Quantum Internet, Governance, Trust, and the Promise of Secure Communication

The development of quantum technologies has been accelerating in the last decade, turning them into emerging technologies that need explicit attention by decision-makers at national funding agencies, companies, and governments. In this paper we consider the governance of quantum internet, a new type of network that distributes quantum information across distances and is developed under the promise that it can deliver intrinsically secure functions solely through its technical design. The paper gives an analysis of the functions quantum internet offers – from secure communication to linking quantum computers and quantum sensors – and then challenges this promise by arguing that trust, an essential precondition for users to adopt this technology, cannot be guaranteed by technical features alone. Instead, trust is fundamentally a social phenomenon, shaped by how quantum internet is governed, operated, and regulated. Therefore, the ultimate success of quantum internet in fulfilling its promise of secure communication will depend not just on its technical hardware and software but also on the policies and frameworks for running these capacities, and on the public trust in those policies and frameworks. With this argument we arrive at a number of recommendations to decision-makers for developing quantum internet and its governance in a way that quantum internet can be trusted for its promised capacities. For instance: organizations delivering hardware, operators, and regulation, should be kept apart to be independent sources for trust by users; third party organizations can provide independent checks to users of the operation of quantum internet; and transparency in policing of communication enables trust in the regulation of quantum internet.