If you want insight into the federal government’s vision of safeguarding America in the future, take a look at the investment portfolio of In-Q-Tel, the venture arm of the CIA.

In-Q-Tel was formed in 1999 to provide capital to startup companies developing technologies that could be used for national security. It operates not as a division of the CIA, but as an independent nonprofit.

High on its list of priorities is finding new ways to analyze massive amounts of information. Many of In-Q-Tel’s portfolio companies provide technologies that gather and make sense of data. For example, Language Weaver provides automated language translation. NovoDynamics reads and translates text in Mideastern languages.