent of the contract 
        funded amount; and
            (3) discretion for the contracting officer to add new 
        features or capabilities without additional competition for the 
        contract, provided that the amount of the new features or 
        capabilities does not exceed 25 percent of the total contract 
        value.
    (f) Duration of Initiatives.--Each initiative carried out under the 
pilot program shall be carried out during the three-year period 
following selection of the initiative.
    (g) Monitoring and Evaluation of Pilot Program.--The Director of 
the Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation shall establish 
continuous monitoring to evaluate the pilot program established under 
subsection (c), including collecting data on cost, schedule, and 
performance from the program office, the user community, and the 
contractors.
    (h) Reports.--
            (1) Initial report.--Not later than January 31, 2021, the 
        Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense 
        committees a report on initiatives selected for the pilot 
        program, roles and responsibilities for implementing the pilot 
        program, and the monitoring and evaluation approach for the 
        pilot.
            (2) Progress report.--Not later than April 15, 2021, the 
        Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense 
        committees a report on the progress of the initiatives.
            (3) Final report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall 
        submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the 
        cost, schedule, and performance outcomes of the initiatives. 
        The report shall also include lessons learned about the use of 
        consumption-based solutions for software-intensive capabilities 
        and any recommendations for statutory or regulatory changes to 
        facilitate their use.
    (i) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Congressional defense committees.--The term 
        ``congressional defense committees'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code.
            (2) Consumption-based solution.--The term ``consumption-
        based solution'' means any combination of software, hardware or 
        equipment, and labor or services that provides a seamless 
        capability that is metered and billed based on actual usage and 
        predetermined pricing per resource unit, and includes the 
        ability to rapidly scale capacity up or down.
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