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S. 2113 114th Congress Senate

Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Act of 2015

Official title: A bill to harness the expertise, ingenuity, and creativity of all people to contribute to innovation in the United States and to help solve problems or scienti… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: A bill to harness the expertise, ingenuity, and creativity of all people to contribute to innovation in the United States and to help solve problems or scientific questions by encouraging and increasing the use of crowdsourcing and citizen science methods within the Federal Government, as appropriate, and for other purposes.

Introduced: September 30, 2015 Introduced by: Christopher A. Coons Democratic · Delaware See on congress.gov
Science, Technology, Communications General science and technology mattersGovernment information and archivesInternational scientific cooperationPublic participation and lobbying
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This bill died when the 114th Congress ended
It never became law before the 114th Congress (2015–2016) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Sep 30, 2015
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Sep 30, 2015
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action September 30, 2015

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Act of 2015

This bill authorizes each federal agency, or multiple federal agencies working cooperatively, to use crowdsourcing and citizen science approaches to conduct activities designed to advance the agency's mission or the joint mission of the group of agencies.

"Citizen science" means a form of open collaboration in which individuals or organizations participate in the scientific process in various ways, including developing technologies and applications and making discoveries.

"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.

Each federal agency engaged in a crowdsourcing or citizen science project shall make public and promote it to encourage broad participation of consenting participants.

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

 Related & companion bills 2
  • S 3084 American Innovation and Competitiveness Act
  • HR 6414 Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Act of 2016
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Cosponsors 2
All 2 Democratic 1 Republican 1
D
Whitehouse, Sheldon
Rhode Island · May 25, 2016
 R
Daines, Steve
Montana · Sep 30, 2015
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 2113: Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Act of 2015. 114th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-2113/
MLA
"S. 2113: Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Act of 2015." 114th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-2113/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 2113, 114th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-2113/.
Markdown link
[S. 2113: Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Act of 2015](https://openamerica.io/bill/114-S-2113/)
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