3 ms·
DARPA isn't mentioned, which I consider one of the most effective agencies. Is its budget elsewhere, like DOD?
by tlb 9y ago
DARPA isn't mentioned, which I consider one of the most effective agencies. Is its budget elsewhere, like DOD?
- syshum 9y agoDARPA or the DEFENSE advance research projects Agency is part of the Dept. of DEFENSE so their budgeting is in the DOD budget
- tlb 9y agoIt does specifically mention the DOE Office of Science, which is part of the DOE budget, so they can apparently recurse beyond the top level.
- maxxxxx 9y agoI worked in a startup founded by DARPA people for a while and my impression was that DARPA is often used to funnel money to well connected friends. They do interesting things but it doesn't seem very efficient.
- throwaway84742 9y ago“Government is often used to funnel money to well connected friends” in general. DARPA is by no means unique in that regard. It is unique in that every 20 years or so it manages to crank out something that turns the world on its head.
- lazerpants 9y agoMy experience is quite different. DARPA is a good agency to work with for engineering seed funding in academic research. They're willing to fund some interesting ideas that other groups think are too risky.
- batbomb 9y agoDARPA is effective because, in many ways, it is sort of a research aggregator and packager, focusing basic research into solving specific problems. There's no HN without news elsewhere on the web, just like there's no DARPA without basic research in all the sciences. As such, it's budget should probably be somewhat proportional to the budget of basic research.