Rising Stars on the cutting edge

Two feature in this issue illustrate two of the fun aspects of covering the governmentinformation technology market: One is the technology, and the second isthe people.In our Emerging Technology feature on defense IT,staff writer Doug Beizer explores the workings of theDefense Advanced Research Projects Agency and thecutting-edge technologies that DARPA funds.The role of DARPA in the birth of the Internet is wellknown,but the agency also has been a driver of researchinto robotics, spectrum management andmaterials science.Be sure to cut out "Heilmeier's catechism,"which lists a set of questions thatyou should be able to answer when pitchinga project to DARPA.Our cover story highlights not emergingtechnology but emerging people ? or, aswe're calling them, the rising stars of the government market.These are people in the first third of their contracting careers who are alreadyliving up to their potential. They are hard at work helping their companies andcustomers succeed.They also give back to the broader community by volunteering their time andenergy to industry groups and charitable organizations.What drives people like our Rising Stars and DARPA's cutting-edge technologyis the idea of service to a greater good and the opportunity to solve urgentproblems.To borrow from Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Ulysses," the idea is "to strive,to seek, to find, and not to yield."