Initiative underway to expand Indiana’s Quantum Corridor
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana business, academic and government leaders are working on plans to expand a high-tech superhighway throughout Indiana.
Quantum computing is an emerging field of computer science that uses quantum mechanics to perform calculations and solve problems many times faster than regular computers.
The Quantum Corridor launched last year with a transmission from a data center in downtown Chicago to a data center in Hammond. There are plans to extend the network for more than 250 miles across the Indiana Toll Road in northern Indiana and ultimately south, to Purdue University, through Indianapolis down to Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division.
“What we’re trying to do is to make it such that researchers and universities and private enterprise are able to go and use the connectivity that’s there and the power that’s there in order to do the most advanced research in the world,” Tom Dakich, CEO of Quantum Corridor Inc., said. “What the quantum corridor does is it changes the whole way that communications are made.”
The Quantum Corridor with its nearly instantaneous computing and communications speeds—fast enough to transmit the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress every two seconds—is viewed as potentially transformational for Indiana and the nation.
“If you think about this high-tech cluster or corridor that we’ve created here, then you understand the importance of this quantum corridor to be able to share this type of data in a secure fashion,” Jerry Hendrix, Sagamore Institute Senior Fellow, said. “This type of investment allows us that opportunity to establish that generational lead again, to get out ahead, to define the battle space.”
A quantum connection to Crane is viewed as a potential game changer for the economy and national security. Crane is home to more scientists, engineers, and technical professionals with advanced degrees per capita than anywhere in the country.
Organizers says they are nearing a $140 million fundraising goal for the corridor.
“Indiana is really well positioned [and] the Midwest as a whole is well positioned,” David Roberts, Applied Research Institute CEO, said. “We see a huge investment from our neighbors to the west in Illinois, but we’ve been working on this for quite some time at IU, Purdue [and] Notre Dame … we’ve just got a lot of great assets here.”