In-Q-It, Inc.
In-Q-It, Inc., according to a Central Intelligence Agency press release dated September 29, 1999, was the result of a partnership between the existing company In-Q-It and the CIA "to Find Leading-Edge Technology Solutions ... to Solve Problems of Joint Interest":
WASHINGTON, DC - To ensure that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) remains at the cutting-edge of information technology advances and capabilities, the Director of Central Intelligence, George J. Tenet, today joined Gilman G. Louie, President and CEO of In-Q-It, and Lee A. Ault, III, Chairman of In-Q-It's Board of Trustees, in announcing the official launch of In-Q-It, Inc., a private, independent, non-profit corporation that will network and develop partnerships with information technology leaders in industry and academia to work on projects of mutual interest to both the CIA and the commercial marketplace.
"In many ways, the needs of the business and the CIA are quickly converging," said Louie, the former Chief Creative Officer of Hasbro Interactive, Inc. "As these two entities look for ways to find answers to similar problems, In-Q-It will work to be the bridge that will allow our brightest minds to work on some of our nation's toughest problems to foster creativity."
DCI Tenet added: "The rapid and unprecedented pace of technological change and the evolution of our national security environment dictates a change in the way the intelligence community does business. In-Q-It answers this challenge by creating an innovative engine for the community to work together with individuals, industry and academia to explore new and unconventional approaches to common problems."
"In-Q-It is revolutionary in that, although In-Q-It will work with CIA, it is not tied to the CIA's organizational style and structure," continued Louie. "Because In-Q-It is a private company, we will be able to work in Internet time and structure ourselves in a manner that will be familiar to many of the information technology companies we hope to attract as partners."
The initial work program will target four areas: use of the Internet, information security, knowledge generation, and distributed architectures.
"The CIA is not the only entity looking for answers to these problems," added Ault. "Our challenge will be to reach out to the information technology community and work with them to develop tools jointly to solve these challenges for the benefit of our country, our companies, and our citizens."
In-Q-It's efforts will be overseen by a Board of Trustees made up of leading members of the business and academic communities. In addition to Ault, former chairman and CEO of Telecredit, Inc., other members of the board include: Norm R. Augustine, former Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin; John Seely Brown, Chief Scientist, Xerox Corporation and President, Xerox PARC Research Center; Michael Crow, Executive Vice Provost of Columbia University; Stephen Friedman, Senior Principal of Marsh & McLennan Capital, Inc., and former Chairman of Goldman Sachs and Co.; Paul G. Kaminski, President and CEO of Technovation, Inc., Senior Partner in Global Technology Partners, LLC and former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology; Jeong Kim, President of Carrier Network, part of the Lucent Technologies Corporation, and former founder of Yurie Systems; John McMahon, consultant to the Lockheed Martin Corporation and a former Deputy Director of Central Intelligence; Alex Mandl, Chairman and CEO of Teligent; and William J. Perry, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, the Michael and Barbara Berberian Professor at Stanford University with a joint appointment in the Department of Engineering-Economic Systems/Operations Research and the Institute for International Studies, and a former Secretary of Defense.
Jody R. Westby, former Senior Fellow and Director, Information Technology Studies at The Progress & Freedom Foundation and Director, Domestic Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is In-Q-It's Chief Administrative Officer and Counsel.
In-Q-It is based in Washington, DC, and expects to open an office in Silicon Valley in November 1999.
In-Q-Tel is a Private Government Corporation, designated as a private, "non-profit enterprise funded by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Their mission is to identify and invest in cutting edge information technology (IT) solutions that serve U.S. national interests. Working from an evolving strategic blueprint that defines the agency's most pressing needs, In-Q-Tel connects with entrepreneurs, established companies, universities, researchers, and venture capitalists to develop technologies that pay out in superior intelligence capabilities. In-Q-Tel provides a source of capital, technical and operational expertise, a beta/prototyping site with 'power users', a fast track to commercialization, and a potential source of revenue." [1]
