Industry Advances Quantum Networking, Cloud and Application Development In the midst of the quantum development era, more capabilities are emerging every day. Some of the latest advancements are enabling quantum computing networks, quantum computing in the cloud, and environments for the creation and validation of quantum applications. IonQ, the American quantum company headquartered in College Park, Maryland, with locations in Basel, Switzerland; Toronto, Canada; Rome, New York, and Bothell, Washington, is planning to demonstrate a high-performance quantum network later this year. The quantum network could offer 50-100 times higher network speeds than traditional computer networks. Four officials from IonQ spoke at a Griffiss Institute event on March 19, including Mihir Bhaskar, senior vice president for Global Research and Development; Masako Yamada, senior director of Applications Development; Denny Dahl, senior director for Field Engineering; and Curt Bujosa, technical program manager. The Griffiss Institute is an advanced technology and science, technology, engineering and mathematics talent accelerator for the Defense Department. Their collaborative space, the Innovare Advancement Center, in Rome, New York, brings together academic, government and industry partners. The institute is working with companies like IonQ, along with some of the directorates of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in Rome, across quantum and other advanced technologies. “It’s kind of like being able to play with fire for the first time,” IonQ’s Dahl said. “And as a scientist, who would not love to do that. But there are other good reasons to do [quantum], including national security. If we can manipulate and precisely control these quantum states, there are things that we are going to be able to do that will give us a national security advantage. We would like that, and we’d like to make sure that nobody else gets it before us.” Heather Hage, the president and CEO of the