But commercial customers worried about possible trap doors and eavesdropping by the CIA may be reluctant to use products developed with the spy agency's money, Scott acknowledged. Even the good news has had a downside. The CIA needs to take advantage of the rapid pace of commercial information technology development, he said.
Speed is of the essence.
The agency proposed the creation of the company in May 1998. 10-member board of trustees is drawn from companies such as Xerox Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp., as well as from academia, government and the financial industry. Initial areas the company will focus on are use of the Internet, information security, knowledge generation and distributed architectures. The Q Interface Center has 10 employees who will translate the agency's needs into commercial requirements.