NC’s Role in Quantum & Building Tomorrow’s Great Companies
Today, members of the NSTI Caucus were joined by Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, leaders from the NC Department of Commerce and NC Department of Information Technology, and legislative staff on a visit to the Duke Quantum Center.
Dr. Jerry Lynch, Dean of Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering, provided opening remarks emphasizing the importance of North Carolina’s research institutions to defense innovation — highlighting not just the critical work of the Duke Quantum Center, but also Duke’s recent award from Army Research Office to develop counter-UAS technologies.
Dr. Jungsang Kim, Co-Founder of IonQ and Chief Scientist and Technology Strategy at Duke and Dr. Ken Brown, Director of the Duke Quantum Center, gave an overview of quantum technologies — computing, networking, and sensing — and led tours of the lab.
A few key themes stood out:
Quantum technologies will impact and transform every industry, including ones critical to North Carolina like aerospace, biotech, financial services, energy, and information technology.
Early technology innovators — both companies and the states in which the companies are borne — create and capture the most value.
The quantum industry is rapidly expanding. North Carolina has a window of opportunity to develop, grow, and attract world class quantum companies.
Dozens of states across the country have passed legislation, appropriated funds, or implemented executive actions to stimulate quantum innovation.
The group discussed multiple steps that North Carolina can take to lead on quantum and other transformative technologies:
Leverage universities to build innovation engines;
Make strategic investments to build momentum;
Crowd-in private and federal capital to accelerate commercialization and scale-up early-stage companies;
Attract top talent by making North Carolina the best place to raise a family;
Make North Carolina the best state to start and scale businesses through tax incentives and a smart regulatory environment; and
Invest in education and training to build a skilled workforce and strong talent pipelines.
