---
title: "The Federal Focus: Quantum Technologies"
description: "Quantum technology is already embedded in systems that people rely on every day, even as its most disruptive possibilities remain years away. In this episode of The Federal Focus,  Fed Gov Today host George Jackson speaks with Dr. Fredrik Fatemi, Senior Research Scientist for Quantum at the U.S. Army’s DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory (ARL), and Kynan Carver, Vice President of Cybersecurity at Maximus. Their conversation connects the science to two urgent government missions: making positioning, navigation, timing and sensing more resilient, and protecting sensitive information from future quantum-enabled attacks. They also examine where agencies should begin preparing and how to build a workforce capable of moving the technology from the laboratory into practice."
---

[The Federal Focus](https://fedgovtoday.com/the-federal-focus)

# [The Federal Focus: Quantum Technologies](https://fedgovtoday.com/the-federal-focus/the-federal-focus-quantum-technologies)

 Written by [Fed Gov Today](https://fedgovtoday.com/the-federal-focus/author/fed-gov-today) | Sep 25, 2026, 6:17:41 PM

*Presented by Maximus*

Quantum technology is already embedded in systems that people rely on every day, even as its most disruptive possibilities remain years away. In this episode of *The Federal Focus*,  Fed Gov Today host George Jackson speaks with Dr. Fredrik Fatemi, Senior Research Scientist for Quantum at the U.S. Army’s DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory (ARL), and Kynan Carver, Vice President of Cybersecurity at Maximus. Their conversation connects the science to two urgent government missions: making positioning, navigation, timing and sensing more resilient, and protecting sensitive information from future quantum-enabled attacks. They also examine where agencies should begin preparing and how to build a workforce capable of moving the technology from the laboratory into practice.

#### Quantum is already part of the mission

For Fatemi, the value of quantum science begins with what it allows soldiers to measure and decide. ARL studies how quantum properties might improve timing, sensing, computing and networking. Some applications are already familiar, even if their quantum foundations are less visible. GPS, for example, depends on atomic clocks for precise timing and positioning.

That precision matters enormously in a contested environment. Fatemi explains that light travels about a foot in a billionth of a second. Knowing a location to within a foot therefore requires extraordinarily accurate time. When GPS is unavailable or disrupted, soldiers need other ways to maintain timing and determine where they are. Accurate clocks also help synchronize communications, radar and electromagnetic warfare systems. Carver adds that enterprise networks likewise depend on precise timing to operate reliably.

The discussion makes a useful distinction: quantum technology is not a single future product. Certain quantum capabilities are in use now; others remain fundamental research. The task is to identify where a new approach can improve mission performance, then determine whether it can survive the practical demands of deployment.

#### Sensing when GPS cannot be trusted

Fatemi describes several lines of sensing research with potential battlefield uses. Precision magnetometers can measure disturbances in magnetic fields. Those measurements could help identify large metallic objects, support perimeter defense or contribute to navigation by comparing local readings with the Earth’s magnetic signature. Inertial sensors offer another route: highly precise accelerometers and gyroscopes could track movement and orientation after a known starting point, helping a unit navigate when GPS is degraded.

ARL has also developed a radio-frequency sensor with an unconventional design. Instead of using a traditional wire antenna, it detects RF fields through laser beams and atoms in a gas cell. Fatemi does not present that device as a universal replacement for existing sensors. Its promise is that a different architecture may add capabilities to the tools soldiers already use.

Moving such work into the field is a substantial engineering challenge. Quantum laboratories can involve lasers, optics and other complex equipment. Fatemi points to photonic integrated circuits as one way researchers may eventually shrink components that now occupy a lab into packages better suited to military use. Quantum networking—distributing quantum resources over long distances while preserving their properties—remains farther from maturity.

#### Preparing for the encryption challenge

The other major focus is post-quantum cryptography, or PQC. Carver emphasizes that PQC is different from using quantum technology to encrypt a message. It means protecting today’s communications with cryptographic methods designed to withstand attacks by a sufficiently capable quantum computer.

That computer does not yet exist at the scale needed to break widely used public-key systems such as RSA and elliptic-curve cryptography. But agencies cannot base their planning solely on the day such a machine arrives. An adversary could collect encrypted information now and attempt to decrypt it later. For information that must remain secret for decades, the exposure begins before the future computer is built. Carver says the stakes include military plans, research and the digital identities and secure connections that public services depend on.

Fatemi notes that the exact path to powerful quantum computing remains unsettled. Researchers are pursuing approaches that include trapped ions, neutral atoms, photonic qubits and superconducting qubits. Scaling any approach while controlling errors is a central scientific problem. ARL contributes to that research and coordinates with other government organizations, while standards and intelligence partners have leading roles in the broader PQC effort.

#### Where agencies should start

Carver’s first recommendation is an inventory. Agencies need to find the cryptographic libraries and methods used throughout their applications, devices and networks, including implementations embedded in code. Only then can they identify the hardest systems to change, prioritize information that must stay protected for a long time, and budget for a migration.

He also argues for *crypto agility*: building systems that can adopt updated cryptographic standards without another painful rebuild. The move to PQC is more than a one-time substitution of algorithms. Agencies need enough flexibility to respond as standards, threats and computing capabilities evolve. Internet-facing systems and network boundaries deserve attention alongside long-lived sensitive data.

For Fatemi, planning also requires separating credible advances from hype. ARL helps other organizations assess what the science supports, what remains uncertain and where research collaboration can accelerate progress. No single lab can solve every challenge involved in making quantum systems accurate, compact and useful in the field.

#### Building the people behind the technology

Quantum research needs more than quantum physicists. Fatemi names materials scientists, optical physicists, information theorists, computer scientists and mathematicians among the people needed to advance the field. Carver adds that conventional computing expertise will remain essential as quantum and classical systems work together.

Artificial intelligence may offer a more obvious near-term career path, but Fatemi says quantum’s difficult, enduring problems leave room for curious people from many disciplines. Carver sees a role for academia and STEM education in helping students recognize those routes into the field. The government’s ability to use quantum technologies will depend as much on developing and connecting that talent as on any individual breakthrough.

 

[View full post](https://fedgovtoday.com/the-federal-focus/the-federal-focus-quantum-technologies)

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