Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 67 / Wednesday, April 8, 2015 / Notices 18819 

1http://www.nist.gov/pml/div684/upload/

FederalVisionQIS.pdf. 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology 

[Docket Number: 150218152–5152–01] 

Request for Information on Quantum 

Information Science and the Needs of 

U.S. Industry 

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards 

and Technology, U.S. Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; Request for Information 

(RFI). 

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 requests this information 

through its role in the Interagency 

Working Group on Quantum 

Information Science of the National 

Science and Technology Council 

(NSTC) Committee on Science (CoS) 

Subcommittee on Physical Sciences 

(PSSC). 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 information received in 

response to this RFI will inform and be 

considered by the Interagency Working 

Group making recommendations for the 

development and coordination of U.S. 

Government policies, programs, and 

budgets to advance U.S. 

competitiveness in QIS. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

5:00 p.m. Eastern time on May 8, 2015. 

Written comments in response to the 

RFI should be submitted according to 

the instructions in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section below. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be 

submitted only by email to Dr. Claire 

Cramer at claire.cramer@nist.gov in any 

of the following formats: ASCII; Word; 

RTF; or PDF. Please include your name, 

organization’s name (if any), and cite 

‘‘Quantum Information Science Industry 

RFI’’ in the subject line of all 

correspondence. All comments will be 

made publicly available at http://

www.nist.gov/pml/div684/postedcomments-for-rfi.cfm as submitted. 

Accordingly, proprietary or confidential 

information should not be included in 

any comments, as they will be posted 

without change. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information contact Gail 

Newrock, Carl Williams, or Claire 

Cramer by email at qisiwg@nist.gov, or 

Gail Newrock by phone at (301) 975– 

3200. Please direct media inquiries to 

NIST’s Office of Public Affairs at (301) 

975–2762. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Twenty 

years of research and development work 

in QIS is producing the first niche 

applications, and there is an increasing 

level of international activity in the 

field. The Interagency Working Group in 

QIS was chartered in October 2014 to 

develop and coordinate policies, 

programs, and budgets for QIS research 

and development to create 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 quantum 

information science. The Interagency 

Working Group includes participants 

from the Departments of Commerce, 

Defense, and Energy; the Office of the 

Director of National Intelligence; and 

the National Science Foundation. 

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 

information received in response to this 

RFI will inform and be considered by 

the Interagency Working Group making 

recommendations for the development 

and coordination of U.S. Government 

policies, programs, and budgets to 

advance U.S. competitiveness in QIS. 

Written comments may be submitted 

only by email to Dr. Claire Cramer at 

claire.cramer@nist.gov in any of the 

following formats: ASCII; Word; RTF; or 

PDF. Please include your name, 

organization’s name (if any), and cite 

‘‘Quantum Information Science Industry 

RFI’’ in the subject line of all 

correspondence. 

Request for Information: The objective 

of this request for information is to 

inform the Interagency Working Group 

making 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 as a limitation 

on 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. Again, note that 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) Opportunities 

Quantum information science 

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? 

(2) Market Areas and Applications 

The 2009 ‘‘Federal Vision for 

Quantum Information Science’’ 1

identified exciting new possibilities for 

QIS impact, including mineral 

exploration, medical imaging, and 

quantum computing. Now, six years 

later, what market areas do you think 

would most benefit from quantum 

information science? 

(3) Barriers 

Funding levels and mechanisms, 

technology, dissemination of 

information, and technology transfer are 

some of the potential barriers to 

adoption of QIS technology. What do 

you see as the greatest barriers to 

advancing important near-term and 

future applications of QIS? What should 

be done to address these barriers? 

(4) Workforce Needs 

Addressing opportunities in QIS and 

barriers to applications requires a 

workforce spanning many disciplines, 

ranging from computer science and 

information theory to atomic scale 

manipulation of materials, and 

possessing a range of knowledge and 

skills. What knowledge and skills are 

most important for a workforce capable 

of addressing the opportunities and 

barriers? In what areas is the current 

workforce strong, and in what areas is 

it weak? What are the best mechanisms 

for equipping workers with the needed 

knowledge and skills? 

Richard R. Cavanagh, 

Acting Associate Director for Laboratory 

Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2015–08011 Filed 4–7–15; 8:45 am] 

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