From: Harris, Brad (BHarris@schafercorp-ballston.com)
Date: 09/25/01
Agents Researchers- Today was my last official day at DARPA, and as I've long threatened, here is that final goodbye message. I was going to send something witty and biting, but the events of the past couple of weeks demand a more serious message. I am extremely proud to have worked with you all, and very proud of the impact your work is having. When I first came to DARPA, I must admit that I was somewhat ambivalent about working for the Department of Defense - I know a couple of you asked "what's an old hippy like you, doing in a place like that?" My answer then, and I became more sure of it as time went on, was that the enemy of the future was not a major war with a "peer competitor," but the threat of terrorism -- a major event (and, I hate to say it, but the one we just saw is only a warm up to what could happen) was the most likely thing to keep our kids from growing up to adults -- and something I felt compelled to fight. The agents programs hold great promise - and what your technology has accomplished over the past three years is a marvel. CoABS is transitioning into use in all the military services, DAML technology is in the midst of a promising transition into daily use in the intelligence community, and TASK truly holds the potential to be a major revolution in computer science - and the foundation of a new generation of information technology tools. As well as these applications, you've done some amazing science as well. The mobility TIE started in CoABS is leading to some major new approaches to mobile computing, and the agents frameworks many of you are pursing look very promising. TASK meetings are now the premier agent-science gatherings I know of, and I continue to see the count of papers and articles you produce climbing rapidly. DAML is moving amazingly well, and I believe Tim Berners-Lee is going to owe a number of us beers for getting ontologies onto the net sooner than he thought possible. In addition, the work in DAML-services and rules is truly exciting, and I am actually beginning to believe it when I say that we really are going to change the world! I could go on all night, but let me simply end by saying that it's been truly a priviledge to work with such talented people, and I look forward to continue working with many of you as I return to academia. Thanks for all you time, effort, and putting up with the times I yelled, Jim H. -- Professor James Hendler hendler@cs.umd.edu Director, Semantic Web and Agent Technologies 301-405-2696 Maryland Information and Network Dynamics Lab. AV Williams Building Univ of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 http://www.cs.umd.edu/users/hendler
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