82 FR 42541 - Building the Foundations for Quantum Industry

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Institute of Standards and Technology

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 173 (September 8, 2017)

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requests information about the broader needs of the industrial community in the area of quantum information science (QIS). NIST seeks input from stakeholders regarding opportunities for research and development, means and methods of inducing interaction and collaboration, providing support for emerging market areas, identifying barriers to near-term and future applications, and understanding workforce needs. As part of this effort, NIST will hold a workshop on Thursday, October 5, 2017. The information received in response to this RFI and during the workshop will inform recommendations for the development and coordination of U.S. Government policies, programs, and budgets to advance U.S. competitiveness in QIS.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 173 (Friday, September 8, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42541-42542]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-19081]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology

[Docket No. 170804731-7731-01]


Building the Foundations for Quantum Industry

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; request for information (RFI).

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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 
requests information about the broader needs of the industrial 
community in the area of quantum information science (QIS). NIST seeks 
input from stakeholders regarding opportunities for research and 
development, means and methods of inducing interaction and 
collaboration, providing support for emerging market areas, identifying 
barriers to near-term and future applications, and understanding 
workforce needs. As part of this effort, NIST will hold a workshop on 
Thursday, October 5, 2017. The information received in response to this 
RFI and during the workshop will inform recommendations for the 
development and coordination of U.S. Government policies, programs, and 
budgets to advance U.S. competitiveness in QIS.

DATES: 
    For Comments: Comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time 
on October 10, 2017. Written comments in response to the RFI should be 
submitted according to the instructions in the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section below.
    For Workshop: The Workshop on Building the Foundations for Quantum 
Industry will be held on Thursday, October 5, 2017 from 9:00 a.m. to 
5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Attendees must register by 5:00 p.m. Eastern 
Time on September 29, 2017.

ADDRESSES: 
    For Comments: Written comments may be submitted only by email to 
Dr. Jacob Taylor at [email protected] in any of the following formats: 
ASCII; Word; RTF; or PDF. Please include your name, organization's name 
(if any), and cite ``Building the Foundations for Quantum Industry 
RFI'' in the subject line of all correspondence. All comments will be 
made publicly available at https://www.nist.gov/news-events/events/2017/10/quantum-industry-day as submitted. Accordingly, proprietary or 
confidential information should not be included in any comments, as 
they will be posted without change.
    For Workshop: The workshop will be held at NIST, 100 Bureau Dr., 
Gaithersburg, MD 20899. Please note admittance instructions under the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice. To register, go to: 
https://www.nist.gov/news-events/events/2017/10/quantum-industry-day. 
Additional information about the workshop will be available at this web 
address as the workshop approaches.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kimberly Emswiler, Jacob Taylor, or 
Carl Williams by email at [email protected], or Kimberly Emswiler by phone 
at (301) 975-4208. Please direct media inquiries to NIST's Office of 
Public Affairs at (301) 975-2762.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: Twenty five years of research and development work in 
QIS is producing dramatic new commercial opportunities domestically, 
including the first niche applications. There is also an increasing 
level of international activity and investment in the field. NIST is 
requesting this information and holding the workshop in support of the 
Interagency Working Group (IWG) on QIS of the National Science and 
Technology Council, Committee on Science, Subcommittee on Physical 
Sciences. The IWG was chartered in October 2014 to develop and 
coordinate policies, programs, and budgets for QIS research and 
development, and to further develop the scientific basis, 
infrastructure, future technical workforce, and intellectual property 
that will be required to address agency missions and secure future U.S. 
competitiveness in QIS. The IWG includes participants from the 
Departments of Commerce, Defense, and Energy; the Office of the 
Director of National Intelligence; and the National Science Foundation. 
In 2016, the IWG published an initial report identifying key challenges 
for emerging quantum industry, including: Institutional boundaries, 
education and training, technology development, and levels and 
stability of funding.

