DARPA is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for developing innovative technologies for use by the military. The agency was founded in 1958 in response to the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik, and its name originally stood for “Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.” Today, DARPA’s mission is “to maintain the technological superiority of the U.S. military.”
DARPA has been responsible for developing many technologies that have significantly impacted society, including GPS, stealth aircraft technology, and the internet. The agency also funds research into artificial intelligence and robotics to create technologies that can be used to defend against future threats.
Telecom is one area where DARPA has had a significant impact. For example, the agency funded early packet-switching research, laying the foundation for modern internet protocols such as TCP/IP. DARPA also supported the development of ARPANET, which was one of the first wide-area computer networks (and which later became part of today’s internet).