Deborah Nas

Deborah Nas is part-time professor of Strategic Design for Technology-based Innovation in the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering and an innovation expert. She studied IDE at TU Delft.

Last year, in the predecessor of this magazine, I called on you all to think carefully about the impact of technological innovations at an early stage. This is essential in order to maximise the positive impact and minimise the negative. In other words, responsible innovation. But, as I’m now discovering, this is easier said than done. I jumped at the chance to set up the Centre for Quantum & Society for Quantum Delta Nederland. It will be a centre where scientists, government, industry and other interested parties focus on the ethical, legal and social aspects of quantum technology. Experts expect quantum technology to change the world, we just don’t know when, how and in what way.

The article in this magazine about quantum computing provides an impression of the current state of the technology. Compare it to the invention of lasers: in the early 1960s, they were only found in labs, they were large, sensitive to interference and emitted a weak signal. The applications were still unknown: it was a solution in search of a problem. At times like that, it’s hard to imagine that, just a few decades later, we are using lasers to read information from CDs and barcodes, do laser printing, operate on eyes, cut metal, conduct precision measurements, target bombs and much more.

For quantum, it’s even more difficult. The technology is more complex, the jargon inaccessible, scientists disagree about the potential advantages and no one knows how long it will take before we have a powerful enough version for the useful applications we are not yet aware of. So, first of all we need applications. If we opt for a series of social themes, such as climate change and energy transition, we may be able to accelerate the development of applications that have a positive impact. Interested in contributing your ideas on these subjects? You are warmly welcome to join us.

For further information, see quantumdelta.nl/cqs