Research and Technology Protection

MISSION

Maintain a security risk-management process to identify and protect information important to national security.

GOALS

Balance the benefits of acquiring the most innovative research and development (R&D) against the identified risks to national security and the Intelligence Community (IC).

Enable the successful transition of IARPA advanced R&D results to the IC without compromise of current or future capabilities.

FUNCTION

Research, identify, and evaluate vulnerabilities to the IC and USG posed by proposed research goals, approaches, and performers
Identify risks and recommend protection strategies addressing export controls, intellectual property, and the rare need for classification
Provide proactive and periodic pre-publication, classification, security, and acquisition activity reviews
Characterize global interest in relevant research areas and maintain awareness of IC and USG equities dependent research outcomes

RTP As Best Practice

In 2014, former Director of National Intelligence, James R. clapper wrote,

"...[I] was impressed with the robust IARPA research and technology protection (RTP) process...[it] should become widely adopted as an IC best practice."

In 2015, the Information Security Oversight Office, which is responsible to the President for policy and oversight of the Government-wide security classification system, identified IARPA's classification guidance review process as a best practice.

In 2016, the ODNI FY2016-20 IC Strategic Plan identified RTP’s process of balancing open, unrestricted scientific collaboration with the needs of national security as a best practice.

National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 189 remains cornerstone policy clearly distinguishing fundamental from classified research; IARPA performs unrestricted, advanced R&D to the maximum extent possible while guarding against the intense efforts by adversarial governments to exploit our R&D accomplishments.

IARPA RTP Team

Expertise in multiple technical and intelligence disciplines, risk analysis, classification guidance

Supports IARPA Leadership and Program Managers to build robust and manageable security and protection strategies

Reaches out to other USG research security teams to share knowledge and lessons learned in safeguarding unclassified R&D