The House Science, Space and Technology Committee is planning to maintain a hearing on Thursday, Jan. 22 to talk about the progress the National Quantum Initiative Act has made because it was signed into regulation by President Donald Trump in 2018, in accordance to three sources with information of the plans.
House lawmakers are trying to hear from employees at NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Energy Department and the National Institute of Standards and Technology on the NQI and its position in future federal quantum info know-how analysis and growth work.
The witnesses embrace James Kushmerick, director of the Physical Measurement Laboratory at NIST; Saul Gonzalez, directorate head at NSF’s Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Mark Clampin, NASA Science Mission Directorate’s deputy affiliate administrator; and Tanner Crowder, the quantum info science lead at Energy.
The NQI initially allotted about $1.27 billion to federal quantum info know-how R&D programming. Following its lapse in 2023, multiple bills have been launched to enhance federal funding in quantum know-how and associated sciences, and industry groups have voiced a necessity for renewed passage.
Last week, Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Todd Young, R-Ind., reintroduced the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act. Though it shares many options with the unique, the reauthorization invoice would allocate extra funds — almost $1.5 billion.
Advancing and making ready quantum sciences, significantly quantum computing, have grow to be nationwide coverage priorities and are anticipated to pose a big risk to present cryptographic safety schemes used to defend delicate knowledge.
Trump 2.0 has continued to prioritize quantum know-how and science coverage. The administration is within the strategy of crafting an executive action that’s anticipated to replace federal company timelines to full their migrations to a post-quantum resilient cryptographic commonplace.
Nextgov/FCW reached out to NSF, NASA, NIST, the Energy Department and the House Science, Space and Technology Committee for remark.