Virtual Research Associates (VRA)

Research Partners

Since its founding in 1996, VRA has been working closely with shared staff and affiliates at Harvard University on the development of the PANDA, and later IDEA, protocols -- the former is the focus of a project that has been led at Harvard since 1988 by VRA President and Harvard research staff member, Dr. Doug Bond. In addition to the protocol work done by VRA employees, independent analysts and scholars also conduct studies related to VRA efforts, including collaborative efforts with scholars from Uppsala University, the University of Zurich, Ohio State University, the University of Minnesota and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

VRA Projects and Clients

Past and present clients include US government agencies, the intelligence community, private businesses, academic institutions and non-governmental and inter-governmental humanitarian organizations. Recent projects include monitoring political and economic activity, reform and stability, tracking the diffusion of biomedical events, and creating systems to improve the ability of organizations to track and respond to emergency situations. Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), The Ohio State University, the US Army and the US Navy, and other government agencies, have all contracted VRA’s services. The VRA Field Reporter system has been operational since January 2000 at the Swiss Peace Foundation and since October 2001 at World Vision International. The system is also being used in several university-based research projects and within the US government.

Partners and Clients

Research Partners