#3808 DARPA Opportunities

#3808 DARPA Opportunities

Uploaded File: DARPA_Opportunities.txt

#3808 Provide a numbered list of opportunities and briefly describe the opportunity for a low-budget, solopreneur to get involved for each

Based on the document provided, here is a numbered list of opportunities, their descriptions, and a potential involvement area for a low-budget solopreneur, focusing on software, AI, and algorithm-focused programs.

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1. A3ML (Anticipatory and Adaptive Anti-Money Laundering)

   • Description: This program is focused on developing algorithms to analyze financial transaction graphs for suspicious patterns, learn new patterns, and create concise, machine-readable formats for these patterns that analysts can also understand.

   • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop and propose novel algorithms for graph-based pattern detection or machine learning techniques to anticipate future illicit activities.

2. ACE (Air Combat Evolution)

   • Description: The ACE program seeks to build trust in combat autonomy by using human-machine collaborative dogfighting as a challenge problem. It applies AI to the dogfight problem and works to measure, calibrate, and predict human trust in the autonomy.

   • Solopreneur Opportunity: An individual could develop AI technologies for the dogfighting problem or, more specifically, create software-based methods and metrics to measure or predict human trust in the AI's performance.

3. Ag x BTO

   • Description: This office is seeking innovative agricultural defense solutions to counter various threats. Priorities include the development of early warning systems, crop protection, and methods for threat prediction and attribution.

   • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could focus on the data-analysis and software side by developing early warning system algorithms or computational models for threat prediction.

4. AIQ (Artificial Intelligence Quantified)

   • Description: This program aims to create technology to assess and understand the capabilities of AI to guarantee its performance. It will test the hypothesis that mathematical foundations, combined with measurement and modeling, can quantify an AI's capabilities and limitations.

   • Solopreneur Opportunity: This is a strong fit for a solopreneur to develop or propose mathematical foundations, new measurement techniques, or advanced models to quantify and guarantee AI performance.

5. AIR (Artificial Intelligence Reinforcements)

   • Description: AIR is developing AI-driven tactical autonomy for multi-ship, beyond-visual-range (BVR) air combat missions.

   • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop or contribute to the core AI-driven autonomy algorithms for BVR air combat scenarios.

6. AIxCC (AI Cyber Challenge)

   • Description: This is a two-year competition for AI and cybersecurity experts to design novel AI systems to secure critical software. The challenge will award a cumulative $29.5 million, including $7 million in prizes for small businesses during its initial phase.

   • Solopreneur Opportunity: This is an explicit opportunity to participate in a competition as a small business to design AI systems for securing code and win prizes.

7. Albatross

   • Description: This program seeks to develop effective autonomous aircraft soaring capabilities. The focus is on developing and integrating planning tools, sensors, and control solutions for small uncrewed aircraft to autonomously find and use soaring conditions.

   • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the software-based planning tools or control solution algorithms that enable the aircraft to make autonomous soaring decisions.

8. ANSR (Assured Neuro Symbolic Learning and Reasoning)

   • Description: This program seeks breakthrough innovations in hybrid AI algorithms. The goal is to integrate symbolic reasoning with data-driven learning to create robust, assured, and trustworthy systems.

   • Solopreneur Opportunity: An individual could design and propose new hybrid AI algorithms that merge symbolic reasoning (like knowledge graphs) with deep learning to improve trustworthiness.

9. APAQuS (Automated Prediction Aided by Quantized Simulators)

   • Description: This opportunity aims to develop data-informed techniques to create predictive models for turbulence, which is noted as one of the most challenging problems in physics.

   • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop data-informed techniques or novel machine learning models to predictively model turbulence.

10. ARCOS (Automated Rapid Certification Of Software)

    • Description: This program addresses the fact that current DoD software certification practices are antiquated and cannot scale. The goal is to automate the process of determining that a software system’s risk is acceptable.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An experienced software process engineer could develop tools or methodologies to automate and scale the software certification process.

11. ASIMOV (Autonomy Standards and Ideals with Military Operational Values)

    • Description: The ASIMOV program aims to develop benchmarks that can objectively and quantitatively measure the ethical difficulty of autonomy use cases. It also seeks to measure the readiness of autonomous systems to perform in those use cases within military values.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the quantitative benchmarks, measurement frameworks, or simulation environments needed to assess the ethical difficulty and readiness of autonomous systems.

12. ASKEM (Automating Scientific Knowledge Extraction and Modeling)

    • Description: This program notes that computational models and simulators are the primary way expert knowledge is encoded and applied to real-world problems. The goal is to automate this process.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An individual could create software, models, or simulators that automate the extraction, encoding, and application of expert knowledge for science and engineering.

13. BPL (Business Process Logic)

    • Description: This program focuses on automated workflows, known as business logic, which are used to manage operations in most businesses. These systems support essential tasks like seaport administration and defense system assembly.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could design or improve automated workflow systems (business logic) for managing complex operations.

14. BRIDGES (Bringing Classified Innovation to Defense and Government Systems)

    • Description: This is a pilot initiative sponsored by DARPA specifically to connect innovation from small companies, which traditionally do not work with the U.S. Government, to classified DoD research and development efforts.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: This is an explicit program for a solopreneur (as a small company) to connect with and provide innovation to classified DoD R&D efforts.

