Quantum computing and quantum information science represent some of the most rapidly advancing and significant emerging technologies today. Worldwide, governments and industry are accelerating their investment in quantum computing research and development, with significant resources being committed to the sector by both public and private institutions. This is evidenced by large national funding initiatives across the globe,2 as well as increasing venture capital investments in this technology.3 Quantum computing is also becoming increasingly relevant in national geostrategic and economic considerations. 

This new technology presents society with potentially very significant opportunities: certain highly complex problems are currently inefficiently addressed by classical computers. Such problems, which include but are not limited to physical simulation, optimization and factorization problems, are believed to be more efficiently solvable with quantum computers. This is due to the fact that quantum computers can – as the name suggests – harness the fundamental principles of quantum physics such as superposition and entanglement,4 giving rise to a new information-processing paradigm. 

However, as with every new technology, particularly one as transformative as quantum computing, new socioeconomic, political and ethical challenges arise. As the technology develops further, and as we discover wider-reaching applications, the possibility of ethical and governance challenges involving the use and deployment of such technologies increases.