Quantum Governance in the Making: Why Standards Matter

Any emerging technology raises difficult questions over when nations should intervene and regulate. Different jurisdictions must grapple with how to ensure the benefits of novel technologies can be promoted without enabling unacceptable risks to proliferate. It is not just the question of how to regulate that is challenging, but also when; regulate too early and one risks regulating based on incomplete or erroneous information but regulate too late and changes to how a technology is already entrenched in society will be expensive and difficult, perhaps even impossible, to successfully implement. So far, quantum technologies are largely developing in a pre-legislative phase. Little legislation has been passed that directly governs the development of quantum technologies, rather than incidentally capturing them via their potential uses or opportunities for export. However, this does not mean quantum technologies exist in an ungoverned, wild-west landscape as there are other means for encouraging actions and constraining others. This chapter offers a comprehensive and measured examination of the operation of standards as an important mechanism for shaping the development and governance of quantum technologies. It situates standards within a broader regulatory context, acknowledging both their potential to guide innovation and their limitations. By exploring how standards are developed, who participates in their formation, and how they intersect with national strategies and legal frameworks, the chapter highlights the growing significance of standards in shaping technological trajectories. This is used to explore how standards function in practice, the interests they reflect, and the roles they might play alongside other governance tools as quantum technologies evolve.