IDA is the Institute for Defense Analyses, a not-for-profit corporation that operates three Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) in the public interest: the Systems and Analyses Center, the Science and Technology Policy Institute, and the Center for Communications and Computing. IDA exists to promote national security, preserve the public welfare, and advance scientific learning by analyzing, evaluating, and reporting on matters of interest to the United States Government.
IDA operates three Federally Funded Research and Development Centers
Systems and Analyses Center
IDA’s Systems and Analyses Center assists the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the Joint Staff, the Combatant Commands, and Defense Agencies in addressing important national security issues, focusing particularly on those requiring scientific and technical expertise. ...
Science and Technology Policy Institute
IDA’s Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) provides rigorous and objective analysis of science and technology (S&T) policy issues for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the National Science Foundation, ...
Center for Communications and Computing
Since the 1950s, IDA’s Center for Communications and Computing has performed fundamental research in support of the National Security Agency’s mission in cryptology: Foreign signals intelligence and the security of information and communications of the U.S. Government. ...
Free from commercial conflicts of interest, IDA provides straightforward objectivity.
"FFRDCs were established to provide the Department of Defense with unique analytical, engineering, and research capabilities in many areas where the government cannot attract and retain personnel in sufficient depth and numbers."
Hon. Ashton B. Carter, then Deputy Secretary of Defense,
December 9, 2010