Opportunities and Risks of Quantum Technologies: International Relations, Civil Society Consequences and Possible Restraint

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Four Quantum technologies enable completely new applications in many areas of society, both nationally and internationally. Enormous investments and research programmes are being made by leading countries and industry in the field of quantum innovations. These are regarded as strategic technologies in international competition. Current and future research not only harbours great economic opportunities, but also potential risks, which are being discussed internationally, particularly in the areas of international relations, security policy and geopolitics. This is particularly evident in potential applications in the field of quantum communication (cryptography), quantum sensors and quantum navigation. However, problems in civil society are also foreseeable, for example in relation to privacy and data protection, diversity and fairness or misinformation. Even if many developments are not always foreseeable today, their social and security policy risks should be discussed in advance. On the one hand, particularly security-relevant fields will be identified and mechanisms for risk reduction examined, while on the  other hand, experience from the areas of risk technologies, arms export control or preventive arms control should be applied to future destabilising applications.

Questions arise in particular: Where are new, critical application possibilities with destabilising consequences? Which players, research programmes and application goals are known? What control and ethical containment options are there and what experiences have been made so far? Which national and international forums are discussing comparable developments, applications and possible limitation options?

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