DARPA & Technology Advancement (Resp. to Internet..)

["Shashi Shekhar" <yossarin@hotmail.com>]

Hi

I was seeing the debate on Military Needs fuelling technological
Advancements. A few words on DARPA DARPA - Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency, is the prime vehicle  of technical research which is
Next Generation. They have a very clear  focus, anticipate future
defense needs, take up technology projects with high risk with the
underlying theme that if such a project clicks the pay-offs and
spin-offs from it are huge.

DARPA incidentally has compiled a voluminous document, its a huge 2Mb
PDF file avalable for public reading on their web-site. The URL is
http://www.darpa.mil/acrobat/transition.pdf

Published January, 1997, the study chronicles the process by which DARPA
technologies and concepts have transitioned into military capabilities
for U.S. forces.  (1635k .pdf Format)

It compiles mostly military use technologies, but there is one section
which is of particular interest in this document. It is the section on
Informatio Technology. It lists out projects taken up which had DUAL USE
and transitioned to industry as well as military use. And it is amazing
note that almost every and any PARADIGM SHIFT IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
from VLSI to TCP/IP was an idea first FUNDED by DARPA and then exploited
by industry.

A rather MACABRE fact that THE DEFENSE NEEDS or rather THE SECURITY
PARANOIA of the most powerful nation on earth has to be high to fund
high risk research projects which actually drive technology advancement.

cheers
shashi


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the National Debate on System Reform.       debate@indiapolicy.org
Rules, Procedures, Archives:            ../debate/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------