Request for Information

    NIST seeks input from stakeholders regarding opportunities for 
research and development, emerging market areas, barriers to near-term 
and future applications, and workforce needs. The objective of this RFI 
is to gather facts that will assist the IWG's formation of 
recommendations for the development and coordination of U.S. Government 
policies, programs, and budgets to advance U.S. competitiveness in QIS. 
The questions below are intended to assist in the formulation of 
comments and should not be construed as a limitation on the number of 
comments that interested persons may submit or the issues that may be 
addressed in such comments. Comments containing references, studies, 
research, and other empirical data that are not widely published should 
include copies of the referenced materials. As noted above, all 
comments will be made publicly available as submitted; therefore 
proprietary or confidential information should not be included. NIST is 
specifically interested in receiving input pertaining to one or more of 
the following questions:

(1) Identification of Opportunities

    QIS includes, for example, quantum computing and processing, 
quantum algorithms and programming languages, quantum communications, 
quantum sensors, quantum devices, single photon sources, and detectors. 
What areas of pre-competitive QIS research and development appear most 
promising? What areas should be the highest priorities for Federal 
investment? What are the emerging frontiers? What methods of monitoring 
new developments are most effective? What market areas are well-
positioned to benefit from new developments in QIS? Where will a 
technology perspective study help most? Where are roadmaps useful for 
coordination?

(2) Surmounting Challenges

    The 2016 report ``Advancing Quantum Information Science: National 
Challenges and Opportunities'' \1\ identified institutional boundaries 
and knowledge transfer challenges, as well as workforce needs across 
the emerging quantum industry. To what extent are these challenges 
addressable by the formation of consortia? May they be addressed with 
structured academic-commercial or commercial-governmental interactions? 
What potential collaborative structures might

[[Page 42542]]

industry adopt to best address these challenges?
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    \1\ https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/images/Quantum_Info_Sci_Report_2016_07_22%20final.pdf.
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(3) Funding and Knowledge Considerations

    Uncertain market needs, imperfect investment levels and mechanisms, 
undeveloped technology, challenges in dissemination of information, and 
technology transfer are some of the potential barriers to adoption of 
QIS technology. What are the greatest technical and organizational 
barriers to advancing important near-term and future applications of 
QIS and what should be done to address these barriers? What methods 
might be adopted to encourage both small and large efforts to provide a 
healthy industrial base? Which areas are underfunded, inconsistently 
funded, or need better funding clarity from the government for progress 
of the industry as a whole? At what level of knowledge or development 
should intellectual property move from being freely available to 
exclusive? How can industry or government address these concerns?

Workshop

    The purpose of the workshop is to convene stakeholders in the 
development and commercialization of quantum technologies to address 
the identified key challenges via industrial, academic, and 
governmental means. Topics to be discussed include opportunities for 
research and development and means and methods of facilitating 
interaction and collaboration such as creation of consortia, providing 
support for emerging market areas, identifying barriers to near-term 
and future applications, and understanding workforce needs. Information 
gathered at this workshop will be used in the development and 
coordination of U.S. Government policies, programs, and budgets to 
advance U.S. competitiveness in QIS. Furthermore, this workshop will 
provide a discussion place for industry to consider methods of 
collaboration in a neutral setting, including the potential benefits of 
developing a technology perspective study as well as other helpful 
organizing elements, including consortia and future roadmap development 
for subfields.
    This workshop will focus on addressing the key challenges described 
above under ``Request for Information.'' It will include invited 
presentations by leading experts from academia, industry, and 
government; time for group discussion; and breakout sessions for 
discussing subfields, potential consortia frameworks, and the role of 
technology perspective studies.
    There is no cost for participating in the workshop. No proprietary 
information will be accepted, presented or discussed as part of the 
workshop, and all information accepted, presented or discussed at the 
workshop will be in the public domain.
    All workshop participants must pre-register at the following web 
address to be admitted: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/events/2017/10/quantum-industry-day. Anyone wishing to attend this meeting must 
register by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on September 29, 2017, in order to 
attend. Also, please note that federal agencies, including NIST, can 
only accept a state-issued driver's license or identification card for 
access to federal facilities if such license or identification card is 
issued by a state that is compliant with the REAL ID Act of 2005 (Pub. 
L. 109-13), or by a state that has an extension for REAL ID compliance. 
NIST currently accepts other forms of federally-issued identification 
in lieu of a state-issued driver's license. For detailed information 
please contact Kimberly Emswiler at (301) 975-4208 or visit: http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/visitor/.

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 272(b)(1), (4), (11) & 15 U.S.C. 
272(c)(12).

Kevin Kimball,
NIST Chief of Staff.
[FR Doc. 2017-19081 Filed 9-7-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-13-P