An Initial Look at Alternative Computing Technologies for the Intelligence Community

Abstract : We have broadly surveyed the landscape of computing as it relates to the problems of interest to the intelligence community (IC). We find there is no single alternative computing technology (ACT) that is universally applicable to the wide range of IC applications, although there are particular solutions that are suited to individual application classes. We therefore recommend that the IC consider an application-driven, holistic design approach that spans a broad range of technologies and computational models. The application classes we considered were discrete math, big data, distributed sensing and processing, scientific/numerical simulation, robotics/autonomous systems. Holistic design could extend beyond a single technology to include integration of multiple, heterogeneous ACTs as needed to meet application/architecture requirements.