The British government has announced fresh details of its ambition to use quantum technology to "reduce costs and save lives" in the National Health Service (NHS).
In a government tender published last Friday, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) called for contractors to help develop its "Quantum Technology Missions Roadmaps."
The tender shows that the new Labour government is moving forward with a multi-billion pound quantum transformation project launched last year under ex-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. It does not set out details of how much companies will be paid to create the roadmaps.
This long-term project is split into five missions designed to achieve "numerous outcomes", including the scaling and commercialisation of quantum computing, installation of nationwide connectivity, and the creation of a "quantum internet".
The new tender states that "our NHS" will be empowered by "quantum-enabled products and services" to "deliver on the broad opportunities" presented by the technologies.
"This mission will build on early UK successes in the development of products to revolutionise healthcare capabilities and pull these through to adoption, providing a firm foundation to grow the UK quantum medical device industry sector," the government departments wrote in their tender.
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Quantum leaps
The mission is designed to create a "pipeline of next-generation technologies" which harness quantum physics to deliver diagnoses quickly and "improve" surgical outcomes in areas including dementia, epilepsy, cancer, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, as well as life sciences and social care.
Contractors capable of fulfilling the government's quantum ambitions will be tasked with setting technological milestones for quantum sensing (advanced sensors that use quantum mechanics), as well as delivering other use cases, including brain and cancer imaging for neurological disorders, especially dementia.
Additional missions include a wider "position, navigation and timing" project, which will focus on transforming the transmission of data and improving the security of communications.
This will involve developing tech that will "materialise quantum networks including a future quantum internet" and "underpinning fibre and wider classical infrastructure requirements" such as dark fibre - unused capacity within existing fibreoptic cables buried in the ground.
This mission will also "develop and commercially exploit" quantum navigation systems that are "small and robust enough to be deployed on aircraft".
The government added: "It forms part of a longer-term aim to reach chip-scale – unlocking the ability to integrate these systems into mobile phone-sized systems – and will therefore include facilitation of the fabrication and manufacturing capabilities needed to achieve this."
An additional mission will focus on "sensing for critical national infrastructure" to enhance "capacity and resilience" in telecoms, utilities, transport, energy, defence and other areas of CNI.
This will include green surveillance of emissions to meet Net Zero requirements or the detection of hazardous chemicals.
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Planning for a quantum future
The quantum missions were first put forward by the previous Conservative government in November last year as part of a £2.5 billion Quantum Strategy, which set a number of ambitious targets.
"By 2035, there will be accessible, UK-based quantum computers capable of running 1 trillion operations and supporting applications that provide benefits well in excess of classical supercomputers across key sectors of the economy," officials wrote.
By the same date, it is hoped that the UK will have "deployed the world’s most advanced quantum network at scale, pioneering the future quantum internet" and every NHS deploy quantum sensing-enabled solution to help "those with chronic illness live healthier, longer lives through early diagnosis and treatment."
Andersen Cheng, founder and chairman of the world’s oldest specialist PQC firm - Post-Quantum, told The Stack that the quantum roadmap is "an important step forward for the NHS" - but urged caution around the security risks created by this new technology.
"Whether it is for the purposes of accelerating diagnoses or improving patient care through more innovative treatments, the potential of the technology for the sector is exciting," Cheng said. "However, as with all other sectors – recognising the benefits of the technology is just as important as addressing the risks. Quantum machines will be significantly faster at performing analysis on small amounts of data — precisely what is needed to break existing encryption standards. At worst, this is likely to put confidential patient data at risk – even more than we are already seeing today.
“While the roadmap offers some indication as to how these issues will be addressed, greater clarity and attention are needed. As part of any plans for future-proofing, the NHS must look to create bespoke end-to-end infrastructure using newly developed quantum-safe algorithms, ensuring that everything from confidential records to day-to-day communications is protected. This will likely require a hybridised, crypto-agile approach, where new algorithms are applied alongside classical standards, ensuring protection against traditional and quantum attacks.”
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