An integrated view of Quantum Technology? Mapping Media, Business, and Policy Narratives

TL;DR

This study analyzes how quantum technology is portrayed across media, business, and government, revealing that narratives are shaped by social and political agendas with varying emphasis on societal implications.

Contribution

It introduces a mixed-methods approach combining computational and qualitative analysis to map QT narratives across societal domains over 20 years.

Findings

Media coverage is more balanced than business and government reports.

Discourse emphasizes technical, commercial, and geopolitical aspects.

Societal implications are often overlooked in official narratives.

Abstract

Narratives play a vital role in shaping public perceptions and policy on emerging technologies like quantum technology (QT). However, little is known about the construction and variation of QT narratives across societal domains. This study examines how QT is presented in business, media, and government texts using thematic narrative analysis. Our research design utilizes an extensive dataset of 36 government documents, 165 business reports, and 2,331 media articles published over 20 years. We employ a computational social science approach, combining BERTopic modeling with qualitative assessment to extract themes and narratives. The findings show that public discourse on QT reflects prevailing social and political agendas, focusing on technical and commercial potential, global conflicts, national strategies, and social issues. Media articles provide the most balanced coverage, while business and government discourses often overlook societal implications. We discuss the ramifications for integrating QT into society and the need for wellinformed public discourse.