15. CASTLE (Cyber Agents for Security Testing and Learning Environments)

    • Description: This program aims to promote rigorous, open evaluations of defensive cybersecurity approaches. It plans to do this by publicly releasing toolkit-generated datasets that can serve as benchmarks.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could use the publicly released datasets to test and benchmark their own defensive cybersecurity approaches or contribute to the toolkit that generates the data.

16. CCU (Computational Cultural Understanding)

    • Description: This program aims to create cross-cultural language understanding technologies. The goal is to improve a DoD operator’s situational awareness and effectiveness in interactions.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An individual could develop novel cross-cultural natural language processing (NLP) models or language understanding technologies.

17. CHIPS (Common Heterogeneous Integration and IP Reuse Strategies)

    • Description: The vision of this program is to create an ecosystem of discrete, modular, and reusable IP blocks. These blocks could then be assembled into a system using various integration technologies.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could design, develop, and contribute software or hardware IP blocks to this modular ecosystem.

18. CIDAR (Computational Imaging Detection and Ranging Challenge)

    • Description: This challenge aims to explore the potential of computational imaging tools and techniques. The goal is to drastically enhance the accuracy of passive ranging for tactical and civil applications.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: As a challenge, this is a direct opportunity for a solopreneur to develop and submit computational imaging tools or software techniques to improve passive ranging.

19. CKC (Collaborative Knowledge Curation)

    • Description: This program addresses the fact that analysts and decision-makers spend increasing amounts of time curating the knowledge that informs their complex models and decisions.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur with experience in knowledge graphs could develop tools or systems that assist analysts in curating and managing the knowledge needed for decision-making.

20. CODORD (Human-AI Communication for Deontic Reasoning Devops)

    • Description: This opportunity intends to create new, automated techniques for humans to author knowledge about "deontics" (obligations, permissions, and prohibitions). This authoring would be done using natural language (English) and translated into a flexible logical language.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the core natural language processing and knowledge extraction/translation techniques to allow a user to author complex logical rules in plain English.

21. COMPASS (Critical Orientation of Mathematics to Produce Advancements in Science and Security)

    • Description: This ARC opportunity is soliciting ideas to explore how new mathematical frameworks can enable paradigm-shifting problem formulations. It focuses on better characterization of complex systems, stochastic processes, and random geometric structures.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur with a strong theoretical or mathematical background can propose new mathematical frameworks for these complex problems.

22. COOP (Continuous-correctness On Opaque Processors)

    • Description: The COOP program seeks to revolutionize computing reliability by developing technologies, algorithms, and proofs. These components would work together to constantly detect and correct software errors with mathematical guarantees.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An experienced programmer could develop the algorithms or proofs of correctness that continuously detect and fix software errors.

23. CPM (Compartmentalization and Privilege Management)

    • Description: This program seeks to develop tools that can automatically restructure a software system into many small compartments. Each compartment would operate with the least privilege necessary, making the system more resistant to cyber attackers.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A software engineer could develop the tools that perform this automatic restructuring of software into least-privilege compartments.

24. CriticalMAAS (Critical Mineral Assessments with AI Support)

    • Description: This program aims to develop artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools. The goal is to automate and accelerate key, time-consuming parts of the USGS’s workflow for assessing critical minerals.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop AI or ML tools specifically designed to automate and speed up this assessment workflow.

25. CRYSTAL (Crystal Substrate Bonding Technologies and Algorithms)

    • Description: This ARC Opportunity is soliciting ideas for generalizable models to explore thin-film crystal bonding onto substrates. The models would account for diverse real-world process conditions and parameters.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: While the physical process is hardware-intensive, a solopreneur could develop the "generalizable models" (software simulations) that explore the bonding process under different conditions.

26. Cyber Education Efforts

    • Description: The Information Innovation Office (I2O) is investing in multiple efforts to upskill students’ expertise in cybersecurity subjects.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An individual could propose or develop innovative tools, platforms, or curricula as part of these efforts to upskill cybersecurity expertise.

27. DAIRS (Defense Applications of Innovative Remote Sensing)

    • Description: The DAIRS program is exploring novel sensing and signal processing methods. The potential applications are for maritime vehicle tracking and environmental characterization.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could focus on developing the "novel signal processing methods" rather than the sensors themselves, applying them to data for vehicle tracking.

28. DARPA Triage Challenge (DTC)

    • Description: The DTC is a series of challenge events intended to spur the development of novel physiological features for medical triage. The goal is to find breakthrough "signatures" of injury that help responders perform scalable and accurate triage.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: This is an explicit challenge where a data-focused solopreneur could develop algorithms to analyze physiological data and identify new, breakthrough "signatures" of injury.

29. DIAL (Mathematics for the Discovery of Algorithms and Architectures)

    • Description: This program notes that breakthrough numerical algorithms are typically discovered through serendipity and expert dedication. The goal is to use mathematics to transform this process.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could propose new mathematical or computational methods to aid in the systematic discovery of new, high-impact numerical algorithms.

30. DRBE (Digital RF Battlespace Emulator)

    • Description: This program aims to create the world's first large-scale, virtual radio frequency (RF) environment. This virtual world would be used for developing, training, and testing advanced RF systems like radar and electronic warfare.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could contribute to the development of this large-scale virtual environment, creating models, or components for the simulation.

