EPB Joins Southeastern Quantum Collaborative to Support Regional Infrastructure Integration
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EPB Joins Southeastern Quantum Collaborative to Support Regional Infrastructure Integration EPB has joined the Southeastern Quantum Collaborative (SQC) as an inaugural member. Led by the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), the SQC is a regional association of academic, industrial, and government organizations—including IBM, D-Wave, and IonQ—tasked with coordinating quantum information science research and workforce development across the Southeast. EPB’s role in the collaborative involves providing technical oversight and utilizing its fiber-optic footprint to transition quantum technologies from laboratory research to industrial applications in energy, logistics, and defense. The involvement is centered on the EPB Quantum Network, a commercially available fiber-optic network established in 2023. Later in 2026, EPB intends to complete the installation of an IonQ Forte Enterprise quantum computer at the EPB Quantum Center. This deployment will make the facility the first U.S. technology center to provide integrated commercial access to both a trapped-ion quantum computer (delivering 36 algorithmic qubits) and a photonics-based local quantum network within a single managed infrastructure. Regional coordination through the SQC builds on existing partnerships with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), which hosts a node on the EPB network, and the Vanderbilt University Institute for Quantum Innovation. EPB’s background in the sector includes previous research with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory, where the entities demonstrated the implementation of quantum security protocols for the management of automated power grids. These efforts are designed to integrate quantum-resilient communications and predictive maintenance algorithms directly into the regional energy infrastructure. For the complete technical details on the regional collaboration and Chattanooga’s quantum hardware roadmap, consult the official EPB announcement here, the SQC membership framework here, and the IonQ Forte Enterprise deployment specifications here. March 31, 2026 Mohamed Abdel-Kareem2026-03-31T17:22:11-07:00 Leave A Comment Cancel replyComment Type in the text displayed above Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.