INFORMATION & COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

The Information and Communications Technology Program Element is budgeted in the Applied Research budget activity because it is directed toward the application of advanced, innovative computing systems and communications technologies. This Program Element also supports innovation and robust transition planning in the technology cycle by working with entrepreneurs to increase the likelihood that DARPA funded technologies take root in the U.S. and provide new capabilities for national defense. The High Productivity, High-Performance Responsive Architectures project focuses on developing the computer hardware and associated software technologies required for future computationally- and data-intensive national security applications. Powerful new approaches are needed to manage the rapid growth in available sensor data, to leverage advances in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, and to maintain the security of DoD information systems. The project therefore aims not only to create new computing platforms to include quantum technology, but also to efficiently extract information out of large and chaotic data sets with embedded and low-size, weight, and power systems. Advances in these areas will allow for DoD electronic systems to collaboratively manage scarce resources, such as the electromagnetic spectrum, and to adapt to new requirements and situations. Further, the resulting technologies, by being accessible to a wide range of application developers, will support new, sustainable computing systems for a broad spectrum of scientific and engineering applications. The Cyber Security project is developing the computing, networking, and cyber security technologies required to protect DoD, U.S. government, and U.S. civilian information, information infrastructure, and mission-critical information systems. Information technologies enable important new military capabilities and drive the productivity gains essential to U.S. industry. Meanwhile, cyber threats grow in sophistication and number, and put sensitive data, classified computer programs, mission-critical information systems, and U.S. economic competitiveness at risk. The technologies developed in this project will enhance the resilience of information systems to current and emerging cyber threats, enable broad situational awareness of the cyber domain, and provide the basis for accurate, calibrated, and safe cyber response. The Artificial Intelligence and Human-Machine Symbiosis project develops technologies to enable machines to function not only as tools that facilitate human action but as trusted partners to human operators. Of particular interest are systems that can understand human speech and extract information contained in diverse media; answer questions, reach conclusions, and propose explanations; and learn, reason, and apply knowledge gained through experience to respond intelligently to new and unforeseen events. Enabling computing systems with such human-like intelligence is now of critical importance because the tempo of military operations in emerging domains exceeds that at which unaided humans can orient, understand, and act. The technologies developed in the Artificial Intelligence and Human-Machine Symbiosis project will enable warfighters to make better decisions in complex, time-critical, battlefield environments; intelligence analysts to make sense of massive, incomplete, and contradictory information; software developers and certifiers to design, implement, evaluate, and accredit cyber-physical systems and other complex software-reliant systems with greater efficiency and confidence; and unmanned systems and semi-autonomous agents to perform critical missions in contested physical and virtual environments safely and reliably.

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Document Details

Document Type
R2 Budgetary Justification
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2023
Source ID
0602303E_2_0400_PB_2023
Change Summary Explanation
FY 2021: Decrease reflects reprogrammings and SBIR/STTR transfer. FY 2022: Increase reflects Congressional adds for Quantum Computing Acceleration and AI, Cyber, Data Analytics. FY 2023: FY 2023 funding increase reflects the fact that the FY 2022 President's Budget request did not include out-year funding.
Service Agency Name
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

Entities

Organizations

  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • Cyber
  • Electronic Warfare
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computational Science
  • Computer Languages
  • Computer Network Security
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Control Systems
  • Cyberattacks
  • Cyberspace Operations
  • Information Systems
  • Machine Learning
  • National Security
  • Neural Networks
  • Psychology
  • Systems Engineering
  • Unmanned Systems

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Cybersecurity.
  • Distributed Systems and Data Platform Development
  • Team-Based Human-Centered Cognitive Task Decision Making and Information Performance.

Technology Areas

  • AI & ML
  • AI & ML - DoD AI Strategy
  • Autonomy
  • Cyber
  • Microelectronics
  • Quantum Computing

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