31. E-BOSS (Enhanced SBOM for Optimized Software Sustainment)

    • Description: This program aims to develop the capability to remediate software vulnerabilities at an infrastructure scale. It will do this by enhancing SBOM technologies with new metadata and "cyber-reasoning algorithms" to determine if flawed code is reachable and triggerable.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the core "cyber-reasoning algorithms" that analyze the new metadata to determine if a vulnerability is actually exploitable.

32. ECOLE (Environment-driven Conceptual Learning)

    • Description: This program will create artificial intelligence (AI) agents that are capable of continually learning from both language and vision. The goal is to enable human-machine collaboration in analyzing multimedia documents during time-sensitive tasks.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An individual could develop the core AI agents, focusing on the algorithms that enable continuous learning from mixed media (language and vision).

33. EMHAT (Exploratory Models of Human-AI Teams)

    • Description: The goal of this program is to develop technologies for generating and evaluating diverse and realistic "digital twins" that represent human-AI teams. This would be used to understand the teams' capabilities and limitations in proxy operational settings.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the core technologies for generating these realistic digital twins or the frameworks for evaluating them.

34. Emon

    • Description: This is a Disruption Opportunity seeking innovative basic or applied research concepts related to radar waveform generation, electromagnetic (EM) wave propagation, and processing.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could submit an innovative research concept focused on the "processing" aspect of radar and EM waves.

35. EQUIP-A-Pharma (Establishing Qualification Processes for Agile Pharmaceutical Manufacturing)

    • Description: This program seeks to demonstrate a real-time digital regulatory approval framework. This framework would be for multiple finished drug products produced on a single, reprogrammable hardware platform.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could design and develop the "real-time digital regulatory approval framework" (the software) that manages the process.

36. expMath (Exponentiating Mathematics)

    • Description: The goal of this program is to radically accelerate progress in pure mathematics. It aims to do this by developing an AI co-author that is capable of proposing and proving useful abstractions.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI-focused solopreneur could work on developing such an AI co-author, focusing on its ability to propose or prove mathematical abstractions.

37. FIRE (Faithful Integrated Reverse-engineering and Exploitation)

    • Description: This program notes that current cyber-physical system (CPS) testing relies on "digital twins" that are designed to show intended functionality, not the unintended functionalities where vulnerabilities hide.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop new methods or tools for reverse-engineering or cyber-testing CPS, perhaps by creating "digital twins" that more faithfully model unintended functionalities.

38. FLUID

    • Description: The goal of the FLUID program is to enable critical (C5ISRT) systems to operate under Degraded, Disrupted, Intermittent, and Limited (DDIL) network conditions.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A networking-focused solopreneur could develop the software, protocols, or algorithms that allow systems to function effectively and communicate in these DDIL environments.

39. FoundSci (Foundation Models for Scientific Discovery)

    • Description: This program addresses the fact that today's AI systems cannot generate novel hypotheses for scientific discovery. A primary reason is that the "inductive biases" (background knowledge) of a scientific domain must be hand-crafted, which limits creativity.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI solopreneur could develop new types of foundation models that can generate novel scientific hypotheses, potentially by finding ways to incorporate or learn inductive biases without hand-crafting them.

40. GAPS (Guaranteed Architecture for Physical Security)

    • Description: The GAPS program seeks to develop hardware and software that is open, extendible, and compatible with Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) constrained environments. The goal is to enable security across DoD and commercial systems.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could focus on developing the "software" component of this architecture, ensuring it is open, extendible, and secure for SWaP-constrained environments.

41. GARD (Guaranteeing AI Robustness Against Deception)

    • Description: This program seeks to establish theoretical machine learning (ML) system foundations. The goals are to identify system vulnerabilities, characterize properties that enhance robustness, and encourage the creation of effective defenses.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI/ML expert could develop or propose the "theoretical ML system foundations" to identify vulnerabilities or create novel, effective defenses against AI deception.

42. GeCCO (Generating Communication Channels to Operate)

    • Description: This program seeks to enable secure communications by using a flexible communications architecture. This architecture would deploy "virtual network services" to preserve privacy by preventing pattern-of-life analysis.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A networking or cybersecurity solopreneur could develop these "virtual network services" or the flexible communications architecture itself.

43. GLUE (Grip Likelihood in Underwater Environments)

    • Description: This ARC opportunity explores if underwater adhesives can be designed by using broadly applicable models. These models would govern how small amounts of trapped liquid vacate the space between two surfaces as they make contact.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the "broadly applicable models" (software simulations) that describe this fluid-vacating process, which would then inform adhesive design.

44. HALOVS (Highly Accelerated Learning of Vibratory Systems)

    • Description: This is a fundamental science portfolio to develop, model, prototype, and demonstrate technologies to overcome performance limitations of vibratory sensors (like those in smartphones) for improved positioning and navigation.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could focus on the "model" aspect, developing new computational models that help overcome the existing performance limitations of these sensors.

45. HARDEN (Hardening Development Toolchains Against Emergent Execution Engines)

    • Description: This program will explore novel theories and seeks to develop practical tools to anticipate, isolate, and mitigate emergent behaviors in computing systems. It aims to create novel tools, metadata, and instrumentation for "emergent computation".

