S. 3563 — A bill to require the Secretary of Defense assess and, as appropriate, implement open technical standards for digital content provenance, and for other purposes.

This section directs the Secretary of Defense, by June 1, 2026, to develop a roadmap for potential future adoption and integration of digital content provenance capabilities (i.e., verifiable history and origin of a digital asset, including its creation, ownership, and modifications) across the Department of Defense. The roadmap must (1) identify and assess open technical standards for provenance applicable to publicly released DoD digital media; (2) identify strategic objectives, roles and responsibilities, and standardized processes for embedding and verifying content credentials; (3) outline acquisition approaches, effectiveness metrics, stakeholder engagement mechanisms, and notional milestones and resource needs by fiscal year. The section further requires the Secretary to brief the congressional defense committees on the roadmap by July 1, 2026, including initial findings on feasibility and barriers, stakeholder engagement, and planned next steps or pilots.