Laura E. Thomas
Contributor
Laura E. Thomas is the senior director of National Security Solutions at quantum sensing and computing company ColdQuanta. She is a former Central Intelligence Agency case officer and Chief of Base who built and led sensitive programs at CIA headquarters and abroad in multiple international assignments.
The TechCrunch Global Affairs Project examines the increasingly intertwined relationship between the tech sector and global politics.
Quantum computers, sensors and communications networks have the potential to bring about enormous societal and market opportunities — along with an equal amount of disruption. Unfortunately for most of us it takes a Ph.D. in physics to truly understand how quantum technologies work, and luminaries in the field of physics will be the first to admit that even their understanding of quantum mechanics remains incomplete.
Fortunately you don’t need an advanced degree in physics to grasp the magnitude of potential change: computers that can help us design new materials that fight the climate crisis, more accurate sensors without a reliance on GPS that enable truly autonomous vehicles and more secu …
