Back in September I wrote about the conception of the Energy Department's new advanced research projects agency (ARPA-E). That agency hasn't actually been born yet (NREL's John Dickerson told me that they're still configuring it).
However, its slightly older intelligence sector cousin, IARPA, just announced the appointment of its first director, Lisa Porter. Porter's intimidating resume includes a Stanford physics Ph.D., NASA, and a stint as a senior scientist at DARPA's Advanced Technology Office (which seems to have become the Strategic Technology Office since her departure. Deduced via my primitive detective skills, i.e. noticing an automatic redirect from darpa.mil/ato/ to darpa.mil/sto/. )
According to Signal magazine, IARPA is the consolidation of the NSA’s Disruptive Technology office; the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s National Technology Alliance; and the CIA’s Intelligence Technology Innovation Center. IARPA will work with 16 intelligence agencies to develop new technologies, "such as high-speed code cracking machines and cloaking devices."
We have 16 intelligence agencies?
