Technological Innovation as an Evolutionary Process
Communication to In-Q-Tel
3/29/2004
9:03 AM
Mr Gilman Louie
CEO In-Q-Tel
Mr Louie
I hope that you might have some time to speak with me and to complete an understanding of some aspect of the issues that my group has been addressing. This complete understanding requires a white board and thoughtful decision about the natural sciences and about how computer can and may operate. Of course, I would prefer that a 2 - 3 day conference be put together where I might invite 20 distinguished scholars.
The exercise of writing about these issues has given me an ability to focus on one point that can be moved ahead.
The National Educational Project to Establish the Knowledge Sciences is this one point.
The description of the problems related to government funding decisions and the long term patterns of government - industry collusion is less important to me than moving forward on a science and technology agenda where real time open loop control enables non-computer programmers to use the computer to produce new information about what ever is the target of investigation.
Real time open loop control requires education as well as properly designed and accessable (affordable) software and hardware.
Waste Fraud and Abuse complaints may be one option in getting visibility on poor decision making at DARPA and NIST, and there are many actual companies (Hicks and Associates Inc may be a good illustrative case) where the United States government might join in a WF&A complaint. This exercise might be a source of financial compensation that can be used to bring the issues of government-business collusion to the public attention. My personally awareness of specific situations is only one person's experience.
But the ultimate solution is to move ahead on establishing new policy on information monopoly and on exclusionary practices where mutual benefits occur. The most difficult problems arise in the (hidden) collusion between the legislature and certain types of entrepreneurs. Experiences with the Virginia Center of Innovative Technology seem to illustrate this collusion between a non-governmental entity and State legislature. But again, there is incomplete and imperfect public information available to make objective judgments about.
What we have is subjective evaluations of outcomes.
Democrat and Republican politicians have both contributed to this problem. In the Republican party there are those who desire to see progressive policy on this issue. The Democratic party has been strongly influenced by Howard Dean and Presidential candidate John Kerry seems to sometimes have this issue squarely framed. My family has some ties that are being strenghtened to both the Senator and the Governor.
Over the past two weeks I have talked to most senior technical staff members at those companies that have been funded by In-Q-Tel. Based on these technical discussions, I have developed an appreciation for what appears to be an In-Q-Tel plan to develop and help bring to the public market a new generation of software that is consistent with my notion of knowledge technology.
My discussion with an senior engineer at Traction Inc and with a scientist at NovoDynamics was exciting and deeply informative. Others in the group were less exciting, having what I felt where problems with their business model as well as certain technical limitations. Again, a conference involving 20 scholars would round out and extend my personal evaluation and place future investments in a context.
I have almost completed a full appreciation and independent evaluation of what information technology has been supported via In-Q-Tel investments, and what the likely consequences are from attempted deployments within the IC, and within public markets. This evaluation will be peer reviewed by scientific colleagues and then made public. I wish that In-Q-Tel would support my work, but I have to acknowledge your right to do as you please in this regard.
My offer to allow In-Q-Tel to purchase 20% of Ontologystream Inc has been under evaluation now for long enough. I respectfully ask for a decision or at least a discussion.
My opinion is that OntologyStream will bring inventions related to open loop control over complex processes into view, and that these inventions would complement what In-Q-Tel has accomplished up to now.
Paul Prueitt
703-981-2676