US government needs quantum commercialisation strategy calls former CIA official

Laura E. Thomas, senior director of national security solutions at ColdQuanta, a US-based cold atom quantum technology company, and a former US CIA officer, recently wrote that the US government needs a quantum commercialization strategy.
 
Getting the US government's regulatory and financing strategy right for the technology is a bigger challenge than building million-quantum-bit computers, she writes. As a former CIA case officer, she knows all too well how slow the government can be to act if left to its own devices, even in the "most dangerous of times". Yet she also says that decision-makers in the right position can bring value if they are able to make the tough decisions.
 
Government can help pave the way for commercialization, or it can kill the industry before it gets on the right track. In addition to a quantum R&D strategy, the US government needs a quantum commercialization strategy. Quantum technology needs to move from the lab in the world, she said.

To move the industry forward, she suggests that the US government should:
 
1. Provide more funding to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The Internet and GPS both came from DARPA. Therefore, the development of quantum technology will also need to look to DARPA and some parts of the Department of Energy. As funding increases, DARPA should consider allocating more money to each company that focuses on long-term research in quantum error correction and quantum navigation. 

2. NSF should purchase different types of quantum computers from 20 different universities for use by researchers and students. Provide funding for physics departments at traditionally black universities and colleges (HBCUs) and less well-off schools to increase diversity in the quantum technology industry. 
 
3. Create a large, well-funded project for quantum sensors within the DoD to replace small-scale research. For example, the DoD could fund a $200 million program to deploy a quantum positioning system (QPS) that is more robust, compact, accurate, and secure than the current GPS system. The government should also provide more funding for the Pentagon's National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC) program, whose role is to help hardware-focused companies cross the valley of death through non-dilutive investments. If the government is really serious about this, then these investments would have to be at least $5 million or more. US taxpayers will reap their benefits in long-term value creation, even if some companies inevitably fail or fail to meet expectations.
 
4. While the government has an important role to play, it also needs to know where the boundaries are. Until US companies have established globally dominant quantum capabilities, the government should not create additional regulation through export controls. A key element of US national and economic security is openness. Regulation at this early stage will only hinder the ability of the US to build global quantum companies and become a greater threat.

Thomas added: "The US government must move more quickly to inject more money into the commercial sector for these emerging technologies. This new technological era requires us to compete at a pace and scale that government budget processes cannot currently handle. Smaller companies can grow quickly, and we are in an era where speed, not efficiency, is paramount as we must scale before geopolitical competition unfolds that is pouring tens of billions of dollars directly into the sector."
 
Not everyone in a senior position in the US government has to believe in the potential of quantum, she said. But it would be wise to hedge your bets. The US government should make such bets by pushing for a commercialization strategy now. At least it shouldn't stand in the way of it.

Paper Link: https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/27/the-us-government-needs-a-commercialization-strategy-for-quantum/