Commerce Dept. Eyeing Support for Quantum, Tech Supply Chains

The Commerce Department is pushing for increased financial resources and policy measures to bolster the U.S. quantum information science sector and the broader technology supply chain, said Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves on Monday.

During a Center for Strategic and International Studies event on Sept. 23, Graves underscored the need for strategic tech investments that consider supply chain constraints to enhance the nation’s competitiveness and ensure robust support for emerging technologies critical to future advancements.

“We are the world’s leaders in quantum, but we can only maintain that leadership if we’re able to continue to invest and continue to develop the cutting-edge quantum technologies,” Graves said. “We have to rely on our private sector to drive development, but we can make investments … where there’s market inefficiencies, where the private sector needs additional support.”

The Commerce Department, Graves explained, is focused on shoring up U.S. leadership in quantum work through strategic Federal investments and private sector participation. Part of this strategy is leveraging its new supply chain risk assessment tool – dubbed SCALE – to guide investments in essential technologies such as quantum computing.

SCALE, which the department unveiled earlier this month, is a supply chain risk assessment tool that the agency said will increase the government’s ability to be “more proactive and strategic” about assessing structural supply chain risks across the country.

“What we’re trying to do right now is make these investments, but to do it in a way that also understands the supply chain constraints,” Graves said. “Our SCALE tool, a first of its kind, allows us to look at those vulnerabilities, those choke points and supply chains all across the spectrum to better understand [our] challenges.”

The quantum technology supply chain, for instance, is both global and highly specialized due to the intricate nature of the technologies involved, and the fact that a disruption in any single link can lead to significant delays in technology development and deployment.

For example, quantum computers rely on super-cooling devices known as dilution refrigerators, which are primarily produced in Finland, while essential rare earth materials are often sourced from China, according to a 2021 report by the Government Accountability Office.

“Unless we have a resilient … supply chain, we’re not going to have the technologies that we need … We can’t be in a place where a country holds us hostage because we don’t have access to critical input or critical components for our supply chain,” Graves said.

He added that the Commerce Department plans to invest in technology including quantum while also “investing in a more resilient supply and ecosystem all across the country and with partners.”