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An experienced software developer could create the "practical tools, metadata, and instrumentation" to help find and mitigate emergent behaviors throughout the software development lifecycle.

46. HARQ (Heterogeneous Architectures for Quantum)

    • Description: This program aims to transform how quantum computing systems are designed and scaled. It wants to move beyond the current "one-qubit-to-rule-them-all" approach.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur with quantum computing interest could propose, design, or model new heterogeneous architectures for designing and scaling quantum computers.

47. Heimdall

    • Description: The Heimdall program looks to leverage advancements in machine learning to aid or automate targeting activities that are currently performed manually by a US Navy Sailor.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI/ML developer could create machine learning models or applications designed to aid or automate these specific manual targeting activities.

48. ICS (Intrinsic Cognitive Security)

    • Description: This program explores and validates mathematical approaches to guarantee that mixed reality (MR) system designs mitigate potential "cognitive attacks" before military personnel rely on them.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the "mathematical approaches" or validation techniques to guarantee MR systems are safe from cognitive attacks.

49. INGOTS (Intelligent Generation of Tools for Security)

    • Description: This program aims to identify and fix high-severity, chainable vulnerabilities before attackers can exploit them.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A cybersecurity-focused developer could create tools that intelligently identify and, ideally, fix these specific types of vulnerabilities.

50. ITM (In the Moment)

    • Description: This program aims to support the development of algorithms that can be trusted to independently make decisions in difficult domains. These are situations where there is often no human consensus and no ground truth.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could focus on developing these advanced decision-making algorithms, particularly those that can function in ambiguous or complex environments.

51. JUMP 2.0 (Joint University Microelectronics Program)

    • Description: This program seeks to revolutionize electronics systems performance through innovations in materials, devices, architectures, algorithms, and designs.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: As this is a "University" program, a solopreneur would likely partner with a university to contribute novel "algorithms" or "designs" for next-generation electronics.

52. KMASS (Knowledge Management at Scale and Speed)

    • Description: The goal of this program is to deliver user-specific knowledge “nuggets” that are useful for a current task. This information should be delivered exactly when needed, whether the user requested it or not, while avoiding irrelevant information.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: This is a prime opportunity for an agentic AI or knowledge graph expert to design a system that can proactively deliver these "knowledge nuggets" in a context-aware manner.

53. LINC (Learning Introspective Control)

    • Description: This program aims to develop machine learning-based "introspection technologies". These technologies would enable physical systems (like ground vehicles, ships, or robotic systems) to respond to events that were not predicted at design time.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI/ML developer could create these ML-based introspection technologies, allowing robotic or autonomous systems to handle unforeseen events.

54. LOGIC (Lunar Operating Guidelines for Infrastructure Consortium)

    • Description: This program will convene stakeholders from industry, academia, and government to identify critical needs for lunar infrastructure interoperability and interfaces. It will also encourage the community to develop operational guidelines.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could participate as a stakeholder or consultant (representing a small company) to help identify these needs and shape the operational guidelines.

55. LunA-10 (10-Year Lunar Architecture Capability Study)

    • Description: This study aims to rapidly develop foundational technology concepts for a future lunar architecture. The goal is to move away from isolated, self-sufficient systems toward shareable, scalable, and interoperable systems that can be monetized.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur with NASA/aerospace interest could propose "foundational technology concepts," particularly for shareable software, data, or communication services that fit this interoperable architecture.

56. MAGICS (Methodological Advancements for Generalizable Insights into Complex Systems)

    • Description: This ARC Opportunity is inviting submissions for innovative exploratory research concepts in computational science research. The focus is on complex, dynamic, and evolving systems.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur can submit an innovative research concept for a computational science method to model these complex systems.

57. MASH (Medics Autonomously Stopping Hemorrhage)

    • Description: This program aims to develop robotic systems that can autonomously find and stop life-threatening bleeding inside the body, improving survival chances in combat.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the autonomy or machine vision software that guides the robotic system to "autonomously find" and target the bleeding.

58. MAX (Massive Cross-Correlation)

    • Description: The MAX program will address key technical challenges in signal processing, including minimizing wasted energy and realizing scalable processing gain, to exceed the limits of today’s digital signal processors.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop new algorithms or software approaches for achieving "scalable processing gain" or overcoming dynamic range limitations in signal processing.

59. MeasQuIT (Measurement-based Quantum Information and Transduction)

    • Description: This Disruption Opportunity seeks to demonstrate novel approaches to the scalable quantum control of qubits, sensors, and other quantum circuits.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur with a quantum computing interest could propose or demonstrate a novel software or theoretical approach to achieving scalable quantum control.

60. METALS (Multiobjective Engineering and Testing of Alloy Structures)

    • Description: This program will develop foundational technologies to include material as an explicit, continuous variable in structural design optimization. It will leverage advances in material testing and materials informatics.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the "foundational technologies" (likely software) or "materials informatics" systems that allow structural design optimization software to use material as a continuous variable.

61. Microsystems Exploration

    • Description: This program calls for faster responses with smaller, targeted investments in the microsystems domain.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: This is an explicit program for a solopreneur to submit a smaller, targeted proposal for a faster response, rather than a large, long-term project.

