DARPA Launches Future Technology Forum

Today marks the start of Wait, What? A Future Technology Forum—DARPA's groundbreaking foray into emerging technologies and how those technologies are likely to change our world in the years ahead. The event, which is taking place in St. Louis, is being attended by more than 1,200 engineers, scientists and other innovators from big and small companies, universities, government and private research laboratories and other crucibles of ingenuity, with the goal of sharing and generating new ideas at the boundaries of today’s technological capabilities.

“By exchanging insights from multiple fields and exploring those fields’ dynamic intersections, participants in Wait, What? can point DARPA to some of the most promising areas of change and possibility,” said DARPA Director Arati Prabhakar. “And by describing DARPA’s unique mission and demonstrating how we do our work, we hope these scientists and engineers will think more about the world of national security and imagine ways to bring their big ideas to this vital field.”

Plenary presentations by renowned leaders in a wide array of disciplines will be webcast live, starting with opening remarks by Prabhakar and Secretary of Defense Ash Carter at 2 p.m. Central time. Wait, What? will continue through Friday, Sept. 11, at noon Central time.

The venue is full to capacity with registered participants, but remote viewers can check the agenda and watch the livestreamed plenary presentations at www.darpawaitwhat.com.

Followers can also participate in the Forum remotely by downloading the DARPA Wait, What? app from Google or the Apple store. The app offers background on presenters and agenda topics and allows individuals everywhere to participate in interactive discussions with participants.

To get even more out of Wait, What?, follow DARPA on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram and YouTube (@darpa using hashtag #waitwhat15), and look for unique images and videos of DARPA technology demonstrations on Instagram. Viewers can also submit questions via Twitter during live webcast Q&As using hashtag #waitwhat15.