ATARC

What ATARC does

ATARC (Advanced Technology Academic Research Center) is a U.S.-based non-profit collaborative forum founded in 2018 that convenes federal government agencies, technology vendors, and academic institutions to address emerging IT challenges. Headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia with an event footprint anchored in Reston, Virginia, the organization operates 15+ active working groups covering agentic AI, zero trust, cyber-AI convergence, DevSecOps, quantum computing, identity management, insider risk, threat intelligence, and supply chain risk management, meeting on a bi-weekly cadence. Its core deliverables are not packaged products but rather demonstration labs (Zero Trust Lab Phases 1–3 and Agentic AI Lab), recurring summits (GITEC, Next-Gen Cyber Operations, Mission AI), podcasts and white papers, the ATARC-UMD Certificate program, and applied research pilots such as a multi-agent AI procurement review system that evaluated an $8.5 million federal vendor proposal.

ATARC's platform rests on technology provided by strategic partners: AWS GovCloud (FedRAMP High baseline) as the secure virtual demonstration environment, GitLab as the working group software pattern repository, and Zoom for remote collaboration. Membership is open-ended across three constituencies: 80+ corporate technology members (AWS, Microsoft, Google Public Sector, GitLab, Red Hat, ServiceNow, CrowdStrike, Qualys, Delinea, Netskope, Saviynt, Maximus, ThreatLocker, Privoro, Abnormal AI), federal agencies spanning civilian, defense, judicial, and intelligence communities, and academic partners including the University of Maryland and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The business model combines a recurring corporate membership stream with event-based sponsorship and registration revenue and ancillary professional services such as NASBA-registered CPE credits. Government, military, and academic participants attend events free of charge, while individual industry registration is priced at $295 and corporate members receive free event registration as part of multi-year contracts. Tiered event sponsorships (Elite, Tech Talk, Tabletop, Supporting) and the Integration Center venue in Reston provide distribution channels for member vendors seeking direct federal buyer access.

Name

ATARC

Legal name

Advanced Technology Academic Research Center

Website

https://atarc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ATARC is a non-profit collaborative forum that convenes U.S. federal agencies, technology vendors, and academic institutions to address emerging IT challenges through 15+ working groups, demonstration labs, summits, and applied AI research pilots.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Technology Collaboration Services

NAICS

Business Associations (813910), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Executive Summits & Invitation-Only Forums (MPAGAGAK)

Keywords

• Government IT forum
• Technology working groups
• Federal cybersecurity collaboration
• Emerging technology research
• Government industry partnership

Headquarters

HQ city

Ashburn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Corporate Membership: ATARC operates on a corporate membership model where technology companies pay membership fees to participate in working groups, access repositories, and engage with government customers.
2. Event Sponsorships: Industry partners sponsor ATARC summits and events, gaining visibility and access to government audiences. Events like the Next-Gen Cyber Operations Summit feature tiered sponsorships (Elite, Tech Talk, Tabletop, Supporting).
3. Continuing Professional Education (CPE): ATARC is registered with NASBA as a CPE sponsor, offering continuing education credits for professional development through events and working groups.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ATARC is a collaborative non-profit forum that operates technology working groups, demonstration labs (Zero Trust Lab, Agentic AI Lab), and annual summits (GITEC, Next-Gen Cyber Operations) to bring together federal government agencies, technology vendors, and academia to address emerging IT challenges. It generates revenue through corporate membership fees, event sponsorships, and continuing professional education (CPE) credits, while producing white papers, podcasts, and proof-of-concept research pilots.

Product overview

ATARC (Advanced Technology Academic Research Center) is a collaborative IT forum for government that provides a platform of labs, working groups, events, and educational resources rather than a single unified product. The organization operates multiple specialized laboratories including the Agentic AI Lab and Zero Trust Lab (with three phases), facilitates over a dozen working groups covering domains from cybersecurity to quantum computing, hosts annual summits including GITEC and Next-Gen Cyber Operations, and produces podcasts and white papers. Key offerings include research pilots like the AI-assisted procurement review system, professional certificate programs with University of Maryland, and access to software repositories through GitLab for working group collaboration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Agentic AI Lab A dedicated laboratory focused on advancing agentic AI technologies for government applications, enabling testing and development of multi-agent AI systems.
• Zero Trust Lab A multi-phase laboratory initiative testing Zero Trust security architectures, with Phase 3 covering AI Track, Mobility Track, and Multicloud Track.
• GITEC (Government IT Executive Club) Summit Annual summit bringing together government IT executives for emerging technology discussions, innovation awards, and collaboration opportunities.
• Next-Gen Cyber Operations Summit Annual cybersecurity summit focusing on Zero Trust operationalization, cloud security at scale, and AI-powered threat detection and response for federal agencies.
• Technology Working Groups Collaborative forums covering 15+ specific technology domains including Agentic AI, cATO, Cyber AI Convergence, DevSecOps, Fraud Detection, Global Quantum, Identity Management, Insider Risk, SCRM, Threat Intelligence, and Zero Trust.
• ATARC-UMD Certificate Program Educational certificate program offered in partnership with University of Maryland for professional development and certification in emerging technologies for the government workforce.
• Corporate Membership Program Recurring subscription membership granting technology companies access to working groups, software pattern repositories, demonstration labs, and engagement with government buyers through the ATARC Integration Center.
• Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Program NASBA-registered continuing professional education credits offered through ATARC events and working group participation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully conducted AI agent proof-of-concept evaluating $8.5 million federal vendor proposal, identifying compliance gaps

Named customers13 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability7 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core, elite sponsor, tech talk sponsor, tabletop sponsor and supporting sponsor.

