Quantum Computing Gains More Support and Funding from Federal Agencies
(FedTechMagazine) The Federal Agencies of the Energy Department, NSF and NIST will work together to promote quantum computing, with additional backing from the White House.
The federal government is putting even more resources behind the nascent technology. Early 2020 saw requests for increased funding and the creation of new programs and scientific benchmarks.
In January, DOE announced up to $625 million in funding to form two to five National Quantum Information Science Research Centers, which, said the DOE press release, would “create the ecosystem needed to foster and facilitate advancement of quantum information science, with major anticipated benefits for national security, economic competitiveness and America’s continued leadership in science.”
The centers were established as part of the National Quantum Initiative Act, which became law in December 2018 and began coordinated quantum research among NIST, DOE and the National Science Foundation.
The White House’s fiscal year 2021 budget request in February also asked for nearly $500 million for those agencies to fund that research, increasing its investment in quantum by about 50 percent over fiscal 2020.