Quantum Computing Policy

National Quantum Strategy Briefing Report Quantum computing has increasingly been recognized by governments as a strategic national capability with far-reaching implications for economic competitiveness, national security, scientific #leadership, and technological #sovereignty. As a result, a growing number of countries have adopted formal national #quantum strategies that converge around five pillars: sustained public investment in quantum #research, pathways for commercialization and scale-up, development of a highly skilled quantum #workforce, protection of critical infrastructure, and alignment with #standards, #cybersecurity, and #governance frameworks. Several advanced economies have already published comprehensive national quantum strategies. #Germany introduced one of the earliest coordinated national approaches and has continued to refine it through updated federal programs. #France launched its national quantum plan in 2021, emphasizing sovereignty, industrial competitiveness, and dual-use applications. The #UnitedKingdom published a 10-year National Quantum Strategy in 2023, integrating research excellence with commercialization and defense priorities. #Canada released its National Quantum Strategy the same year, positioning quantum as a cornerstone of long-term economic growth and innovation. At the supranational level, the European Union adopted the Quantum Europe Strategy, framing quantum technologies as essential to strategic autonomy and future competitiveness. #SouthKorea has similarly advanced a national strategy focused on industrial leadership and global supply-chain positioning. #China, #India, and #Australia have each adopted distinct national approaches to quantum technologies reflecting their economic models and strategic priorities. China embeds quantum development within long-term state planning, emphasizing large-scale public investment, infrastructure build-out, and technological self-reliance across communications, computing, and sensing. India advances quantum computing through its mission-driven National Quantum Mission, which focuses on capacity building, indigenous innovation, workforce development, and strategic applications aligned with national digital initiatives. Australia’s National Quantum Strategy is industry-centric, prioritizing commercialization, talent attraction, research translation, and international collaboration to position the country as a competitive global quantum #innovation hub. The United States recently took a step with a newly issued executive order on quantum technologies, mandating a whole-of-government approach and directing federal agencies to update and operationalize a comprehensive National Quantum Strategy. It emphasizes accelerated deployment of quantum computing, sensing, and networking capabilities; strengthened public–private and allied partnerships; and enhanced coordination across research, #defense, and #energy agencies.

Quantum Technology Governance This Open Access book, the first volume in a two-part series on quantum technology governance, provides a systematic examination of the legal and regulatory dimensions of quantum technologies, offering an original contribution to the emerging discourse on quantum governance. It distinguishes itself as one of the first comprehensive analyses to explore how quantum technologies intersect with existing legal frameworks, addressing the implications of quantum advancements for law, policy, and regulatory practice. The work examines how developments in quantum computing, cryptography, and sensing challenge established approaches to intellectual property, cybersecurity regulation, export controls, and public international law, while identifying pathways for adapting and strengthening existing governance structures. It highlights how the non-classical features of quantum technologies stress-test conventional legal doctrines and require interpretive flexibility, anticipatory policymaking, and evidence-based regulatory strategies rather than wholesale reform. Grounded in developments through 2025, the volume equips policymakers with analytical tools to navigate legal uncertainty, balance innovation with risk, and address regulatory gaps in areas such as cybersecurity and export controls, while fostering coordinated responses at national and international levels. The book equips scholars, policymakers, and practitioners with conceptual and practical insights to evaluate the evolving interplay between technological innovation, security, and legal order in the quantum era. With an interdisciplinary perspective, it advances understanding of how legal and regulatory systems can respond to the technical and governance challenges posed by quantum technologies.