62. MINC (Mission-Integrated Network Control)

    • Description: The objective of MINC is to ensure critical data finds a path to the right user at the right time in highly contested and dynamic communication environments. It relies on secure control of any available communication, compute, or storage resource.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could design the "secure control" system, (perhaps as an autonomous agent) that manages network resources to ensure data delivery.

63. ML2P (Mapping Machine Learning to Physics)

    • Description: ML2P aims to increase the military’s ability to adapt ML on the battlefield. It seeks to do this by providing "energy-aware ML" and enabling the strategic use of limited power resources.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI/ML developer could create "energy-aware ML" models or algorithms that can be adapted on the fly while strategically managing power consumption.

64. MOCHA (Machine Learning and Optimization-guided Compilers for Heterogeneous Architectures)

    • Description: This program aims to create a new era of compiler technology that can unleash the performance of systems with multiple heterogeneous computational elements. It hypothesizes that ML and optimization techniques can adapt compilers to new hardware with minimal human intervention.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An experienced programmer could develop a compiler that uses ML to automatically adapt and optimize code for new, heterogeneous hardware.

65. NODES (Network of Optimal Dynamic Energy Signatures)

    • Description: This program aims to develop a groundbreaking deep learning tool, informed by biophysics principles. This tool would analyze vast numbers of protein sequences and predict their biological functions by identifying patterns of protein movement.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI solopreneur could develop this deep learning tool, focusing on the analysis of protein sequences to predict function.

66. OP TEMPO (Objective Prediction of Team Effectiveness via Models of Performance Outcomes)

    • Description: This program aims to develop an objective, biologically-informed capability to assess team performance during training. It seeks to identify bio-behavioral signatures that correlate to team performance and develop systems to measure them.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the "systems to accurately and reliably measure" these signatures, or (more likely) the data-analysis models that "identify bio-behavioral signatures" and correlate them with performance.

67. OPS-5G (Open, Programmable, Secure 5G)

    • Description: This program aims to pursue research leading to the development of a portable, standards-compliant network stack for 5G mobile. The stack must be open source and secure by design.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur programmer could contribute to the research and development of this open-source, secure 5G network stack.

68. Ouija

    • Description: The goal of the Ouija program is to quantify the High Frequency (HF) noise environment in space. It also aims to improve the characterization of the ionosphere to support warfighter capabilities.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the software models or data analysis techniques used to quantify the HF noise or characterize the ionosphere based on sensor data.

69. Oversight

    • Description: This program notes that new satellite constellations are being developed, but "new methods are needed to effectively leverage them".

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: This is a very open-ended opportunity for a solopreneur to propose a "new method" (likely software, AI, or data-analysis-based) to leverage these new satellite constellations.

70. PROVERS (Pipelined Reasoning of Verifiers Enabling Robust Systems)

    • Description: This program addresses assurance techniques that confirm a system's correctness and security.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A software engineer could develop new assurance techniques or "pipelined reasoning" tools to verify the correctness and security of software-reliant systems.

71. PROWESS (Processor Reconfiguration for Wideband Spectrum Sensing)

    • Description: This program notes that a promising way to deal with crowded wireless spectrum is RF autonomy, where radios use artificial intelligence (AI) to sense the spectrum and adapt to the environment.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI solopreneur could develop the "artificial intelligence (AI)" algorithms that enable radios to sense the spectrum and adapt autonomously.

72. PTG (Perceptually-enabled Task Guidance)

    • Description: This program aims to develop artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to help users perform complex physical tasks, making them more versatile and proficient. It seeks AI assistants that provide just-in-time visual and audio feedback.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the AI assistant software, focusing on the just-in-time visual/audio feedback mechanism to guide users through tasks.

73. Pulling Guard

    • Description: This program is for the development and demonstration of a semi-autonomous platform that enhances the survivability of unarmed logistics vessels, primarily from uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs). The system requires sufficient autonomy to allow for supervision of multiple systems by one remote supervisor.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the "sufficient autonomy" software that enables a single remote supervisor to manage multiple semi-autonomous platforms.

74. PWND2 (Provably Weird Network Deployment and Detection)

    • Description: This program will develop "formal models" of emergent communication pathways (also known as "weird networks"). The goal is to fundamentally improve the deployment and detection of robust and resilient hidden networks.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop these "formal models" or the software techniques for deploying or detecting such "weird networks".

75. QB (Quantum Benchmarking)

    • Description: This program addresses the hypothesis that quantum computers will revolutionize fields like machine learning, quantum chemistry, materials discovery, and supply chain optimization. It is related to a program that seeks to determine the "yardstick for impact".

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could propose or develop the "yardstick" (benchmarks) for measuring quantum computing's utility-scale impact on specific fields like ML or optimization.

76. QBI (Quantum Benchmarking Initiative)

    • Description: This is an expansion of the US2QC program.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could participate in this initiative, likely by proposing or evaluating underexplored quantum systems. (See US2QC).

77. QuANET (Quantum-Augmented Network)

    • Description: This program will explore how integrating quantum and classical approaches to networking could provide quantum physics-based security capabilities to critical network infrastructures.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could propose or explore the theoretical models or software architectures for integrating quantum and classical networking.

78. RACE (Resilient Anonymous Communication for Everyone)

    • Description: This program will research technologies for a distributed messaging system that can exist completely within a given network. It must provide confidentiality, integrity, and availability, while also preserving privacy. Compromised data should not help compromise other parts of the system.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A software developer could research and develop the core technologies or protocols for this type of highly resilient, private, and distributed messaging system.

