Joint Statement of the United States of America and France on Cooperation in Quantum Information Science and Technology

The text of the following joint statement was signed by the Governments of the United States of America and France on November 30, 2022.

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• Recognizing that science, technology, and innovation have enabled transformative capabilities across multiple sectors, from energy to health and communications to transportation, and that the foundation of this progress is the global research enterprise, and its constant creation of new knowledge, understanding, and insights;
• Appreciating that Quantum Information Science and Technology (QIST) revolutionizes both our understanding of fundamental phenomena as well as the development of powerful computers, secure and rapid communication, and sensors with unprecedented precision, accuracy, and modalities;
• Understanding that the emergence of such robust technologies depends on an intensive effort to expand theoretical and practical understandings of QIST and to develop new tools for characterization, validation, and verification purposes;
• Acknowledging that international partnerships are key to combine the expertise, ingenuity, and creativity of our countries to expand our fundamental understanding of QIST and thereby accelerate the realization of new technologies for the benefit of humanity; and
• Mindful of the terms of research and innovation programs in which both nations actively participate, and within which both advocate for international cooperation to be as open as possible;

We, signed below, intend to harness the spirit of science, technology, and innovation to pursue cooperation and the mutual respect it confers, and to promote QIST including but not limited to quantum computing, quantum networking, and quantum sensing, which underpins the development of society and industry.

We intend to advance this agenda by:

• Embarking on good-faith cooperation, that is underpinned by our shared principles, including openness, transparency, honesty, equity, fair competition, objectivity, protection and enforcement of intellectual property, and democratic values.
• Committing to create inclusive scientific research communities and tackle cross-cutting issues of common interest such as equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, so that every person is able to fully participate and have an equal opportunity to succeed.
• Collaborating in venues such as workshops, seminars, and conferences to discuss and recognize the progress of research in QIST, which in turn will lead to the identification of overlapping interests and opportunities for future scientific cooperation.
• Promoting avenues to encourage a broad and inclusive quantum ecosystem to facilitate multidisciplinary research, and the sharing of, on voluntary, mutually agreed terms, research methodologies, infrastructure and data.
• Fostering shared economic prosperity by building a trusted global market and supply chain for QIST research and development (R&D), and supporting economic growth, by engaging stakeholders including industry consortia, research leaders, policy makers, and business security stakeholders to grow the future QIST marketplace based on shared engagement principles.
• Opening and encouraging opportunities for QIST connections and collaborations across QIST R&D and the value chain, given the importance of our linked QIST ecosystems since the solutions that need to be developed are at a scale where no single entity can develop all components for the broader ecosystem alone.
• Supporting the development of the next generation of scientists and engineers necessary to expand the field, which could include personnel exchanges and other potential mechanisms.
• Leveraging regular multilateral opportunities to discuss QIST matters of international importance and respective policy issues.
• Exploring other potential activities to be decided upon by participating countries.

We confirm our mutual understanding that cooperation enabled by this Statement is pursuant to the Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the French Republic done at Paris on October 22, 2008.

We intend to focus on cooperation in QIST as outlined in this vision for the mutual benefit of our participating countries and continue to enhance scientific cooperation under our respective leaderships.

For the United States
Dr. Arati Prabhakar
Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and
Chief Science Advisor to President Biden

For France
Dr. Sylvie Retailleau
Minister for Higher Education and Research

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