Quantum Computing Emerges as a Strategic Flashpoint for National Security Introduction Quantum computing is rapidly shifting from a scientific curiosity to a geopolitical priority. Governments and technology firms are accelerating investments amid concerns that quantum breakthroughs could simultaneously unlock revolutionary capabilities and undermine global cybersecurity, positioning quantum technology as a new frontline in national security competition. The Strategic Stakes Quantum computers promise computational power far beyond classical systems, enabling breakthroughs in optimization, materials science, drug discovery, and artificial intelligence, while also threatening today’s encryption standards. Key Developments and Capabilities Quantum computers use qubits that can exist in multiple states simultaneously, allowing them to solve certain problems that are infeasible for classical machines. Industry leaders estimate that a milestone known as quantum advantage, where quantum systems outperform classical ones on practical tasks, could arrive within three to five years. Achieving this requires advances in scale and quality, including thousands of qubits, extremely high gate fidelity, fast gate speeds, and some form of error correction. Recent progress includes record-setting gate fidelities and early demonstrations of quantum algorithms outperforming classical approaches in narrow tasks. National Security Implications Quantum computing could break widely used encryption schemes, including advanced standards relied upon by governments, militaries, and financial systems. This risk has already prompted legislation requiring U.S. federal agencies to migrate toward quantum-resistant cryptography. The combination of AI and quantum computing could further accelerate both technological breakthroughs and offensive cyber capabilities. Global Competition The United States and China are leading the race, with China investing substantially more in government-backed quantum programs, while the U.S. maintains strength in private-sector innovation and patent activity. Export controls and strategic investments increasingly mirror earlier battles over semiconductors and energy infrastructure. Major technology firms, financial institutions, and defense stakeholders are positioning quantum computing as core to long-term economic and security resilience. Why This Matters Quantum computing represents a dual-use technology with profound strategic consequences. Its ability to reshape encryption, intelligence gathering, and technological dominance explains why governments view it as critical infrastructure rather than optional research. As quantum systems mature, national preparedness, cryptographic transition, and international competition will determine whether quantum power becomes a stabilizing force or a disruptive shock to global security. Keith King https://lnkd.in/gHPvUttw

By 2029, the encryption protecting India's banks, hospitals, power grid, and defence networks may no longer work. We have 36 months. And we are still debating algorithms when we should be writing policy. India has a Quantum Mission. India does not yet have a Quantum Policy. Here is what that policy must contain — in six moves, not sixty: → A National Quantum Security Directive under Section 70B of the IT Act — giving CERT-In and NCIIPC statutory teeth. → Sectoral PQC mandates from RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, TRAI, CEA, and NHA. One directive each. This fiscal year. → "No New Classical-Only" procurement, codified in the General Financial Rules and flagged on GeM. Every rupee earns a Cryptographic Bill of Materials. → DPDP rules protecting long-life data — Aadhaar, UPI, ABDM — with hard re-encryption timelines by 2028. → A National QKD Backbone anchored by C-DoT fiber and ISRO satellites. The 1,000 km milestone is the floor, not the ceiling. → A Quantum Security Coordinator in the PMO — because ownership is the single biggest gap today. A roadmap is not a regulation. A laboratory is not a standard. A mission is not a market. Adversaries are already running Harvest-Now-Decrypt-Later against critical infrastructure in India. Every day without a statutory quantum-safe policy is another day of encrypted Indian data being archived for the year the quantum era arrives. Ministries. Regulators. CISOs. Where does your cryptographic inventory stand? #QuantumPolicy #QDay2029 #PostQuantum #CyberSecurity #DigitalIndia #WDC

I was pleased to join in today’s launch of the OECD Recommendation on Quantum Technologies – the first intergovernmental standard providing shared principles and policy guidance for development and use of quantum technologies. A growing number of countries are investing in quantum computing, sensing and communication, and they are developing national strategies to guide their efforts. But progress depends on more than national efforts: quantum innovation relies on shared expertise, infrastructure and international collaboration. The OECD Recommendation helps governments and other stakeholders strengthen innovation ecosystems, promote secure and trusted access, support resilient supply chains, and foster international co-operation – while addressing risks related to security, privacy and fragmentation. Its adoption marks the beginning of the next phase of collective implementation of quantum technologies, offering a common reference point to guide policy, support co-ordination, and build trust in how quantum technologies are developed and deployed across borders. See: https://lnkd.in/ecqnDdpD Congratulations to Andrés Barreneche García, David Winickoff, Pauline Arbel, Sara Rendtorff-Smith, Audrey Plonk. #Quantum #EmergingTech #InnovationPolicy #OECD