79. RACER (Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency)

    • Description: The RACER program is focused on developing and demonstrating new autonomy algorithm technologies, not the vehicles themselves. The goal is to enable Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) to maneuver on unstructured off-road terrain at high speeds.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: This is an explicit opportunity to develop "new autonomy algorithm technologies" for high-speed, off-road UGV maneuvering.

80. Red-C (Reclaiming Bus-based Systems During Compromise)

    • Description: This program will explore retrofitting firmware to add "forensic sensing". This would allow the various components in a system to monitor each other like a "neighborhood watch".

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A firmware or cybersecurity expert could develop the techniques for retrofitting firmware to add these forensic sensing and mutual-monitoring capabilities.

81. ReImagine

    • Description: This program seeks to demonstrate that a "software-reconfigurable imaging system" is capable of enabling revolutionary new capabilities.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the "software" that reconfigures the imaging system, or demonstrate the "revolutionary capabilities" that this software-defined approach enables.

82. REMA (Rapid Experimental Missionized Autonomy)

    • Description: This program aims to enhance commercially available and stock military drones. It plans to do this by "adding an autonomy subsystem" to increase the drone’s capability.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop a modular "autonomy subsystem" (likely software-based) that can be added to existing drones to improve their capabilities.

83. Resilient Software Systems Capstone

    • Description: This program's goal is to fund the transition of DARPA-developed Resilient Software System tools to U.S. military services. A "Best Practices Guide" will help organizations incorporate these tools.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An experienced software process engineer could contribute to this transition, perhaps by helping to develop the "Best Practices Guide" or creating integration tools.

84. RITMO (Research Infrastructure for Trauma with Medical Observations)

    • Description: The RITMO program aims to combine large-volume multimodal sensor, intervention, and medical outcome data from trauma patients. This data will be put into a single, de-identified database.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the "de-identified database" infrastructure, or the software and tools needed to combine and process this large-volume multimodal data.

85. RSDN (Resilient Supply-and-Demand Networks)

    • Description: This program uses the term "supply-and-demand network" (SDN) instead of "supply chain". It does this to emphasize that the strategic challenges are more extensive than just the logistic challenges of delivery.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop models, simulations, or software platforms to analyze and solve the "strategic challenges" of these complex networks, beyond simple logistics.

86. SABER (Securing Artificial Intelligence for Battlefield Effective Robustness)

    • Description: This program aims to build an exemplar "AI red team". This team would be equipped with the necessary counter-AI techniques, tools, and technical competency to operationally assess AI-enabled battlefield systems.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI/cybersecurity expert could develop the "counter-AI techniques" or "tools" that such an AI red team would use to assess systems.

87. SafeDocs (Safe Documents)

    • Description: This program will develop novel "verified programming" methodologies for building high-assurance parsers for existing electronic data formats. It also seeks methods for "safe sub-setting," or reducing formats to their safe, unambiguous subsets.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An experienced programmer could develop these novel verified programming methodologies, create tools for high-assurance parsers, or develop techniques for "safe sub-setting" data formats.

88. SAFRON (Safe and Assured Foundation Robots for Open Environments)

    • Description: This program notes that Foundation Models (FMs) have transformed AI through large architectures, internet-scale datasets, and "fine tuning". The goal is to apply this to robotics.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI solopreneur could apply FM architectures and customization techniques to create "Foundation Robots," focusing on the AI models that drive them.

89. SBIR: ALIAS Missionized Autonomy for Emergency Services

    • Description: This SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) effort focuses on developing and demonstrating missionized autonomy for emergency services. The initial focus is on autonomous wildfire response using Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T).

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: As an SBIR, this is a direct opportunity for a solopreneur (as a small business) to develop and demonstrate autonomy software for emergency services like wildfire response.

90. SBIR: Assessing Security of Encrypted Messaging Applications (ASEMA)

    • Description: This SBIR topic is seeking novel approaches to defend Secure Messaging Applications (SMAs). The goal is to model their security risks and recommend defensive measures.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur can propose and develop "novel approaches" (likely software-based) to model the security risks of messaging apps and suggest defenses.

91. SBIR: Cooperative Heuristics for Additive Manufacturing Processing (CHAMP)

    • Description: This SBIR objective is to design, develop, and demonstrate a proof-of-concept slicer, tool path algorithm, and production system. The goal is to achieve non-linear increases in production rates for directed energy additive manufacturing (AM) with more than one deposition head.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could design and develop the "proof-of-concept slicer" or "tool path algorithm" software for multi-head AM systems.

92. SBIR: Improving Battle Planning through AI

    • Description: This SBIR objective is to develop innovative technologies for federated course of action (COA) planning. It also includes accelerated COA adjudication (judgement) using customized reduced order models (ROMs).

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI-focused solopreneur could develop AI technologies for federated COA planning or for creating/using customized ROMs for faster adjudication.

93. SBIR: Language Models for Veteran Suicide Prevention (LM4VSP)

    • Description: This SBIR topic is to develop a conversational artificial intelligence (AI) clinical co-pilot, based on Language Models. This co-pilot would augment the ability of mental health care professionals to care for patients at risk of suicide.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: This is a direct opportunity for an LLM developer to create a conversational AI co-pilot for mental health professionals.

