The $1.2 billion U.S. National Quantum Initiative (NQI) was enacted in December 2018 for a ten year period with budget authorizations for science activities specified only for the first five fiscal years which ended on September 30, 2023. Although the U.S. Congress has a lot of issues to work through first, like the full government’s budget for FY2024, we do expect that will be get around to renewing the NQI in one form or another later this year. Support for quantum technology is one issue that carries support from both sides of the political aisle.

 The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a hearing on this topic in June of this year and we had published some of our recommendations a few days after that hearing. In addition, the U.S. National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee (NQAIC) issued a report with their findings which we summarized in an article here.

Now, the Center for Data Innovation has published a comprehensive report that provides ten recommendations for policy action by Congress. The report includes a background on some of the previous quantum research funding from the U.S. government, a description of key quantum research centers supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE), a brief description of quantum research support by the UK, Canada, and the European Union, and recommendations for a renewed NQI. These NQI recommendations include a funding level of at least $525 million per year for the next five fiscal years, support for providing researcher access to quantum computing resources, education and workforce development programs, a supply chain study, and international cooperation.

Although the U.S. government was one of the earliest funding of quantum technology research, in recent years the U.S. has been lagging behind a few other countries. The report maintains that having a strong quantum technology ecosystem is strategically crucial for the United States in terms of both its economic and societal well-being and that the U.S. government should take proactive measures immediately to maintain its leadership position

The full report is titled The U.S. Approach to Quantum Policy and it can be accessed on the website of the Center for Data Innovation here.

October 14, 2023