Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced on April 28 that the state of Maryland and the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are partnering to establish the Capital Quantum Benchmarking Hub at the University of Maryland (UMD).
The cooperative effort is dedicated to testing and evaluating quantum computing prototypes and systems for national security and commercial applications. The hub will be based at UMD’s Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS) in College Park, Md.
“Today, we write the next chapter in our work to make Maryland the global capital of quantum,” Gov. Moore said in a press release. “This new collaboration with DARPA is about leveraging Maryland’s world-class assets to grow our economy, create jobs, and enhance our national security. Together, we will continue to drive innovation through durable partnerships that leave no one behind.”
As part of the partnership, DARPA and the state of Maryland have committed to contribute up to $100 million each over four years, depending on the results achieved.
The new hub is part of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), an effort by the Pentagon’s research arm to verify and validate which, if any, quantum computing approach can achieve an industrially useful quantum computer by 2033.
So far, DARPA has selected nearly 20 quantum computing companies for the first phase of its QBI. The new hub will support the QBI effort by providing unbiased assessments of participating commercial companies.
The announcement comes after Gov. Moore announced the Capital of Quantum Initiative in January – a public-private partnership with UMD and IonQ – to spur more than $1 billion in investments in Maryland’s quantum industry.
“The University of Maryland is proud to serve as the home of the Capital Quantum Benchmarking Hub and to play a pivotal role in advancing the nation’s quantum future,” said UMD President Darryll J. Pines. “This partnership with DARPA and the State of Maryland underscores our long-standing commitment to cutting-edge research and national security. Together, we are building the infrastructure and expertise needed to evaluate, refine, and ultimately realize the promise of quantum computing.”
“As part of QBI, we are building the world’s largest and most qualified independent quantum computing test and evaluation team, so that we can rigorously test commercial approaches to determine what’s viable and what’s hype,” said DARPA Quantum Benchmarking Initiative program manager Joe Altepeter. “The Capital Quantum Benchmarking Hub will provide an additional research and testing facility for our experts to evaluate plans and systems of the quantum computing companies that progress through the QBI program.”
