US Quantum R&D Strategy Unfolding Across the Government

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

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> From: FYI <fyi () aip-info org>
> Date: September 28, 2018 at 6:50:22 AM GMT+9
> To: farber () central cis upenn edu
> Subject: US Quantum R&D Strategy Unfolding Across the Government
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> Number 110: September 27, 2018
> US Quantum R&D Strategy Unfolding Across the Government
> At a Sept. 24 summit, the White House released an initial national strategy for advancing quantum information 
> science, while the Department of Energy and National Science Foundation awarded $249 million in QIS grants. A Senate 
> hearing the next day considered DOE’s role in a National Quantum Initiative.
> Excitement around quantum R&D jumped to a new level this week in Washington, D.C., with events on both ends of 
> Pennsylvania Avenue illuminating America’s emerging national strategy for quantum information science (QIS).
>  
> On Sept. 24, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy convened a summit with leaders from federal 
> agencies, academia, and industry to discuss how to accelerate progress in QIS and the development of QIS-based 
> technologies. Coincident with the summit, the Trump administration released a “National Strategic Overview for 
> Quantum Information Science” that outlines its plan for advancing the field. The Department of Energy and National 
> Science Foundation also announced grant awards totaling $218 million and $31 million, respectively.
>  
> Meanwhile, a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing held the next day reviewed DOE’s role in QIS and 
> made clear that the legislative push to launch a National Quantum Initiative is continuing to gain momentum.
>
> Among the federal participants in a Sept. 24 White House summit on quantum information science were (from left) OSTP 
> Assistant Director for Quantum Information Science Jacob Taylor, NSF Director France Córdova, DOE Under Secretary for 
> Science Paul Dabbar, National Institute of Standards and Technology Director Walter Copan, and Under Secretary of 
> Defense for Research and Engineering Mike Griffin. (Image credit – OSTP)
>    
> Grand Challenges central to ‘science-first’ quantum strategy
>    
> Produced by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), an interagency coordination body, the National 
> Strategic Overview for QIS identifies a set of “policy opportunities” that the federal government will address 
> through agency-level plans that are due early next year. These plans will inform the development of an overarching 
> strategic plan.
>    
> Many of the opportunities and challenges detailed in the report are similar to those identified in a 2016 NSTC report 
> on QIS, but the latest iteration breaks new ground by outlining an approach structured around multidisciplinary 
> research centers that focus on “Grand Challenges” in specific subfields. The report argues such an approach is 
> prudent because it is too early to predict what QIS-enabled technologies will materialize:
>    
> “Even now, while prototype QIS applications, platforms and devices are becoming commercially available, new 
> applications and platforms will likely come from protocols and approaches that are not yet invented. Thus, the 
> Government should maintain robust and diverse platforms and research thrusts that continue to stimulate 
> transformative and fundamental scientific discoveries by taking an approach that puts the science first.”
>    
> Accordingly, the report continues, the “pursuit of scientific and applied Grand Challenges will be the unifying 
> strategy.” Agencies will identify challenges in specific sub-fields such as quantum sensing, networking, and 
> computing in their forthcoming plans. The report also anticipates solutions to such challenges will require 
> investments in multidisciplinary teams of researchers and technologists over a period of at least ten years.
>    
> To tackle these challenges, it endorses the establishment of “joint quantum technology research centers” focused on 
> pre-competitive R&D as well as “end-user testbed facilities” that help stakeholders gain familiarity with new quantum 
> technologies and explore potential applications.
>    
> It also calls for the creation of a U.S. Quantum Consortium that would assess workforce, infrastructure, and 
> technology needs. For instance, one focus would be to help ensure there is an adequate supply of “quantum-essential 
> supporting technologies that are not intrinsically quantum in themselves,” such as cryogenics, low-noise microwave 
> amplifiers, and nanofabrication devices.
>    
> The report also stresses the need for a “quantum-smart” workforce that possesses a combination of physics, 
> computational, and engineering expertise. It identifies fundamental research as the “main mechanism” for fostering 
> this workforce, but also states that the current U.S. educational system “rarely” provides graduates with the 
> cross-disciplinary experience needed to solve QIS challenges.
>    
> Accordingly, academic institutions will be encouraged to take actions that ensure students are exposed to a “diverse 
> yet convergent set of disciplines,” such as formalizing quantum engineering as a disciplinary track and establishing 
> training programs with industry.
>    
> Beyond strengthening the domestic workforce, the report states the U.S. should increase cooperation with 
> “like-minded” nations and “prioritize strategic bilateral partnerships” to access international talent and 
> capabilities. Promoting open access to QIS research data when appropriate and advancing international standards that 
> aid the adoption of new technologies are identified as further priority areas.
>    
> The report also acknowledges that the economic benefits of new QIS-based technologies must be weighed against the 
> national security risks such advances could generate. Given the dual-use nature of some quantum technologies, federal 
> agencies will both “ensure consistent application of existing classification and export control mechanisms” and 
> strive to provide the “largest amount of information possible” related to QIS research to universities and industry.
>    
> DOE laying groundwork for new quantum research centers
>    
> The Senate hearing on Sept. 25 offered a window into how the “National Quantum Initiative Act” is also shaping agency 
> activities despite still being under development. The Senate version of the bill does not yet contain DOE provisions, 
> as it originated in a separate committee that lacks jurisdiction over the department. However, Committee Chair Lisa 
> Murkowski (R-AK) said she is “proud” to be working on the bill, indicating her committee plans to contribute 
> DOE-related provisions to it.
>    
> DOE Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar noted that even though the bill has not yet been enacted, it has already 
> stimulated conversations among national labs, universities, and industry about what form the research centers 
> envisioned by the legislation should take.
>    
> Dabbar explicitly endorsed a provision in the House bill that directs DOE to create up to five QIS-focused R&D 
> centers. He said that while it is important to continue supporting smaller-scale QIS research efforts, “establishing 
> three to five national quantum centers would anchor the national program to ensure discoveries would rapidly 
> translate from technological advances.”
>    
> Dabbar said DOE is working on a plan to spend $120 million on QIS in fiscal year 2019, nearly double the amount it 
> spent in fiscal year 2018. In written testimony, he also detailed how the DOE Office of Science distributed the $218 
> million in multiyear QIS awards announced at the White House summit across three program offices.
>    
> Of the total, the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research is awarding $81 million to develop computing 
> hardware and software, including two new quantum computing testbeds at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and 
> Sandia National Laboratories that will operate similarly to DOE’s other national user facilities. Of the remaining 
> amount, the Offices of Basic Energy Sciences and High Energy Physics are awarding $106 million and $31 million, 
> respectively, to advance R&D on a wide range of topics, from quantum materials synthesis techniques to quantum-based 
> sensors capable of detecting dark matter particles.
> Contact the Author
>
> Mitch Ambrose
> American Institute of Physics
> mambrose () aip org
> (301) 209-3095
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> The Week of September 24
>
> - White House Holds Quantum Summit
> - Trump Signs DOE Funding Increase
> - NSF, NIH Announce Measures to Address Sexual Harassment
> - Plus: In Case You Missed It / Events / Opportunities
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