Quantum technology is no longer an experiment. Huge investments are coming in quantum science. Gov. JB Pritzker has called for $500 million in public and private funding, and he and Mayor Brandon Johnson have a plan to build a quantum manufacturing campus at the former U.S. Steel South Works site.
It’s time for companies to form strategies for quantum commercialization and be ready to implement them.
Quantum science will have a potential impact as significant as that of the transistor, the device that made computers, artificial intelligence and other applications possible. As quantum comes out of the labs, business opportunities will be just as plentiful.
Chicago has been a center for research into quantum physics, harnessing light at the subatomic level to power virtuoso computers, an unhackable internet and other tech coups. Pritzker sees Illinois as “the Silicon Valley of quantum development,” training a quantum workforce to deliver and deploy national security, medicine and manufacturing breakthroughs. The goal of Illinois’ quantum stake is to draw $20 billion in economic activity to the state as private industry places bets on three types of quantum technologies: computing, communication and sensing.
Next-level quantum brains render light particles to process large datasets and solve complex problems. Life sciences are poised to use quantum computing as an AI engine to power bioengineering discoveries. Quantum computers also could make better, faster credit and investment decisions, as well as sustainable manufacturing and distribution choices. Don’t expect to see quantum desktop computers, though. More likely, PCs will tap into quantum big brains in the cloud, with investments by Amazon, IBM and Microsoft and startups such as D-Wave and IonQ.
The quantum computing showstopper will be handling the leap in processing power, and the answer also draws from quantum science. Quantum communication reflects photons of light over long distances without losing their messages in the churn. Quantum hardware will mirror the photons over dedicated fiber-optic networks. The quantum internet would not be a firehose as much as a clear, swift stream.
Detecting fraud, avoiding drug interactions, improving forecasts
There’s an emerging competition over security standards for quantum communication that recalls the VHS vs. Betamax debates of the videocassette era. Quantum key distribution generates a private decoding key; a viewer without the key will destroy an encrypted message. Post-quantum cryptography (PQC), in contrast, develops complex algorithms to resist interception. In August, the National Institute of Standards and Technology proposed cryptographic standards for secure federal government projects. Fiber-optic networks have carried both quantum key distribution and PQC signals successfully, so the emerging quantum infrastructure is likely to handle whatever standards emerge.
Beyond the quantum computing and communication advances, there is progress in shoring up the third leg of the quantum stool. Quantum sensing collects data at subatomic scale, making precise measurements in applications from medical imaging and spectroscopy to GPS and radar. Innovation will bring quantum sensing into cars, phones and fighter jets. Boston Consulting Group expects the market for quantum sensors to reach $3 billion to $5 billion by 2030.
In combination with quantum computing and quantum communications, quantum sensing could help detect fraud, avoid drug interactions or improve traffic and weather forecasts. In my opinion, quantum sensing and material science advances could reinvigorate nanotechnology to produce stronger, lightweight materials and efficient industrial processes.
Illinois’ quantum stake helps companies (or even individuals following public tech stocks) invest confidently. Quantum computing, communication and sensing technologies will thrive alongside each other. The key is not to choose winners and losers but to make multiple investments that consider the possibilities for growth. Ultimately, Illinois’ quantum stake will help private investors deploy capital and lower the hurdles to quantum commercialization.
Anthony Lazzara is chief investment officer of Quantum Corridor Inc.
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