Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

Government agency charged with maintaining the U.S. lead in military science and technology. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was established in 1958 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in response to the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik. The Sputnik launch, which put the world's first artificial satellite into orbit, fueled fears among U.S. leaders that the Soviets were pulling ahead in the race for technological superiority.

The early work of DARPA focused on satellites, space science, nuclear test detection, and ballistic missile defense. It later branched out into materials technology and other forms of advanced research. DARPA research laid the foundations for some of the most important tools of U.S. national security, including the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the stealth technology used by the F-117A fighter aircraft. DARPA is perhaps best known for its efforts in the field of information technology. In 1969, the agency (at the time known simply as the Advanced Research Projects Agency, or ARPA) developed the world's first computer network, known as ARPANET. The precursor to today's Internet, ARPANET was created to enable researchers in U.S. universities and government agencies to share information and ideas instantaneously. Aware of the tremendous importance of scientific research for military and national-security matters, the government wanted to ensure the freest possible flow of ideas within the U.S. scientific establishment. The technologies that went into the creation and perfection of ARPANET became the backbone of today's Internet.

More recently, DARPA researchers have worked on two controversial information-technology projects related to the nation's increased focus on terrorism and national security: FutureMAP and Total Information Awareness (TIA). FutureMAP was conceived as a marketplace for speculating on the probability of terrorist activities. Experts would be asked to invest in virtual shares of stock representing the likelihood of different types of terrorist activity. The more shares of a particular activity the experts bought, the more likely they felt the activity would be to occur. By studying which activities attracted the most investment, government officials hoped to anticipate probable terrorist targets. The program was canceled in July 2003 under increasing pressure from many members of Congress.

Total Information Awareness was a program first conceived in 1984 during the administration of President Ronald Reagan. The program encompassed an ambitious and controversial effort to create a massive database, populated with a wide variety of information on individuals and their transactions, that could help capture the information signature of potential terrorists. In 2003, the program changed names to Terrorism Information Awareness (TIA). Concerned about possible invasion-of-privacy issues with the program, Congress terminated TIA in 2003.

Other ongoing and noteworthy DARPA efforts include extreme miniaturization research (nanotechnology), automated robotic vehicles, chemical and biological weapons sensors, advanced armor, an atomic clock, and many other cutting-edge projects. These initiatives continue the original mission of ARPA to maintain U.S. technological superiority over rivals. Nevertheless, many of DARPA's efforts, such as the Internet and GPS, have provided substantial nonmilitary benefits for all nations.