Disruptive Technology Office

The Disruptive Technologies Office, or DTO, is a funding agency within the United States Intelligence Community. It had until recently been known as Advanced Research and Development Activity (ARDA).

ARDA was created in 1998 after the model of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) by the Director of Central Intelligence and the Department of Defense, and took responsibility for funding some of DARPA's projects. ARDA evaluates proposals and funds speculative research, particularly in the fields of data mining, video processing, and quantum computing.

Although ARDA's budget is presumably classified as part of the intelligence budget, the New York Times quoted an unnamed former government official saying the agency spent about $100 million a year in 2003. The Associated Press reports that ARDA had a staff of only eight in 2004.

Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland, site of the headquarters of the National Security Agency, ARDA/DTO has kept a low profile, quietly funding research of interest to the intelligence community.

References

• Hightower, Jim. Who's Spying on Us? Rumsfeld's Pentagon Takes the Lead" Hightower Lowdown, 24 May 2006.

• Markoff, John. Experts Say Technology Is Widely Disseminated Inside and Outside Military" New York Times 21 May, 2003.

• Jackson, William. Intelligence community seeks protection from inside threats GCN.com. 12 January 2004

• Sniffen, Miachel J. "U.S. High-Tech Spy Agency Has Low Profile Associated Press 22 February 2004.

• Sniffen, Miachel J. "Controversial terror research lives on at other agencies despite closing of Pentagon office Associated Press. 23 Freburary 2004.

• Sniffen, Miachel J. "Privacy Safeguards Quietly Killed Associated Press 15 March 2005.

• Regan, Tom. Report: NSA continues controversial data-mining program Christian Science Monitor. 26 February 2006.

External links

• ARDA's website, taken down in 2005 (courtesy of the Wayback Machine)