Sec. 520. Establishment and expansion of the Regional Technology Officer Program
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The Secretary should establish a program to be known as the Regional Technology Officer Program . The goals of the Program shall be— to promote United States leadership in technology abroad; to work with partners to energize critical and emerging technology ecosystems that support democratic values; to shape diplomatic agreements in regional and international forums with respect to critical and emerging technologies; to build diplomatic post capacities for handling critical and emerging technology issues; to engage with non-traditional stakeholders that facilitate the growth of critical and emerging technology, including research labs, incubators, and venture capitalists; and to maintain the advantages of the United States with respect to critical and emerging technologies.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees an implementation plan, which shall outline strategies— to advance the goals described in subsection (a)(2); to hire Regional Technology Officers and increase the competitiveness for the Program within the Foreign Service bidding process; to expand the Program to include a minimum of 15 Regional Technology Officers; and to assign not fewer than 2 Regional Technology Officers to posts within— the Bureau of African Affairs; the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs; the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs; the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs; the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs; the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs; and the Bureau of International Organization Affairs.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for the following 5 years, the Secretary shall brief the appropriate congressional committees on the status of the implementation plan required by subsection (b). There is authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027 to carry out this section.