Quantum computing research and development efforts have grown dramatically over the past decades, led in part by initiatives from governments around the world. Government quantum computing investments are often driven by national security or digital sovereignty concerns, with the language used depending on the geography involved. For example, a focus on “national security” and quantum computing is prominent in the USA, while European countries regularly focus on “digital sovereignty”. These phrases are often loosely defined and open to interpretation, and they share some common motivations and characteristics (but also have important differences). This paper identifies specific governmental entities typifying the national security/digital sovereignty perspectives, along with these organisations’ respective roles within national and international policy engagement in quantum computing. It analyses governmental structures, historical developments and cultural characteristics that contributed to this national security–digital sovereignty divide. Building on this analysis, we use the history of other technologies to illustrate how we might adapt tested policy approaches to modern political dynamics and to quantum computing specifically. We frame these policy approaches so that they do not overemphasise “digital sovereignty” or “national security”, but rather address interests shared across both concepts, with a view to facilitating international collaboration.

过去几十年来，量子计算研究和开发工作急剧增长，部分原因是世界各国政府的倡议。政府的量子计算投资通常是出于国家安全或数字主权的考虑，所使用的语言取决于所涉及的地理位置。例如，美国对“国家安全”和量子计算的关注尤为突出，而欧洲国家则经常关注“数字主权”。这些短语通常定义松散且易于解释，并且它们具有一些共同的动机和特征（但也有重要的差异）。本文确定了代表国家安全/数字主权观点的具体政府实体，以及这些组织在量子计算的国家和国际政策参与中各自的角色。它分析了导致国家安全与数字主权鸿沟的政府结构、历史发展和文化特征。在此分析的基础上，我们利用其他技术的历史来说明我们如何将经过测试的政策方法适应现代政治动态，特别是量子计算。我们制定这些政策方针，使其不会过分强调“数字主权”或“国家安全”，而是解决这两个概念的共同利益，以促进国际合作。