Homeland Security R&D Plans Outlined The Department of Homeland Security’s Advanced Research Projects Agency is usually described as a civilian version of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as DARPA. Wrong, says the director of HSARPA, David Bolka. “We are not DARPA,” he said at a Nov. 10 conference in Washington sponsored by Equity International. “We wish we had a different title.” The difference: While DARPA concentrates on cutting-edge, long-range research and development, HSARPA looks to develop technologies that are ready now, or soon will be. Bolka said up to 90% of HSARPA’s $874 million budget for this year will be spent on “current or emerging requirements.” Only 10% to 15% will go to what he called “blue-sky” R&D. He said HSARPA’s mission is to find technologies that are ready for deployment and take them to the prototype stage. The law creating the new department gives HSARPA a wide range of contracting vehicles, from grants to “other transactions” that are exempt from some Federal Acquisition Regulation rules. Bolka said “other transactions” are aimed at “small companies…who don’t have hordes of accountants” to comply with the FAR. For companies worrying about intellectual property rights, he said, “We can craft customized data rights clauses.” In September HSARPA asked for ideas for protection from chemical and biological weapons. The announcement drew more than 500 white papers, including “some real nuggets,” Bolka said. But he added that many of the responses were offering technologies for some other purpose. He urged companies to read HSARPA’s announcements and give the agency what it asks for, not what you think it should have. It might also help to say the agency’s name the way its people say it: “H-Sarpa,” not “H-S-Arpa.”