Federal Investment in Quantum Information Science in FY 2024

Assuming the U.S. Congress gets its act together and eventually passes a formal budget for the President to sign, funding for federal investment in Quantum Information Science (QIS) should be healthy in fiscal year 2024. Four agencies are responsible for the bulk of QIS spending: the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Department of Defense (DOD).

Combined identifiable QIS spending for these agencies in FY 2024 will total at least $1.0B. I write “at least” because there are research and development programs at each of these agencies that are exploring QIS as part of a wider range of technology experimentation. It is impossible to parse the spending specifically on QIS in these programs. Suffice it to say the proposed budget numbers presented here cover the bulk of R&D investment going to QIS.

Here are the proposed QIS FY 2024 budget totals for the four departments and agencies listed above. Additional detail for these organizations is provided below.

The DOD number is divided between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), which are the two largest Fourth Estate organizations investing in QIS R&D. The Military Departments are also engaged in QIS R&D, but most of those programs have broader scopes of research than just QIS so I have left them out of this analysis.

National Science Foundation

QIS investment now has its own budget line. R&D will “develop proof-of-concept devices, tools, systems, and applications with a demonstrable quantum advantage over their classical counterparts. For example, quantum sensors will enhance resolution and detection capabilities.”

Department of Energy

Energy’s Office of Science is responsible for most QIS R&D. FY 2024 funding for the Advanced Computing Research programs QIS efforts will be dedicated to the National Quantum Information Sciences Research Centers developing the quantum internet and quantum testbeds.

National Institute of Standards and Technology

QIS research at NIST will further the development of four algorithms selected to “become part of NIST’s post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) standards. PQC is being developed to harden current cryptography against evolving quantum threats. In addition, NIST engineers and partners will “invest in the fundamental science and infrastructure necessary to improve the performance and reliability of quantum technologies for practical applications in sensing, networking, computing, and the associated measurement standards.”

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

DARPA has several QIS-related initiatives underway. They include the Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing (US2QC) program, which “will (1) evaluate disruptive designs for utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers, specifically, systems that can be constructed in less than 10 years; (2) demonstrate each of the enabling sub-systems and components for these designs; and (3) construct a prototype fault-tolerant quantum computer that demonstrates that utility-scale design is viable.”

Another DARPA program is called Quantum Inspired Classical Computing (QuICC). This program “will implement quantum-inspired algorithms using classical dynamic systems in novel computing architectures for the efficient solving of complex optimization problems. Currently, too much computational energy is required to solve mission-scale optimization problems leading to sub-optimal solutions and excessive computation times. This program will create frameworks for analyzing the computational advantage provided by quantum-inspired algorithms and perform the hardware and algorithm co-design needed to reduce the required energy to optimally solve mission-scale problems.”

Office of the Secretary of Defense

OSD’s Quantum Sciences Technology program will develop the underlying building blocks of quantum systems. The effort focuses specifically “on identifying, developing and maturing critical components supporting technology for atomic clocks, quantum sensors, and quantum computers; Supports aligning and leveraging multiple organizations for DOD needs across academic institutions, national laboratories, non-profits, and private industry.” Finally, OSD hopes to accelerate the transition of laboratory-scale systems to manufacturable commercial quantum products.

Final Thought

QIS is a highly specialized area of R&D applicable to only a few supporting companies and academic institutions. It is nevertheless incredibly important for the advances it promises to enable. Artificial intelligence capabilities in particular will become vastly more powerful once a viable quantum system is developed. For that reason alone, all vendors in the IT market should keep an eye on QIS investment. It promises to change the world as we know it.