Quantum Researchers Tell Congressional Committee U.S. Lags in Race With China
Source: WSJ on October 25, 2017
Good morning. Quantum computing, the frontier of computational development, is in critical stages of exploration, and the U.S. must work harder and invest more capital if it wants to be competitive with rivals, especially China, researchers told a Congressional committee on Tuesday. Speaking at a House Science Committee hearing, six quantum information science experts, including those from International Business Machines Corp. and the Department of Energy, said the emerging technology’s progress is at an “inflection point” worldwide and more federal funding is needed to train experts and advance real-world application, CIO Journal’s Sara Castellanos reports.
Kind of like the Space Race. “When one examines the depth of the commitments other countries are making in quantum computing, our belief is the U.S. government investment in driving this critical technology is not sufficient to stay competitive,” said Scott Crowder, vice president and chief technology officer for quantum computing at IBM Systems Group, at the hearing. The U.S. is facing stiff competition from China, where scientists made headway this year in using quantum technology to build an “unhackable” global communications network. Construction is also currently underway in China for a $10 billion research center for quantum applications, said Dr. Crowder. The EU announced in 2016 it would create a 1 billion euro research effort on four areas of quantum technology. Christopher Monroe, founder of quantum startup IonQ Inc. advocated Tuesday for federal funding for a $500 million National Quantum Initiative over five years