• Amazon Web Services (AWS)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerAWS is ATARC's strategic partner, enabling a secure virtual technology demonstration and testing environment to help accelerate the delivery of cloud solutions. US GovCloud gives government customers and their partners flexibility to architect secure cloud solutions that comply with FedRAMP High baseline and other compliance regimes.
• Zoom (for Government)coreTechnology or IntegrationZoom enables ATARC remote collaboration opportunities through its cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chats and webinars across all devices. Allows individuals from government, industry and academia to communicate directly.
• GitLabcoreTechnology or IntegrationGitLab has provided the repository for ATARC's Working Group software patterns. GitLab is a complete DevOps platform that helps teams accelerate software delivery and reduce development costs.
• Google Public Sectorelite sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerElite sponsor for the Next-Gen Cyber Operations: AI in Action Summit, positioned as a premier event partner.
• CrowdStriketech talk sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerTech Talk sponsor at the Next-Gen Cyber Operations Summit, providing cybersecurity expertise and thought leadership.
• Abnormal AItech talk sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerTech Talk sponsor specializing in AI-based email security solutions for government customers.
• Qualystabletop sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerTabletop sponsor at the Next-Gen Cyber Operations Summit focusing on cloud and edge cybersecurity.
• ThreatLockertabletop sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerTabletop sponsor providing zero trust endpoint protection solutions.
• Delineatabletop sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerTabletop sponsor specializing in privileged access management and secrets orchestration.
• Netskopesupporting sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerSupporting sponsor for the summit, providing secure access and data protection solutions.
• Saviyntsupporting sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerSupporting sponsor offering enterprise identity governance and cloud infrastructure security.
• Maximussupporting sponsorGTM or Marketing PartnerSupporting sponsor providing technology and consulting services to government agencies.
• PrivorocoreTechnology or IntegrationPartner for Zero Trust Lab Phase 3 demonstration, providing hardware-enforced mobile security solutions for classified environments.
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerORNL researchers present on quantum computing use cases for power grid simulations and optimization problems, contributing to ATARC's quantum working group research.
• University of Maryland (UMD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerATARC-UMD Certificate program provides professional development and certification opportunities for government workforce in emerging technologies.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• ACT-IAC: ACT-IAC (American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council) is the most direct peer — a non-profit public-private partnership operating working groups, events, and training programs for the federal IT community, with overlapping membership from major federal contractors.
• AFCEA International: AFCEA is a long-established non-profit association serving defense, intelligence, homeland security, and government IT professionals with working groups, conferences (TechNet events), and training — directly comparable in mission and operating model.
• GovLoop: GovLoop is a government-focused online community and training platform serving federal, state, and local government professionals, operating a comparable forum-based model with guides, events, and online training resources.
• FedScoop: FedScoop is a leading government technology media brand producing events (Scoop News Group events), newsletters, and editorial content targeted at federal IT decision-makers — overlapping membership and sponsor base with ATARC.
• MeriTalk: MeriTalk is a public-private partnership research organization producing federal IT research, events, and awards — directly comparable in its government-industry research forum model and similar sponsor base.

Broad incumbents

• Government Executive Media (GovExec): GovExec is a broader government media and events company serving federal managers and policymakers; ATARC already partners with GovExec for the FedBrief newsletter distribution, indicating overlapping audience and ecosystem role.
• Carahsoft: Carahsoft is the largest government IT solutions distributor, frequently co-located with ATARC summits (e.g., Next-Gen Cyber Operations at Carahsoft Conference Center) — a partner/distributor with comparable government IT access.
• Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS): CSIS operates major technology and cybersecurity policy programs and convenes government-industry task forces; it is broader and policy-oriented but comparable as a convening body for federal IT and cyber topics.

Regional players

• GovernmentCIO: GovernmentCIO is a federal IT services and media firm producing research and events on federal technology modernization; a peer in audience (federal IT buyers and vendors) but more commercially focused than ATARC.

Emerging players

• TechPolicy.Press: Tech Policy Press publishes analysis and convenes dialogue on technology policy including AI governance and federal IT — partial overlap with ATARC's AI governance and policy-oriented working groups.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/atarc
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCvpv1imzr6IA_MNOru8l1Ew
• Facebookfacebook.com/atarclabs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/9225805

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ATARC