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DOD, Illinois Partner on Quantum Projects

The Defense Department is partnering with Illinois to expand quantum research in the state (Chicago Sun-Times).

What’s going on: “The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, will take residency on the state’s quantum campus to establish a program where quantum computing prototypes will be tested. … [T]he goal of the ‘Quantum Benchmarking Initiative,’ or QBI, will be to evaluate and test quantum computing claims and ‘separate hype from reality.’”

  • DARPA will invest up to $140 million in the soon-to-be-constructed campus, where it and the state of Illinois will test quantum technology prototypes “leveraging [the state]’s recent $500 million quantum budget outlay and the region’s deep bench of world-leading scientists to strengthen national security” (The University of Chicago).
  • .Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker is a longtime advocate of quantum computing and intends to make the state “the Silicon Valley of quantum development.”

Why it’s important: Quantum computing is “an extremely complex science,” according to the Chicago Sun Times, but one that has the power to eventually solve some of humanity’s biggest problems.

  • “[R]esearchers at the University of Chicago are already working on projects such as creating a super-sensitive quantum sensor that could detect biological and chemical changes at the molecular level, which could lead to instant detection of diseases. Other work is setting the path toward data transfers that cannot be breached.”
  • The campus—which will include a cryogenic facility, required for research and development involving microelectronics and quantum technologies—is expected to generate up to $60 billion in economic impact and create thousands of jobs. 

Where it will be: A former U.S. Steel South Works location in South Chicago and an old Texaco refinery have been suggested as possible sites for the campus, but no final decisions have been made.

NAM in action: In June, the NAM and six allied groups urged the House to pass the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act “[t]o secure American leadership” in the field.

  • “The nations that lead in quantum development and commercialization will reap a global strategic advantage,” they said. “Other countries—especially China—are making significant investments in this area and are challenging U.S. leadership in this realm. [This legislation] would ensure that government resources help support and leverage already significant private-sector investments.”

Read all about it: Check out our previous interviews with quantum computing firm D-Wave about its work on a project to increase efficiency at the busy Port of Los Angeles, as well as its pitch for using quantum computing to remove or remediate potentially dangerous PFAS chemicals used in the supply chain.
 

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