Industry group calls on Trump to appoint a quantum czar

The industry group focusing on ensuring the U.S. government continues funding quantum information sciences research and development sent a letter to President Donald Trump shortly before his inauguration asking him to appoint an official in charge of quantum at the White House and to reauthorize a bill he signed into law during his first term in office.

Sent by the Quantum Industry Coalition, the letter asks Trump to reauthorize the landmark National Quantum Initiative Act, originally signed into law in December 2018. The authorization under that original legislation expired in 2023. The group also called for updates to the original bill text, including a renewed focus on more commercial applications.

“A reauthorized NQI should account for the six years of progress and innovation that the U.S. quantum industry has made since you signed the original bill into law,” Paul Stimers, the executive director of the QIC, writes. “This means expanding the focus from pure research to include quantum applications and commercialization. Agencies should be focused on near-term, real-world results, not just fundamental theory. Lastly, programs should be nimble and move more quickly to engage with new innovations as they develop.”

One larger detail the QIC recommends is the appointment of a quantum czar to lead the National Quantum Coordination Office in the White House. This position would focus on accelerating the adoption of existing quantum sciences technologies across the federal government and advocate for similar adoption in the private sector as well.

The czar position would also help agencies understand the fundamentals of quantum information sciences and technologies, how they can further mission operations and how to effectively cultivate workforce to meet these demands. 

Updating procurement policies is also on the coalition’s wish list, notably modifying the process to accommodate more emerging technologies like quantum information systems. The letter also touches on the importance of keeping the security and availability of supply chains intact during trade negotiations and policy development.

“When considering trade policy, please keep in mind that quantum technologies rely on a global supply chain with very few suppliers of certain key components and no one country owning the entire supply chain for any one quantum technology,” the letter reads. “Efforts to ensure a more robust, domestic quantum supply chain, including the support of domestic manufacturing of chips for quantum technologies and other critical components, would also be of a great benefit to our nation.”

Prior to the start of Trump’s second administration, lawmakers had worked to push forward the National Quantum Initiative Reautorization Act that would reactivate the programming offered in the 2018 bill, but were unable to do so before the end of that Congress. 

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