Quantum Advisory Council
Participants
Co-chairs
- Raymond Laflamme
- Stephanie Simmons
Members
- Alexandre Blais
- Ian D'Souza
- Andrew Fursman
- David Gosset
- Martin Laforest
- Lindsay Leblanc
- Atefeh Mashatan
- Christian Weedbrook
Guests
- Jeffery Nerenberg, Director, NSERC
Welcome and housekeeping
The co-chairs welcomed members to the second meeting. No conflicts of interest were identified. The July 24 record of decision was approved, pending any proposed changes to be sent to the National Quantum Strategy (NQS) Secretariat. In advance of the November in-person meeting in Calgary coinciding with the qConnect conference, members were invited to work with the Secretariat on their travel arrangements.
Computing roadmap
Feedback was overall positive on the new version of the roadmap. Some members suggested that the document could provide more targets (e.g. hardware requirements, moonshots), while others provided feedback on incorporating quantum error correction and end user strategies.
Communications roadmap
Feedback was overall positive, though many perceived that the roadmap was overly focused on cryptography. That said, the Council stressed the significant infrastructure challenges faced by the Government of Canada to safeguard digital communications and the urgency of implementing these solutions. Productive discussion also occurred regarding quantum key distribution (QKD) and post-quantum cryptography (PQC).
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council presentation on NQS programming
NSERC provided an overview of its NQS programming, updating members on current numbers of NQS program recipients, including a breakdown by geography, area of research, NQS pillar, and recipient countries for the international programs.
Members asked questions and highlighted that SSHRC and the humanities have an important role to play, for example regarding the ethical and legal implications of quantum technologies.
Next steps
ISED will continue working on the roadmaps and welcomes continued input from members and the community. A public roundtable will soon be held to help complete the consultation process.
In reiterating the value of inviting guests, the council suggested that D-Wave, IBM, and others could attend future meetings to provide insight on the compute/software roadmap, as could the National Research Council on sensors.
The next meeting will be held in person in Calgary on November 15 or 16, 2023, to coincide with qConnect 2023. A hybrid option will be available. Details on logistics to follow.