In-Q-Tel names new CEO

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In-Q-Tel, the private strategic venture firm associated with the CIA, has named Christopher Darby president and chief executive officer, effective Sept. 18.

Darby succeeds Scott Yancey, who had been interim chief following Amit Yoran’s resignation in April after only four months on the job.

Darby was vice president and general manager of Intel’s Middleware Products Division. He joined Intel in August 2005.

He was president and CEO of Sarvega, a venture-backed supplier of Extensible Markup Language networking and security products, when the company merged with Intel. Before he joined Sarvega, Darby was chairman and CEO of @stake, an Internet security consulting firm that Symantec acquired.

At @stake, he assembled a group of leading security researchers and built a business that spanned North America and Europe, according to an In-Q-Tel announcement.

Darby has also served as an administration adviser during the formation of the Homeland Security Department, and he has testified before Congress on critical infrastructure security issues. He is a senior fellow at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies in Washington, D.C., and a graduate of the University of Western Ontario.

“I am excited to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with a team that has already contributed so much to our national security,” Darby said in the statement. “In-Q-Tel’s name is synonymous with technology innovation within the government and in the private sector as well.”

“The In-Q-Tel Board of Trustees recognizes the value that we place on this innovative company and has made an extensive search to identify a CEO to lead In-Q-Tel with the same professionalism, technology expertise and business acumen we’ve relied upon since the company was founded,” said Stephanie O’Sullivan, deputy director for science and technology at the CIA.

In-Q-Tel was established in 1999 as an independent, private, not-for-profit company to help the CIA and the intelligence community identify, acquire and deploy cutting-edge technologies. Gilman Louie was the first CEO.

The company has produced more than 130 innovative technologies, many of which have contributed directly to intelligence missions, according to In-Q-Tel. Technology delivered by the company, for example, makes it possible to fuse data from maps, images, text and other sources; visualize information in new ways; and rapidly process vast amounts of information in multiple languages.

"We are delighted that Chris Darby is joining In-Q-Tel as president and CEO," said Lee Ault III, chairman of the board of In-Q-Tel, in the statement. "As an energetic and experienced entrepreneur with a deep understanding of technology, Chris brings to In-Q-Tel the qualities we were seeking in a leader to build on In-Q-Tel's large and growing base of portfolio companies and our top priority: delivering leading-edge solutions to pressing challenges confronting the CIA and other members of the intelligence community."