Exploring fair access to quantum computing

Abstract

This short article - commissioned as part of the Quantum Flagship project OpenSuperQPlus - introduces the topic of fair access to quantum computing time and argues for its relevance in current European technology policy debates. Choices about access we make today affect which applications of quantum computing are developed in the future, and by whom. Among the issues at stake are: Europe's technological autonomy and sovereignty; Europe's future economic competitiveness; knowledge security and the future of open science; and delivering upon the EU's founding values and aims. The results of a survey of OpenSuperQPlus researchers reveal prevalent contractualist and transactional framings of access to European quantum computing capacity among those developing the technology. The article concludes with a call to go beyond framing access to quantum computing as a zero-sum-game, and to explore the possibility of an access regime premised on openness and solidarity.