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On Monday, leadership from the Department of Commerce emphasized the importance of centering a national security perspective in emerging technology arenas, particularly in quantum information systems and technologies.
Speaking during a forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves noted that there are larger financial and policy elements required to support a quantum information sciences and technology industry in the U.S.
Discussing arenas like supply chain and international partnerships, he said that cultivating a robust, domestic quantum information science industry extends beyond the fundamental science.
“I think it’s important to not talk about things like neutral atoms and qubits and cryptoanalytically relevant quantum computers and quantum things like that, and talk about what it actually means,” Graves began. “It’s enabling us to do a whole lot more than we had ever thought possible.”
Funding was a paramount topic in Graves’s remarks, as he said that the Department of Commerce is focused on shoring up U.S. leadership in QIST work through strategic federal investments and private sector participation.
“We are the world’s leaders in quantum, but we can only maintain that leadership if we’re able to continue to invest and continue to to develop the cutting edge quantum technologies,” he said. “We have to rely on our private sector to drive development, but we can make investments … where there’s market inefficiencies, where the private sector needs additional support.”
Graves cited Commerce’s Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs Program as an example of identifying and investing in domestic technology ecosystems at a federal level. He also emphasized partnerships between private sector entities, academia and the federal government as a means to reduce individual overhead expenses and foster innovation.
“The equipment costs a lot of money, so the companies work together closely with the universities, and so the companies are sharing employees to some extent,” he said. “There’s this virtuous circle. In fact, one of the companies we visited was talking about how they talk with other companies to get ideas on how to solve many of the challenges they face. This is a place where, in fact, all of the boats can rise if one of the boats is rising.”
Given the importance of the U.S. private sector in fighting for leadership in QIST disciplines, Graves said that Commerce is “having ongoing discussions” with the business community to help shape the agency’s posture on export controls, which govern how select technological products are distributed and shared globally. These set the tone for international market competition, and Graves said that national security will remain a priority area in these discussions.
“We won’t compromise on national security, full stop,” he said. “That’s something that is absolutely essential to us, but we have to recognize that economic security is also national security, so getting that balance right is important to us.”