Quantum technology isn’t just a tool with big national security implications – it also can help save the planet.
Federal agencies are exploring a range of practical quantum applications and are moving beyond theoretical research in those efforts, a senior Department of Energy (DoE) official said this week.
Speaking at a Hudson Institute event on Dec. 9, Rima Oueid, the senior commercialization executive at the Energy Department’s Office of Technology Transitions, said that as agencies advance toward quantum applications, the Energy Department and NASA are exploring the technology not just for national security but also as a source of innovative solutions.
Quantum technology leverages quantum mechanics – using small particles such as atoms and subatomic particles – to perform calculations, conduct ultra-precise measurements, secure communications, and secure data encryption.
One recent push in quantum technology includes a collaboration between the Energy Department, NASA, and the Department of Defense (DoD) to use quantum technology to create a “quantum-enabled space economy for the revitalization of Earth,” Oueid shared.
Sensing technology used in the revitalization project would not only be applicable to NASA and outer space but could also be used on Earth to assist with position and navigation timing, resource exploration, and give the Pentagon the ability to see through walls, Oueid continued.
Research and applications in one area of quantum technology are usually cross-applicable, such as quantum sensing systems having transferable capacities to quantum computing, Oueid explained.
Using similar quantum technology isn’t only happening at the three Federal agencies, it’s happening across the board.
“We’re starting to realize there are applications where it makes sense for us to connect quantum sensing, quantum networking, with quantum computing,” Oueid explained. “That is the ultimate system that will allow us to really take this to another level. And so, these pieces … it’s a matter of us putting it together.”
The challenge, Oueid said, isn’t in having access to technology but in finding creative and innovative applications for quantum tech.
“Quantum technology has so many applications, it’s literally about being creative enough to ask, can we do this and what if, all of a sudden … more applications start to become reality with the same technology,” said Oueid.
Other applications of the technology include the Energy Department using quantum technology to support infrastructure development in space with the aim of space-based manufacturing of material such as fiber optics which Oueid explained has high fidelity and could lead to better fiber-based quantum networking.
Momentum around quantum has grown in government and in Congress. A Senate bill filed last week proposes a $2.7 billion boost in Federal funding which would support quantum research and development and build on the recently expired National Quantum Initiative that stems back to President-elect Trump’s first term in office. The Senate bill, if it becomes law, would authorize NASA to work on quantum satellite communications and quantum sensing technology for the first time.
Other agencies taking recent strides toward quantum applications include the Department of Transportation which identified 18 priority areas where quantum technologies could be applied in the near future.
