July 31, 2023
The United States’ Quantum Talent Shortage Is a National Security Vulnerability
A critical technology area promises to transform nearly every industry dependent on speed and processing power, from agriculture and financial services to health care and defense: quantum information science and technology, or QIST. QIST is an interdisciplinary field studying how to apply the laws of quantum physics to various forms of information processing, including computation and messaging. Quantum technologies’ promising but unknown potential has led the Biden administration to rank U.S. leadership in this area among its highest priorities, but the United States currently lacks access to the talent required to maintain competitiveness. The United States’ QIST talent shortage is a national security risk—and the White House has no solid plan to fill critical vacancies.
The United States has QIST advantages but can only maximize them by first prioritizing the development of a robust, diverse, and agile quantum workforce.
QIST encompasses three primary subfields. Quantum computing studies how superposition and entanglement—two properties inherent in quantum bits, or qubits—can store data and solve problems too complex for current computers. Quantum communication exploits the properties of qubits to encode information and transfer data between distant locations, achieving a level of security not possible by current communication networks. Quantum sensing uses the sensitivity of quantum states to measure physical properties like temperature, magnetic field, and rotation with unparalleled precision.
Read the full article from Foreign Policy.
More from CNAS
-
Video
Technology & National Security
The Geopolitics of 6G with Vivek Chilukuri, Michael Calabrese, and Lindsay GormanVivek Chilukuri, senior fellow and program director at the Center for a New American Security, joined POLITICO Policy Outlook to discuss the geopolitical implications of 6G, t...
By Vivek Chilukuri
-
Commentary
Technology & National Security
Two Illegal Biolabs Reveal Gaps in U.S. BiosecurityThis article was originally published on Lawfare.Last month, law enforcement officials launched an investigation into a suspected biolab in the Las Vegas home of Chinese natio...
By Sam Howell
-
Commentary
Technology & National Security
CNAS Insights | America’s AI Cyber Defense Gap Needs Congress to ActTwice in the past five months, the U.S. Congress has allowed the authorization for U.S. cyber threat intelligence sharing to lapse. In each case, it managed only short-term ex...
By Spencer Michaels, Janet Egan & Michael Daniel
-
Podcast
Technology & National Security
War Is Deadly. Why Is Trump Turning It into a Meme?Israel says it killed two of Iran’s highest-ranking leaders in an airstrike on Monday night. And President Trump is bashing allies for declining to help secure the Strait of H...
By Paul Scharre
