By Chuck Brooks, president of Brooks Consulting International and one of Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Experts

“Ushering in the Next Frontier of Quantum Innovation” and “Securing the Nation Against Advanced Cryptographic Attacks,” two Executive Orders issued by the White House on June 22, 2026, represent a clear, two-pronged approach to securing U.S. leadership in quantum technologies while guarding against the existential cybersecurity threats they pose. The National Quantum Strategy will be updated, strong quantum computers for science and defense will be developed more quickly (capabilities by 2028), quantum sensing and networking will be advanced, and a swift federal (and critical infrastructure) transition to post-quantum cryptography, or PQC, standards with aggressive timelines (high-value assets by 2030–2031) is required.

This strategy directly addresses the convergence of opportunities and risks that I have long highlighted: the urgent need to get ready for “Q-Day,” when large-scale quantum computers could crack existing public-key cryptography, and quantum computing as a transformative force for discovery, optimization and national competitiveness.