The Next Five Years of the National Quantum Initiative U.S. Congress to discuss soon

According to the House Space, Science and Technology Committee website, Congress will schedule a hearing on June 7 on advances in quantum technology. Funding for the future of the U.S. National Quantum Initiative (NQI) is likely to be one of the topics of debate.

The committee, chaired by Frank Lucas, is likely to include testimony from witnesses Paul Dabbar (former Under Secretary for Science at the Department of Energy), NASA Chief Scientist Eleanor G. Rieffel, Quantum Economic Development Consortium Executive Director Celia Merzbacher, and Emily Edwards, Executive Director of IQUIST at the University of Illinois. Edwards' testimony.

Dabbar, who currently serves as CEO of quantum communications startup Bohr Quantum, wrote in a LinkedIn post that this could be an ARPA-Net-like moment: the rapid maturation of quantum technology and the equally rapid emergence of a unique business-academic ecosystem.

Today, he writes, "Congress is considering reauthorizing NQI for another five years. Quantum computing is now close enough to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national labs to build a design and procurement cycle for the next supercomputer (including QPUs in the architecture). And, existing technology already exists to deploy quantum networks for the first time nationwide: the quantum Internet is like the ARPA-Net of 1969-which sparked the NSF Net and eventually led to the Internet."

With a mix of national security issues and increased competitiveness in the field, there is little indication that Congress is abandoning NQI; indeed, it may be strengthened: when there was little bipartisanship, NQI had broad bipartisan support.

Dabbar, who as deputy secretary was involved in the passage of the legislation, believes that the program's initial success as a catalyst for quantum will ensure that the project continues to be extended.

The dramatic growth in quantum technology has not only led to large new workstations at national labs and universities, but has also triggered private sector investment in the field: more than $6 billion so far," Dabbar wrote. I like to refer to U.S. government funding for NQI as 'seed money.' And, as a result, a number of scientific and technological achievements have been produced."

Reference links:

[1] https://thequantuminsider.com/2023/06/01/congressional-hearing-to-gauge-u-s-s-commitment-to-national-quantum-initiative/

[2]https://www.linkedin.com/posts/paul-dabbar-499728226_full-committee-hearing-advancing-american-activity-7069775605793251328- 94Ua/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

[3]https://science.house.gov/2023/6/full-committee-hearing