The G7 just named a deadline. In January this year, the G7 Cyber Expert Group, co-chaired by the US Treasury and the Bank of England, published a roadmap for the financial sector's transition to post-quantum cryptography. Not a discussion paper. A roadmap. 2026 is the year you define your PQC strategy. 2030 to 2035 is the window to migrate. That window sounds comfortable. It isn't. Twenty years in payment systems tells you something the qubit headlines don't: migration at infrastructure layer takes years, not months. The rails that move money globally run on the same public-key encryption quantum is designed to break. Replacing that is not a software patch. It is a re-plumbing job, vendor by vendor, contract by contract. The UK's NCSC has a three-phase roadmap ending in full migration by 2035. The BIS tested post-quantum cryptography in actual central bank payment systems. The EU's proposed NIS2 amendment would make PQC transition policy mandatory at national level. Regulators are not waiting for a working quantum computer. Adversaries are harvesting encrypted data today, to crack it the day the machine arrives. On the latest Fintech Decoded, Syed Musheer Ahmed Ahmed and I sat down with two people genuinely inside this problem. Dr. Duncan Wong, Co-Founder of Abelian , walked us through what post-quantum blockchain infrastructure actually has to look like. Reena Dayal , Founder and CEO of QET Council of India (Quantum Ecosystems Technology Council of India) and a member of the WEF Global Futures Council for NextGen Computing, brought the policy lens, including where India's national quantum mission is headed and what the QUAD Alliance is watching. We covered blockchain vulnerabilities, crypto agility as an architecture principle, and where APAC sits in the global quantum race. The question for every CISO, CTO and board in financial services is not whether quantum is real. It is whether your cryptographic inventory exists yet. You cannot migrate what you have not mapped. Episode 12 is out now. Link in comments. #FintechDecoded #QuantumSecurity #PostQuantumCryptography #Payments #CyberResilience #APAC #Fintech

The anticipated U.S. quantum executive order is live. Much of the order is around coordination. Agencies have 30-180 days to update strategy and define technical requirements. The most concrete piece is QC-ADDS, which will deliver at least 1 QPU to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and make it available to the scientific community. It’s important to note it is not funding. It is a statement of intent and a set of agency action items. There is much to be seen after the initial reports are delivered. A few additional items worth consideration: ⚇ There is a lot of language around strengthening the domestic quantum supply chain, identifying blockers, improving access to key resources and supporting the component technologies that quantum companies will need to scale in the U.S. ⚇ The language around national security merits more attention. There is effort to balance innovation and protection, but the need to review the risks of commercial QPUs suggest this could affect international collaboration. ⚇ The focus on workforce is encouraging, but incomplete. The order mentions post-secondary training, but support does not appear to be broad enough to support all of quantum needs, especially the technicians, developers, communicators, and mid-career professionals. ⚇ The international section is also more complicated than “collaboration.” It promotes ties with “like-minded countries”, but also makes clear that quantum partnerships will increasingly be filtered. Other takeaways from the community: ⚇ Constanza M. Vidal Bustamante, Ph.D. pointed to adoption, arguing that U.S. leadership will depend on whether the federal government can act as an anchor customer and accelerate deployment. ( https://lnkd.in/g_NFnvhE ) ⚇ Matt Swayne noted that the order puts attention on benchmarking, including a national center to assess quantum computing performance. ( https://lnkd.in/grybCQt8 ) ⚇ Steve Suarez® analyzed both 14409 and 14411 executive orders together; one is meant to accelerate quantum development, while the other makes PQC a dated, board-level readiness issue. ( https://lnkd.in/gRbJWmGB ) ⚇ Joe Spencer noted the order appears to push toward a 2028 timeframe, raising the question of whether the timelines are ambitious because of technical readiness, political urgency or both. ( https://lnkd.in/gHJqRGdX )

Switzerland just published its first national quantum strategy. No billion-dollar headline. No promise to build a fault-tolerant quantum computer by some very specific date. No national champion picked. Instead: a 20-page document written by people who clearly understand the technology and aren't trying to sell you anything. What struck me most: → On quantum computing, they state plainly that no fault-tolerant machine or commercially successful application has been demonstrated. Current error rates are 7 orders of magnitude from where they need to be. → On quantum communication, they flag that Switzerland has no national QKD network - while peer nations are already building them. → On quantum sensing, they're quietly sitting on one of the strongest positions in Europe, with devices already at TRL 6-8. → The recommended investment? CHF 200-300M. Against billion-dollar programs elsewhere, that looks modest - until you look at what they're actually building with it. The strategy refuses to play the "quantum race" game. Instead, it bets on something harder to copy: ecosystem depth, institutional trust, open collaboration, and neutral ground. As a part-time Geneva resident, I couldn't help but see the CERN parallel. Switzerland built the world's most important physics lab not by outspending everyone, but by being the place where everyone could work together. This strategy hints at a similar ambition for quantum. Whether that bet pays off against programs with 10x the public funding is one of the more interesting questions in quantum policy right now. More on PostQuantum.com: https://lnkd.in/dwFGkQU5 #Switzerland #Quantum #QuantumStrategy

