NQI Advisory Committee: National Quantum Initiative Should Be ‘Reauthorized And Expanded’

Insider Brief

• Findings for the first independent assessment of the National Quantum Initiative Act recommend the program should be reauthorized and expanded.
• NQI has “increased the United States’ capacity in quantum information science and technology (QIST) R&D.”
• Recommends all authorized QIST programs should be funded at the authorized levels.

PRESS RELEASE — the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee (NQIAC) published its first independent assessment of the National Quantum Initiative (NQI) program, including recommendations for enhancements to the Program, in a report titled, Renewing the National Quantum Initiative: Recommendations for Sustaining American Leadership in Quantum Information Science.

The report identifies three findings, four overarching recommendations, and nine detailed recommendations.

Findings

1. In its first five years, the NQI has increased the United States’ capacity in quantum information science and technology (QIST) R&D.
2. The development of QIST is critical to U.S. economic and national security.
3. Key scientific, engineering, and systems integration challenges remain and must be solved for the United States to realize the full economic impacts and benefits of QIST.

Overarching Recommendations

1. To ensure U.S. leadership in QIST, the NQI Act should be reauthorized and expanded. All authorized QIST programs in the NQI Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and other relevant legislation should be funded at the authorized levels.
2. To ensure that the United States leads in QIST discovery, innovation, and impact, efforts should be increased to attract, educate, and develop U.S. scientists and engineers in QIST-related fields, improve and accelerate pathways for foreign QIST talent to live and work in the United States, and increase support for research collaboration with partner nations.
3. To safeguard the security and competitiveness of U.S. advances in QIST, the United States should develop policies that thoughtfully promote and protect U.S. leadership in QIST; expand domestic center-scale and single principal investigator QIST research activities and infrastructure; and evaluate and improve the reliability of global supply chains for QIST.
4. To realize the potential of QIST for society, the NQI must accelerate the development of valuable technologies. This goal will require new programs in engineering research and systems integration that will enable a virtuous cycle of maturing and scaling of quantum systems to useful applications through multisector partnerships and engagement with end-users.

For detailed recommendations, go here.

Full report here.

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