What Is Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)?

You used to believe that "Advanced Research Projects Agency" was just a fancy name for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)? However, you needed to be corrected. The truth is that ARPA was the old name for DARPA. The Advanced Research Projects Agency was founded as part of the Department of Defense and operated until 1972, when it merged with ARPA's Office of Special Projects to form DARPA. So if you've been wondering why your research project got funded by DARPA, but they're calling it an ARPA grant? It's because they're older than you thought! ARPA/DARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency/Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) was responsible for pioneering early ARPANET development in computing. This network is often regarded as the progenitor of the Internet. Its role in computer science continues! ARPA/DARPA has been involved with an endless list of projects—from artificial intelligence to machine learning to secure software systems to secure cyberinfrastructure to more secure cyberinfrastructure… you get the idea. The agency's work on these projects has changed our lives in countless ways: from the way we communicate with each other across great distances to how we conduct business online; from how we use computers to solve problems to how we manage our data; and from how we think about what it means to be "human" or "alive" to how we think about what it means to be "alive" or "human." DARPA: The name that keeps on changing and changing back again. The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) was founded in 1958. In 1972, it changed its name to Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Then in 1993, it changed back to ARPA. And finally, in 1996, DARPA returned to its original name. There has been some confusion about the history of ARPANET—the computer network that the ARPA created and later became known as DARPANET—since some think this network changed its name from ARPANET to DARPANET at some point during this period. This is not the case!