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A good Reuters story by security correspondent Mark Trevelyan highlights the role venture capital and other private investment is playing in the rapidly growing security and intelligence technology sector. Noting that Venture Business Research has tracked more than $6 billion of investment into private security and defense businesses in the U.S. and Europe so far this year, up from $3.5 billion in all of 2006, the story touches on government's increasing reliance on private development to advance technology. Even before 9/11, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency sponsored the formation of In-Q-Tel as a venture capital fund focused on technology for security and intelligence, but the story highlights participation by the federal government's Technical Support Working Group in helping sponsor an annual contest by M.B.A. students at London Business School to identify the most promising new spy gadgets, upping the prize from $10,000 last year to $500,000 this year. NoblePeak Vision Corp., a spinoff from Bell Laboratories, walked away with the prize for a night-vision camera that picks up short-wave infrared light, but other spyware vying for the award included biometric technology to recognize keyboard users by their typing behavior and a handheld device for testing exposure to nerve agents. Among investors taking notice included Paladin Capital Group, which maintains a specialized Homeland Security Fund that invests in deals related to public safety. - Clifford Carlsen See Nov. 26 story from Reuters See December 2005 story from TheDeal.com
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From: Alain Sherter,
Estelle--Thanks for catching our error. We've amended the post to reflect the correction. Alain Sherter
Posted on:
November 29, 2007 12:50 PM
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The contest mentioned in the article was organised by M.B.A students from London Business School (not the University of London). Their initiative is called the Global Security Challenge and runs every year.