🚀Pleased to share our newest publication in EPJ Quantum Technology (Springer Nature), bridging STEM expertise with policy insight to assess risk, resilience, and foresight in quantum supply chains: https://lnkd.in/gJCedsha ⚛️"Strategic governance of quantum supply chains: a criticality-based framework for risk, resilience, and data-driven foresight" ✒️I had the pleasure of writing this article with International Institute for Strategic Studies's Dongyoun Cho and Stanford University's MIN-HA LEE. As quantum technologies move from laboratory research toward real-world deployment, a central question becomes increasingly urgent: how resilient are the underlying supply chains on which trusted quantum scaling depends? ❗Quite simply, without secure access to refined critical minerals & materials, we cannot build quantum computers at scale... These include high-purity silicon, germanium, gallium, rubidium, cesium, niobium, Helium-3, and molybdenum. 💡In this paper, we introduce the Quantum Criticality Index (QCI), a framework for assessing supply risk, substitutability, and strategic significance across quantum-relevant materials, components, and equipment. We augment that framework with an artificial neural network-based trend-detection module and forward-looking stress testing to identify chokepoints before they crystallize into systemic constraints. 🧭Using molybdenum (Mo) as a case study, we show how upstream dependencies can affect superconducting circuits, single-photon detectors, cryogenic hardware, and other dual-use, security-sensitive systems. We then translate those diagnostics into a governance framework linking diagnosis, decision, and delivery, with implications for allied procurement, intellectual property governance, targeted licensing, and verifiable, sustainable supply-chain assurance. 🎓The broader argument also connects directly to my Bletchley Park findings: durable quantum security cannot rest on cryptography alone. It requires twin pillars: timely post-quantum cryptography (PQC) migration to protect data and critical infrastructure, and resilient quantum supply chains to secure the physical industrial base on which quantum systems depend. This article also builds on findings developed at Stanford RQT during our Stanford Law School tenure, and on Min-Ha Lee’s Stanford RQT project, The Quantum Criticality Index (QCI), where we worked to connect legal and policy analysis with engineering and scientific inquiry on quantum technologies. Grateful to my co-authors and to the institutions connected to this work. Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Seokyeong University #QuantumTechnology #AI #QuantumGovernance #SupplyChains #PQC #NationalSecurity #CriticalMaterials #STEM #Engineering #Physics #QuantumPolicy #StanfordRQT

👍 The בנק ישראל Bank of Israel has published a directive addressed to “Banking Corporations and Licensed Payment Service Providers Chairman of the Board and CEO” on requirements related to cyber risks associated to the development of quantum computing. Highlights: 👉 It is important to prepare the banking system for information security and cyber risks related to quantum computing. 👉 Organizations are required, at a minimum, to: 📌 Raise awareness within the banking corporation, continuously monitor developments in quantum computing, and assess the associated cyber risks Inform all relevant parties within the banking corporation, including the board of directors and senior management 📌 This topic should be discussed periodically in line with technological developments, at least once every two years, and include a review of general developments in quantum computing 📌 Continuously monitor ongoing developments in quantum computing that may impact cyber defense 📌 Integrate quantum computing considerations into the cyber risk management process with the supply chain 📌 Avoid reliance on suppliers and manufacturers that are not preparing for the quantum era 👉 Mapping and Managing Encrypted Information Assets 📌 Map encrypted information assets and processes (Discovery and inventory) 📌 Create a transition plan 📌 Metadata to include in the inventory: - Type of encryption algorithm and key length - Information owner’s details - Systems and applications using the algorithm - Duration for which the encrypted information is valid and must remain encrypted - Sensitivity and criticality level of the information 👉 Development of skills and capabilities 📌 Start preparing to build an infrastructure that will enable the banking corporation to be adequately prepared: 📌 Train employees 📌 Define the resources that will be needed 📌 Assess the compatibility with PQC of the existing infrastructure 📌 Prepare for the transition 📌 Identify affected policy documents and procedures, and plan to update and validate them 📌 Define alternative solutions for cases where systems cannot be converted Organizations are required to develop an initial plan addressing these points. The plan should be discussed by the board of directors and management. 📅 This preparedness plan should be submitted to the Banking Supervision Department within one year from the date of the directive (January 7th, 2025).   This directive reminds the advisory published by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on February 2024, although it is more execution oriented, including a deadline. Bank of Israel directive: https://lnkd.in/dQj-dyce MAS advisory: https://lnkd.in/dSbpTuYK #cybersecurity #pqc #quantum #cryptography