94. SBIR: Multi-factor Continuous Authentication for Wearable Defense Equipment (MCAWDE)

    • Description: The goal of this topic is to develop and demonstrate novel, continuous, multi-factor authentication solutions for small weight and power (SWaP) devices.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop and demonstrate a novel software-based continuous authentication solution for low-power wearables.

95. SBIR: Narcissus

    • Description: This SBIR effort aims to rapidly develop computational imaging, artificial intelligence, or machine learning innovations. These innovations would perform the coherent and incoherent combination of incident photon flux to enable compensated image reconstruction.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI/ML solopreneur could develop the "computational imaging, artificial intelligence, or machine learning innovations" for this image reconstruction task.

96. SBIR: Predictive Psychological Architectures for Decision-Making (PPADM)

    • Description: This SBIR effort aims to understand the association between decision-maker characteristics and behavior. The goal is to improve human and algorithmic decision-making, delegation, and trust, particularly in difficult domains where no right answer exists.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could research this association and develop models or architectures that improve human or algorithmic decision-making.

97. SBIR: Spectrum Monitoring and Awareness in Real-Time (SMART)

    • Description: This SBIR objective is to develop advanced capabilities that provide military dismounted ground tactical units real-time awareness of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the "advanced capabilities" (likely software) that provide this real-time RF spectrum awareness to units.

98. SBIR: Turbo Facility Clearance (TurboFCL)

    • Description: This SBIR is to develop a prototype software application, based on language models, to learn the DCSA facility and personnel clearance process. This app would guide applicants, autofill forms, provide insight on timelines, and answer basic questions.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: This is an ideal and direct opportunity for a solopreneur to build a web application using LLMs to guide users through the clearance process.

99. SBIR: Unbiased Behavioral Discovery Platforms

    • Description: This SBIR effort is to develop "unguided behavioral discovery technologies". The goal is to accelerate the detection of and medical countermeasure development against current and future threats.

    • Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop these "unguided behavioral discovery technologies" (likely AI/ML based) for threat detection.

100. SCEPTER (Strategic Chaos Engine for Planning, Tactics, Experimentation and Resiliancy) * Description: This program is developing "analytic engines" that can produce machine-generated strategies. These strategies must be capable of competing with humans in the planning of real warfare, as evaluated in trusted simulation environments. * Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI solopreneur could develop an analytic engine or AI model that generates novel, competitive warfare strategies.

101. SciFy (Scientific Feasibility) * Description: This program aims to develop computational methods for measuring the feasibility of claims. This would enable accurate assessments of scientific content. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop AI-based "computational methods" to assess the feasibility of scientific claims, similar to an advanced fact-checking or analysis tool.

102. SemaFor (Semantic Forensics) * Description: This program seeks to develop "forensic semantic technologies". The goal is to help mitigate online threats that are perpetuated via synthetic and manipulated media (e.g., deepfakes). * Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI/ML developer could create these "forensic semantic technologies" to detect and analyze synthetic or manipulated media.

103. SIEVE (Securing Information for Encrypted Verification and Evaluation) * Description: This program seeks to advance the state of the art in Zero-Knowledge (ZK) proofs to enable complex, DoD-relevant applications. ZK proofs would be used to verify capabilities without revealing sensitive details. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur with cryptography and algorithm skills could develop new, advanced ZK proof methodologies or applications.

104. SMOKE (Signature Management using Operational Knowledge and Environments) * Description: This program aims to develop data-driven tools to automate the planning and execution of threat-emulated cyber infrastructure. This is needed for network security assessments, such as red team exercises. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A cybersecurity-focused solopreneur could develop the "data-driven tools" that automate the planning and deployment of this "honeypot" or threat-emulated infrastructure.

105. SMS (Simulating Microbial Systems) * Description: This program seeks to create computational simulations that can accurately predict the behavior of bacteria in various contexts. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could create the "computational simulations" or models that accurately predict bacterial behavior.

106. SOAP (Scalable On-Array Processing) * Description: This program seeks to develop "scalable algorithms" and integrate distributed processing directly into digital arrays. The goal is to reduce computational complexity and enable new applications. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the "scalable algorithms" for distributed processing that would be integrated into these arrays.

107. Space-BACN (Space-Based Adaptive Communications Node) * Description: The goal of Space-BACN is to eliminate stovepipes and “connect space”. This will, in turn, enable the joint all-domain fight. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could propose software, architectures, or protocols for an "Adaptive Communications Node" that would connect disparate space-based systems.

108. Space-WATCH (Space-domain Wide Area Tracking and Characterization) * Description: The goal of this program is to provide real-time, persistent tracking of all objects in low Earth orbit (LEO). This would allow operators to be notified in a timely fashion when an anomalous action occurs. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the tracking algorithms or the anomaly-detection software that monitors LEO objects in real-time.

109. STTR: Addressing Underrepresentation Through Data Augmentation * Description: This STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) is to develop new data augmentation techniques. These techniques must address the underrepresentation of concepts, including AI disparities across socio-ethno-political divides. * Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI/ML solopreneur could partner with a research institution to develop and propose these new data augmentation techniques.

