(Sydney.au.edu) Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has awarded the Centre for International Security Studies (CISS) $800,000 over two years to develop accords for the ethical use of quantum technologies.
Announced by the Honourable Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs, the grant is part of the Australia-India Cyber and Critical Technology Partnership which promotes a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific region.
“This is the moment to address the social, ethical and geopolitical implications of a quantum future,” said CISS Director Professor James Der Derian.
The Quantum Meta-Ethics project will be led by Professor Der Derian, in partnership with a team under the direction of Dr Rajeswari Rajagopalan at the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation (ORF). The two organisations will be joined by leading experts from the Indo-Pacific region, including: quantum physicist Shohini Ghose, global strategy advisor Parag Khanna, and political scientist Nisha Shah. The project will build upon the work of Professor Der Derian’s existing research Project Q: Peace and Security in a Quantum Age, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Over the next two years, Quantum Meta-Ethics will initiate conversations about what constitutes ethical or unethical behaviour, good or bad practices, productive or destructive applications of emerging quantum technologies. The project will bring together academics, business leaders, government and military representatives, legal and policy experts, to develop world-first quantum accords that will inform international governance of quantum technologies.
Professor James Der Derian is in the School of Social and Political Sciences and is a member of University of Sydney Nano Institute. He is the director of the Centre for International Security Studies.
Australia’s DFAT Awards $800,000 to Develop Accords for Ethical Use of Quantum Technologies
