QuantAlps
An ecosystem for quantum sciences & technologies 

Lead by Pr. Thierry Ménissier with the collaboration of Dr. Dakota Root – IPhiG – UGA.

Since World War 2, the concept of progress has been replaced by the concept of innovation, and technology is not necessarily considered as “good” anymore. This has given rise to a considerable philosophical work on the ethics of innovation and how technological developments fit with societal acceptance.

The emergence of the quantum computer appears as a paradigm shift, that requires reformulating these essential questions in a new context. In particular, what does the deepening of the production and circulation of data imply in terms of changing innovation ecosystems for AI, digital and data players?
Beyond quantum computing, what geopolitical reconfigurations (in power relations, economic relations) are conceivable - and no doubt already partly observable due to the pre-positioning of actors - during the rise of these technologies?
For example, what are the consequences of the emergence of quantum cryptography on national sovereignty, on data security at the level of nations and companies, and on privacy at the level of individuals? What ethics and legal regulation should be recommended for the new technical systems, in a situation of radical innovation? How can we mobilize the imagination (using the resources of creativity and science fiction) to contribute to the inventive design of new frameworks for human and social activity?

To address these questions, we have adopted two complementary strategies :
- Firstly, a series of interdisciplinary seminars to favour acculturation on these topics between hard and human sciences.
- Secondly, academic work has conducted in close collaboration with quantum physicists and technologists.

Lead by Pr. Vincent Lam (Institue of Philosophy - University of Bern) with the collaboration of Dr. Davide Romano (IPhiG – UGA).

It is well-known that current dominant realist interpretations/formulations of quantum physics are heterogeneous and often far removed from the actual research and concerns of the working physicists in quantum foundations (and even more so in the context of developing quantum technologies). So, in contrast to the sometimes-dogmatic discussions on the various realist interpretations of quantum theory, our strategy is more pragmatic and consists in identifying possible common features that are central to quantum theory and that cut across (several) realist interpretations.

To this aim, we exploited the conceptual tools that have been developed in the recent decades in the philosophy and metaphysics of science, while at the same time paying attention to current developments in quantum foundations (and also possibly beyond standard quantum theory, e.g. in the various research programs in quantum gravity) that may shed a new light on the realist understanding of the theory. We thus provided solid conceptual foundations not only for a realist attitude towards quantum physics, but also for the very quantum technologies emerging from this theoretical framework. Particular attention has been paid on issues related to causation, spacetime and the laws of nature in this context.

In a larger philosophy of science perspective, we discussed the role and status of quantum innovation and quantum technologies in the face of the climate and environmental challenges.
 

Lead by Pr. Amélie Favreau (CRJ – UGA) with the collaboration of SFR Innovacs.

The Social and Human Sciences (SHS) as defined in the French educational system, have developed interdisciplinary research programs and methods to manage user-oriented innovation processes with the socio-economic stakeholders in the application domains for high technology. The approaches are both reflective and of actionable research and they give a central place to experimentation in the sense of the user experience (UX) in lab conditions or in-vivo: this means the involvement of potential users in the innovation process.

In the field of quantum sciences, the innovation process is very important: the link between a technological proposal - a potential today - and the potential usages is at the state of preliminary hypotheses. In this configuration, the experimentation with the users in the innovation process must be understood in a perspective of participatory innovation, that is to say with the mobilization of field stakeholders so they contribute to innovation and R&D agenda according to societal challenges.

The scientific community of the SFR Innovacs research federation which is well experienced in research actions has engaged the ecosystems of potential business players of future quantum technologies and the communities of end-users (citizens) in the imagination of the human and socio-economic impact of quantum technologies (stakes, expected results, obstacles / uses or even possible controversies).