110. STTR: Analyzing the Trade-off Between Bias and Accuracy * Description: This STTR objective is to develop new methods to analyze the trade-off between accuracy and bias in Artificial Intelligence (AI). * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could partner with a research institution to develop these new analytical methods for AI bias-vs-accuracy.

111. STTR: Bias Datasets for the Department of Defense (DoD) * Description: This STTR objective is to develop new datasets for detecting bias in DoD applications. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur, in partnership with a research institution, could curate and develop these new datasets for bias detection.

112. STTR: Mitigating Explicit and Implicit Bias Through Hybrid AI * Description: This STTR is to develop new neuro-symbolic methods that can mitigate both explicit (e.g., symbolic descriptions) and implicit (e.g., learned model parameters) biases in AI. * Solopreneur Opportunity: This is a strong opportunity for a solopreneur (with a research partner) to propose "neuro-symbolic" methods that combine symbolic logic and ML to fight bias.

113. STTR: Model-Agnostic Detection of Bias (MAD-Bias) * Description: This STTR objective is to develop new methods for detecting bias that is inherent in the datasets being used. These methods must work regardless of the architecture of the downstream AI model. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur (with a research partner) could develop these "model-agnostic" statistical or analytical methods to find bias in datasets.

114. STTR: Unlearning Bias * Description: In this STTR, performers will be expected to develop methods of removing bias from a generative model without accessing the original training data of the model for retraining. * Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI/LLM-focused solopreneur (with a research partner) could develop methods to "de-bias" a pre-trained generative model without retraining it from scratch.

115. Tellus * Description: The Tellus program will explore the development of an "interactive, platform methodology". This platform would be for the rapid design of microbe-based sense-and-respond devices for monitoring DoD-relevant environments. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the "interactive, platform methodology" (software) that is used to design these microbe-based devices.

116. TIM (Transponders in Ionospheric Measurement) * Description: This program will aim to create distributable channel sounding and test instrumentation that will measure and respond to radio frequency (RF) signals in the high frequency (HF) band. The goal is to leverage commercial communications devices to create these test instruments. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the software or methods that "leverage commercial communications devices" and turn them into HF test instruments.

117. TIMEly (Timely Information for Maritime Engagements) * Description: The TIMEly program aims to develop concepts for a heterogeneous underwater network architecture. This architecture would enable the "contemporaneous composition of effect chains" from available assets in any domain, with an emphasis on the underwater domain. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the "concepts for a heterogeneous underwater network architecture," focusing on the software and protocols that allow for composing effect chains on the fly.

118. TRACTOR (Translating All C to Rust) * Description: This program aims to automate the translation of legacy C code to Rust. The goal is to achieve the same quality and style that a skilled Rust developer would produce, thereby eliminating memory safety vulnerabilities. * Solopreneur Opportunity: This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced programmer to develop or contribute to a tool that automates C-to-Rust translation to a high standard of quality.

119. Transfer from Imprecise and Abstract Models to Autonomous Technologies * Description: This program will test the theory that low-fidelity simulations can generate data at a much greater speed and scale. The idea is that this data can introduce the possibility of "generalization rather than memorization" for autonomous systems. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could create the low-fidelity simulations or, more likely, develop the AI models that can generalize from low-fidelity data.

120. TRS (The Right Space) * Description: This program seeks new mathematical/computational methods for systematically discovering "enabling transformations". It leverages advances in Scientific Machine Learning to make solving complex modeling problems easier, faster, and more interpretable. * Solopreneur Opportunity: An AI/ML solopreneur could develop these new "mathematical/computational methods" using Scientific ML to find transformations that simplify complex problems.

121. US2QC (Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing) * Description: The primary goal of the US2QC program is to determine if an "underexplored approach" to quantum computing is capable of achieving utility-scale operation much faster than conventional predictions. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur with quantum computing interest could propose, model, or evaluate an "underexplored approach" to quantum computing.

122. V-SPELLS (Verified Security and Performance Enhancement of Large Legacy Software) * Description: The goal of this program is to create a "developer-accessible capability" for piece-by-piece enhancement of software components. This would be done with new, verified code that is both correct-by-construction and safely composable with the rest of the legacy system. * Solopreneur Opportunity: An experienced software engineer could create the "developer-accessible capability" or tool that enables this safe, piecemeal enhancement and verification of legacy software.

123. WARP (Wideband Adaptive RF Protection) * Description: This program seeks to develop wideband adaptive filtering and signal cancellation architectures. The goal is to protect emerging wideband receivers against both external and self-interference in contested spectral environments. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the "architectures" or, more likely, the algorithms for adaptive filtering and signal cancellation.

124. World Modelers * Description: This program aims to develop technology that integrates qualitative causal analyses with quantitative models and relevant data. The purpose is to provide a comprehensive understanding of complicated, dynamic national security questions. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop the core technology that "integrates qualitative causal analyses" (like knowledge graphs) with quantitative models and data.

125. XENA (X-ray Extreme-range Non-imaging Analysis) * Description: The goal of the DARPA XENA program is to develop new methods for image enhancement in long-standoff transmission X-ray scenarios. A key challenge is the presence of motion blur. * Solopreneur Opportunity: A solopreneur could develop "new methods for image enhancement" (likely AI or computational imaging algorithms) that can correct for motion blur in X-ray scenarios.

From <https://gemini.google.com/app/>  Google Gemini 2.5 Pro