History
Throughout much of the last fifty years, the CIA has operated at the cutting edge of science and technology. From the U-2 spy plane to the CORONA satellite, CIA's "wizards of Langley" earned a reputation for bold innovation and risk taking, working in advance of the private sector and other branches of government. Much of CIA's technology success was a result of identifying gaps and opportunities.
By the late 1990s, the pace of commercial IT innovation was outstripping the ability of government agencies—including the CIA—to access and incorporate the latest information technology. This commercial innovation was driven by private sector R&D investment which placed billions of dollars, and the nation's top talent, behind commercial technology development. For the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology, the information revolution was creating a new and widening gap.
In 1998, the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) identified technology as a top strategic priority, directly connecting the Agency's future technology advances to improvements in its core collection and analysis missions. The leadership of the Directorate of Science and Technology set out a radical plan to create a new venture that would help increase the Agency's access to private sector innovation.
In the tradition of the "skunk works" of the early Cold War era, the DCI called on private sector industry executives—led by former Lockheed Martin CEO Norman Augustine—to create and launch this new endeavor. In-Q-Tel was chartered in February 1999 under the leadership of the DCI and the Directorate of Science and Technology and with the support of the U.S. Congress.
Just one among a broad range of Agency efforts aimed at acquiring needed technology, In-Q-Tel was tasked with building a bridge between the Agency and a new set of technology innovators. In-Q-Tel's mission is to discover, adapt, and deliver leading edge commercial technologies that can enable the CIA’s and the broader U.S. Intelligence Community's critical intelligence work.
Learn more about the history of In-Q-Tel:
- Case Study: In-Q-Tel
by Josh Lerner, Felda Hardymon, Kevin Book, Ann Leamon
February 12, 2004
Source—Harvard Business School
- Accelerating the Acquisition and Implementation of New Technologies for Intelligence: The Report of the Independent Panel on the CIA In-Q-Tel Venture
June 2001
Source—Business Executives for National Security
- In-Q-Tel: A New Partnership Between the CIA and the Private Sector
by Rick E. Yannuzzi
Winter 2000
Source—Defense Intelligence Journal
