NSF Wants Industry Driving Quantum Innovation

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has positioned itself as a leader in quantum information science and technologies (QIST) to align with President Donald Trump’s vision of American technological dominance. NSF officials outlined how private-public partnerships are critical to national QIST development during the Quantum Technology Showcase on the Hill last week.

NSF Assistant Director for Mathematical and Physical Sciences David Berkowitz told GovCIO Media & Research at the event that the industry’s quantum platforms are beneficial for researchers. Berkowitz compared investing in quantum technologies to investing in a financial portfolio: investing in a variety of quantum tech means more opportunity.

“We need a diverse portfolio … we don’t know which platform is going to win [but we know] more than one will,” Berkowitz told GovCIO Media & Research. “We’ve invested in [multiple platforms], and we are trying to motivate industry to move to a higher technology readiness level.” 

The 2022 CHIPS and Science Act established the Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate within NSF to build partnerships and accelerate research results from the lab to market. TIP Assistant Director Erwin Gianchandani told GovCIO Media & Research that developing relationships is a key growth component of programs like the National Quantum Virtual Laboratory and the NSF Engines. 

“We really want to see how we can bring industry to the table with some of our leading-edge academic researchers to [find more] applications … and help engender new innovations around fundamental quantum science, while furthering other fields,” said Gianchandani.  

Congress Eyes Quantum Legislation

The National Quantum Initiative (NQI) Act was passed in 2018 during the first Trump administration. Parts of the NQI related to research and development activities expired in September 2023, which has motivated lawmakers to push for reauthorization. 

California Congressman and Chair of the House Subcommittee on Research and Technology Jay Obernolte told GovCIO Media & Research that ensuring NSF has funding for QIST research and development is investing in the United States’ economic and national security. 

“The fact that the investments that we make in basic science have proven to be the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars in all of federal government,” Obernolte said. “For every dollar that we invest, [the U.S.] gets a higher return value on research that’s conducted and eventually on our economy.” 

Language in the reauthorization act allocates $2.7 billion to NSF, the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from fiscal years 2025 to 2029 to advance quantum research and development. The reauthorization language also focuses on developing practical quantum applications and expanding public-private partnerships. 

“This is technology that already has commercial applications, and those are going to be near term applications,” Obernolte told GovCIO Media & Research. “That’s a very useful message because it drives home to people the fact that [this technology] is going to have an impact not in the distant future but now.”