The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity’s (IARPA) mission is to invest in high-risk/high-payoff research to tackle some of the Intelligence Community’s (IC) most difficult challenges. IARPA is not operationally focused and does not deploy technologies directly to the field. Instead, we transition next generation capabilities from our research programs to our IC customers for operational implementation.
In 2007, IARPA was stood-up in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as part of the 100-day plan establishing the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), to help address an array of national security threats, anticipate unwarranted surprise, and give the IC foresight. At that time, the IC recognized it needed an edge similar to what the Defense Department has had for so long in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)—an organization that could explore disruptive, next generation technology-based capabilities to give policymakers and military decision-makers a decisive advantage over our adversaries.
IARPA was given the specific mandate to conduct cross-community research, target new opportunities and innovations, and generate revolutionary capabilities for the IC. In fulfilling its mandate, IARPA has drawn on a range of experts’ deep knowledge in their fields.
Since its inception, IARPA has been part of several prestigious White House research efforts. For example:
- IARPA is part of the BRAIN Initiative, announced by the White House in April 2013, which supports developing and applying innovative technologies to create a dynamic understanding of brain function. Participants and project affiliates include DARPA, as well as numerous private companies, universities, and other organizations in the United States, Australia, Canada, and Denmark.
- In July 2015, IARPA was named to lead foundational research and development for the National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI). This initiative called for the accelerated development of technologies for exascale supercomputers and funding research into post-semiconductor computing. The NSCI’s intent is to preserve U.S. dominance and its leadership role in high performance computing (HPC) in the face of other nation’s advances, by supporting users, vendor companies, software developers, and researchers.
- Announced by the White House in October 2015, the Nanotechnology-Inspired Grand Challenge for Future Computing intends to help the U.S. develop transformational computing capabilities by combining innovations in multiple scientific disciplines. The Challenge sought to create a new type of computer that can proactively interpret and learn from data, solve unfamiliar problems using what it has learned, and operate with the energy efficiency of the human brain. IARPA assisted in this effort by applying what it learned from its Machine Intelligence from Cortical Networks (MICrONS) program, which aimed to close the performance gap between human analysts and automated pattern recognition systems by reverse-engineering the brain’s algorithms.
- In May 2022, in an effort to ensure continued U.S. leadership in quantum information science and its technology applications, the White House launched the National Quantum Initiative (NQI). NQI encompasses contributions from across the federal government, as exemplified by quantum information science research, development, demonstration, and training activities pursued by executive departments and agencies. In support of NQI, IARPA has been at the leading edge of quantum computing research, as evidenced by many programs, including Entangled Logical Quibits (ELQ), Logical Quibits (LogiQ), and others.
