U.S. Must Preserve its Quantum Advantage.

• Author: Johnson, John C.
• Position: VIEWPOINT

U.S. dependence on networks for secure financial transactions, communications, manmachine interface and unbreakable battlefield situational awareness has grown significantly over the years to a point where "arms race" is now a misnomer.

Instead, the situation is best described as "technology quest." Research centers around the globe are now under pressure, pushing state-of-the-art technologies. In the commercial environment, first-tomarket yields higher revenue and greater profits. In national security vernacular, "profits" equate to safeguarding communications and realizing national security objectives.

U.S. dependence on technology has become acute, especially with the current maneuvering and positioning by those willing to upset international stability. It is now an imperative to prevent a slow, spiraling descent while potential adversaries ascend. A survey of the sciences that have the potential to shift the paradigm yields a sole area of technical knowledge with enormous implications across the spectrum of commercial and defense: quantum technology.

Subsequently, to prevent any technology erosion, President Joe Biden signed an "Executive Order on Enhancing the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee" on May 4 which reports directly to the White House. This group of independent experts will advise the government and its many agencies on the development status of quantum technology.

No longer a laboratory experiment, quantum technology now yields practical applications, but there is irrevocable harm if wielded by contrarians to global order. Encrypted transactions today can be held in depositories by others until such time as quantum computing is able to decipher what we today consider unbreakable code. Intellectual property, classified data and all personal information will be considered "open source" information. The danger is incomprehensible and the very reason for the presidential decree. To fully grasp the potentiality, Americans must educate themselves in the science of quantum technology.

Those not familiar with quantum technology often have the following reactions to its mention: a questioning look, an acknowledgment of its far distant potential or visions of the large cryogenic units required to slow atomic particles to a motionless state to initialize value.

Yet, a fourth group is working diligently each day with the technology to move beyond the binary bit, with a value of o or 1, to the qubit, with a value of o and 1...