Structure and Content of the Quantum Architectures (Q-AR) Knowledge Unit (KU) Proposal for the CS2023 Report: Curricular Maps and Analysis of Industry Feedback

Continuing a process that began more than 50 years ago with the publication of Curriculum 68 ACM, IEEE-Computer Society and AAAI have sponsored five efforts to establish international curricular guidelines for undergraduate programs in computing on a roughly 10-year cycle. Over the last 15 years significant advances in quantum technologies have led to a new awareness about their impact on computing (QC). There are now 60 companies worldwide that build quantum computers. In the US the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C) was created in 2018 to accelerate the quantum industry by establishing a robust supply chain and infrastructure, including workforce and standards. But the continued absence of any serious education in quantum mechanics in a large fraction of traditional US engineering programs, including computer engineering and the closely related CS and data science programs, present many BS degree STEM graduates with the daunting problem of how to get trained quickly and efficiently to pursue the new opportunities in Quantum Information Science and Technology (QIST). To address this issue the ACM Board of Education has teamed up with the QED-C Workforce Development TAC and has developed (for the first time ever and over a period of 18 months) a Quantum Architectures (Q-AR) Knowledge Unit (KU) for CS2023. In November 2022 we asked the QED-C members (industry, academia, national labs, and government agencies) to comment on the proposed competency-based curricular plans along with the selected topics and learning outcomes. We present the analysis of the data we collected during that process.