UMD and IonQ Partner to Advance Quantum Computing in Support of National Security

The University of Maryland and a College Park-based leading firm in quantum computing are collaborating on a new system to advance the use of quantum computers in national security, the university announced Tuesday.

UMD’s Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS) selected IonQ, a leading quantum computing hardware and software company, for the $5.7 million contract for initial work on the project, with a potential second phase worth up to $12 million. The groundbreaking system will be based at ARLIS, which like IonQ is located in UMD’s Discovery District.

“The purpose of the project is to help mature quantum computers to the point where they reliably support national security,” said Craig Lawrence, interim executive director of ARLIS, a Department of Defense University Affiliated Research Center dedicated to intelligence and security in the human domain. “There is significant research and development that is needed before the defense and intelligence community can reach that goal.”

The University of Maryland has long been a global center of excellence in quantum science and computing, and is home to one of the laboratories out of which IonQ emerged. Under the new agreement with ARLIS, IonQ will design and build a two-node quantum computing system that will enable hands-on research into multi-party quantum algorithms and the cybersecurity of quantum computation. In some experiments, the system will use blind quantum computing protocols to shield the information processed through them from observation.

This effort began in 2023 with an $18 million award to the University of Maryland by the Secretary of the Air Force Concepts, Development, and Management Office that helped ARLIS to begin work on the current project, known as Securing Experimental Quantum Computing Usage in Research Environments (SEQCURE). The project follows a 2022 national security memorandum issued by the White House to outline the steps needed to maintain the country’s competitive advantage in quantum information science. The guidance also calls for mitigating future risks of quantum computers to the nation’s cyber, economic and national security.

The SEQCURE project has multiple milestones that include several design, security, technical and algorithm reviews before the end of 2024, with an optional second phase of work starting next year.