Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Sep 30, 2015
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.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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