§ 10305 — Establishment And Expansion Of Regional Technology Officer Program

(1) The Secretary shall establish a program, which shall be known as the “Regional Technology Officer Program” (referred to in this section as the “Program”), and shall be administered by the Bureau for Cyberspace and Digital Policy. (2) The goals of the Program shall include the following: (A) Promoting United States leadership in technology abroad. (B) Working with partners to increase the deployment of critical and emerging technology in support of democratic values. (C) Shaping diplomatic agreements in regional and international fora with respect to critical and emerging technologies. (D) Building diplomatic capacity for handling critical and emerging technology issues. (E) Facilitating the role of critical and emerging technology in advancing the foreign policy objectives of the United States through engagement with research labs, incubators, and venture capitalists. (F) Maintaining the advantages of the United States with respect to critical and emerging technologies. (b) Not later than 180 days after December 23, 2022, the Secretary shall submit an implementation plan to the appropriate congressional committees that outlines strategies for— (1) advancing the goals described in subsection (a)(2); (2) hiring Regional Technology Officers and increasing the competitiveness of the Program within the Foreign Service bidding process; (3) expanding the Program to include a minimum of 15 Regional Technology Officers; and (4) assigning not fewer than 2 Regional Technology Officers to posts within— (A) each regional bureau of the Department; and (B) the Bureau of International Organization Affairs. (c) Not later than 180 days after December 23, 2022, and annually thereafter for the following 5 years, the Secretary shall brief the appropriate congressional committees regarding the status of the implementation plan required under subsection (b). (d) There is authorized to be appropriated up to $25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2023 through 2027 to carry out this section.