WASHINGTON: The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy said on Aug 5 the Trump administration is launching a national education partnership to expand access to K-12 quantum information science (QIS) education with major companies and research institutions.

The public-private initiative with the National Science Foundation includes Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services, Boeing Co, Alphabet Inc's Google, IBM Corp, Lockheed Martin Corp, Microsoft Corp, the University of Illinois and University of Chicago. The National Science Foundation is also awarding US$1mil to QIS education.

The initiative is designed in part to help introduce students to quantum information themes before college

Last month, the White House announced the award of US$75mil for new institutes at three US universities to boost quantum information research.

Quantum computing aims to operate millions of times faster than today’s advanced supercomputers. Experts have said the promising technology, still in its infancy, could have a major impact on healthcare, communications, financial services, transportation, artificial intelligence, weather forecasting and other areas.

 - Reuters