Any advice for others who’d like to launch a similar project?
Dakich: The expansion of technology during the second half of this decade will be much easier than it was the first half. Access to funding for these second and third groups of entrepreneurs will be markedly easier than it was for the first groups. This is how it works. I honestly believe quantum computing is going to change the trajectory of human thought, and problems we have today will be laughable compared to the solutions we are creating. My theory is the more money and people we get on board with the importance of what we are doing, the better!
Any goals shift for the project since you started?
Dakich: We started out thinking about connecting Indiana and Illinois in one network and now we’ve moved across the country and south to catch more groups and research institutions doing important work. The project just keeps expanding and getting bigger.
How is the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center involved?
Dakich: Phil Smith and the people at Crane are amazing proponents for what we’re doing, and the work done by former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels to secure the long-term future of Crane by promising to build a highway has sustained Crane as an important part of all defense research. The next connectivity points will not be surface roads, but rather quantum internet and advanced technology networking. We wake up every day with the mission to connect Crane with the highest level of connection back to those across the country who are doing the most important research in the world.
What’s next?
Dakich: Our network will connect Crane back to Chicago, connect Purdue back to both Crane and Chicago, and then connect both institutions to a whole defense and research infrastructure across the country. We’re just at the start of this networking revolution that is underway in quantum—and we are thrilled to be early.