Journal article
Dual-use, quantum technologies, and responsible innovation: the challenges of responsible quantum in defence
- Abstract:
- The development of novel technologies does not take place in a moral, economic, or geopolitical vacuum. Therefore, questions of funding, use-cases, and contexts of use will directly influence both moral and practical judgements around the ways in which these technologies are, or should be, developed and deployed. This article examines the growth of Quantum Technologies (QTs) in light of these challenges, and the ways in which they are already raising concerns with respect to questions of ‘dual-use’. The article argues that ‘dual-use’ as a category is inadequate for normative judgement as it conflates moral evaluation with a descriptive classification, and therefore misses important contextual and procedural elements. The article proposes making Responsible Innovation (RI) frameworks integral to the development of QTs in order to enable context-sensitive ethical assessment and decision-making guidance. Finally, the article proposes a way forward that engages with the principle-based concerns of those critical of military uses of QTs, while respecting the challenges posed by current geopolitical realities.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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- Files:
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 1.6MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1140/epjqt/s40507-026-00531-w
Authors
+ Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
More from this funder
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/0439y7842
- Grant:
- EP/Z53318X/1
- Publisher:
- Springer
- Journal:
- EPJ Quantum Technology More from this journal
- Volume:
- 13
- Issue:
- 1
- Article number:
- 71
- Publication date:
- 2026-06-16
- Acceptance date:
- 2026-05-26
- DOI:
- EISSN:
-
2196-0763
- ISSN:
-
2662-4400
- Language:
-
English
- Pubs id:
-
2423637
- Local pid:
-
pubs:2423637
- Deposit date:
-
2026-05-26
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Ten Holter and Wolf-Bauwens
- Copyright date:
- 2026
- Rights statement:
- © The Author(s) 2026. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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