Strange Days/WMG
Strange Days takes place in the same universe as Avatar
The SQUID was developed by the government for covert surveillance and military/police training purposes according to the film. Somewhere along the line, they adapted the technology, allowing users to control actual living (albeit empty) entities for alien colonization.
Strange Days takes place in the same universe as Dark Angel
The presence of SQUID technology in the late 1990s makes all the advanced technology in Dark Angel (such as Manticore's genetic engineering tech) seem more plausible for the early 2020s. The societal conditions in Dark Angel could also easily be seen as the logical extension of those in Strange Days; it's not hard to imagine America limping along as it was in the film for another ten years before the Pulse finally pushed it over the edge.