Democratization of Quantum Technologies

Topic Democratization of Quantum Technologies
Date time: July 29 2023, Saturday 13:00 - 15:00 EDT

Summary:
As quantum technologies (QT) advance, their potential impact on and relation with society has been developing into an important issue for exploration. In this paper, we investigate the topic of democratization in the context of QT, particularly quantum computing. The paper contains three main sections. First, we briefly introduce different theories of democracy (participatory, representative, and deliberative) and how the concept of democratization can be formulated with respect to whether democracy is taken as an intrinsic or instrumental value. Second, we give an overview of how the concept of democratization is used in the QT field. Democratization is mainly adopted by companies working on quantum computing and used in a very narrow understanding of the concept. Third, we explore various narratives and counter-narratives concerning democratization in QT. Finally, we explore the general efforts of democratization in QT such as different forms of access, formation of grassroot communities and special interest groups, the emerging culture of manifesto writing, and how these can be located within the different theories of democracy. In conclusion, we argue that although the ongoing efforts in the democratization of QT are necessary steps towards the democratization of this set of emerging technologies, they should not be accepted as sufficient to argue that QT is a democratized field. We argue that more reflexivity and responsiveness regarding the narratives and actions adopted by the actors in the QT field and making the underlying assumptions of ongoing efforts on democratization of QT explicit, can result in a better technology for society.

Biography: Zeki Seskir is a doctoral researcher at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) - Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) and coordinator of the project "QuTec: Quantum Technology Innovations for Society." He conducts landscaping studies on quantum technologies (QT) to be utilized in technology assessment capabilities. Furthermore, he is working in the education and outreach activities in QT. His background is in Science and Technology Policy Studies (STPS) and quantum information science. His research interests cover wide range of topics from quantum games to innovation ecosystems.

Moderator: Pawel Gora, CEO of Quantum AI Foundation https://www.qaif.org/

*** Zoom registration form will be emailed to registered participants no later than July 29 2023 noon EDT.

Related links:
https://www.itas.kit.edu/english/projects_coen21_qutec.php
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2058-9565/acb6ae
https://qworld.net/
https://qworld.net/qturkey/
https://qworld.net/qpoland/
https://www.meetup.com/washington-quantum-computing-meetup/
https://www.meetup.com/quantum-computing-and-big-data/