DARPA's Strategy For the Coming Years

 DARPA  

In a recent Pentagon media briefing, DARPA Director Dr. Arati Prabhakar explained what the Agency does for the U.S., how it does it, how it thinks about its mission in the context of today’s realities, and the future that it’s building by creating the next generation of technology to give Defense leaders more options for tomorrow’s missions. She mentions innovations in cyber warfare, electronic warfare, position navigation and timing beyond GPS, new technology from biological sciences, and big-data analytics ad examples of these options.

During a recent media briefing, the DARPA Director, Arati Prabhakar, discussed what the Agency does, how it does it, how it thinks about its mission in the context of today's realities and the future that it's building by creating the next generation of technology.

Today DARPA is involved with cutting edge artificial intelligence, robotics, space,  and nanotechnologies — all of which are components of Kurzweil's technological Singularity.

According to Prabhkar, and outlined in a Framework Document released by DARPA, the mission of the agency is, to drive technological surprise and superiority so U.S. security capabilities remain second to none in a rapidly changing world.   More succinctly this means a new generation of warfare technology that will leapfrog other countries.

DARPA Today 

• Estimated budget of $2.865 billion in FY 2013 [estimated budget of $2.663 billion in FY 2013 under sequestration] 

• 210 Government employees, including 95 technical program managers 

• 250 programs across 5 technology offices  

Three major trends have been forecast that will impact DARPA's actions over the coming years:  extended national security threats from a wide range of actors (including terrorists, rogue nations and even individuals); technologies growing exponentially and becoming more widely distributed (the US does not even make some of the technologies it currently relies on); and fiscal constraints on national security over the long term (not including the recent eight percent sequestration cuts).

DARPA's Micro-PNT program is developing technology for self-contained, chip-scale inertial navigation and precision guidance. 

Dr. Arati Prabhakar has spent her career investing in world-class engineers and scientists to create new technologies and businesses. Her first service to national security started in 1986 when she joined DARPA as a program manager. She initiated and managed programs in advanced semiconductor technology and flexible manufacturing, as well as demonstration projects to insert new semiconductor technologies into military systems. As the founding director of DARPA’s Microelectronics Technology Office, she led a team of program managers whose efforts spanned these areas, as well as optoelectronics, infrared imaging and nanoelectronics.

Related articles The What, Why, How, Who and When of the DARPA Robotics Challenge  DARPA Out To Make AI Smarter and Easier To Work With  DARPA Looks To New Form Of Computation That Mimics The Human Brain

In 1993, President William Clinton appointed Dr. Prabhakar director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where she led the 3,000-person organization in its work with companies across multiple industries.

Dr. Prabhakar moved to Silicon Valley in 1997, first as chief technology officer and senior vice president at Raychem, and later vice president and then president of Interval Research. From 2001 to 2011, she was a partner with U.S. Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm. Dr. Prabhakar identified and served as a director for startup companies with the promise of significant growth. She worked with entrepreneurs in energy and efficiency technologies, components for consumer electronics, and semiconductor process and design technology.

Dr. Prabhakar received her Doctor of Philosophy in applied physics and Master of Science in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology. She received her Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Texas Tech University. She began her career as a Congressional Fellow at the Office of Technology Assessment.

Dr. Prabhakar has served in recent years on the National Academies’ Science Technology and Economic Policy Board, the College of Engineering Advisory Board at the University of California, Berkeley, and the red team of DARPA’s Defense Sciences Research Council. In addition, she chaired the Efficiency and Renewables Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of Energy. Dr. Prabhakar is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a Texas Tech Distinguished Engineer, and a Caltech Distinguished Alumna.


SOURCE  DARPA

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