DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, was at Albany NanoTech Thursday to introduce industry research leaders to various funding opportunities the agency can provide for tech projects through a popup called DARPAConnect.

DARPA is a research and development arm of the U.S. Department of Defense responsible for developing technology for the U.S. military.

Initially created by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1958 in response to the launch of Sputnik the year prior, Matt Turek, deputy director of DARPA’s Information Innovation Office, told Spectrum News 1 the organization it is still working to keep up with the most up-to-date solutions.

“One is actually proficient artificial intelligence, so can we get to AI systems where you can credibly bet your life on an AI system’s decision, and not have that be a fooling thing to do,” he said.

Explaining that sometimes there is a reluctance for academia and the private sector to engage with government agencies on projects, Andrew Detor, program manager at DARPA, said they are at Albany NanoTech to bridge that gap by making connections with innovators.

“DARPA does not work in a vacuum,” he said. “It takes an effort of people all over the country to come up with those new and innovative ideas and we are here to really explain to people that process and to really work with us.”

David Anderson, president of NY CREATES, stressed the partnership will ideally connect the organization’s large network of resources with future funding opportunities through DARPA.

“As they put out proposals for new opportunities, we feel that local academic institutions as well as the startups in the region as well as small businesses will be able to participate,” he said.

Turek emphasized the agency wouldn’t be able to do the work that they do without such innovators.

“We really want to engage with that community as broadly as possible so we find those transformative, surprising ideas,” he said.