Quantum Technology Initiatives

The UK quantum opportunity, is Government enabling the leap? Today, in the UK House of Lords I asked the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Patrick Vallance what steps the Government are taking to ensure the UK is able to optimize the opportunities arising from quantum technology. The UK is in a strong position when it comes to quantum: ✅ Largest number of quantum start-ups in Europe, 11% of all companies globally and 2nd in terms of investment; ✅ Half of the quantum hardware and a third of the software start-ups are UK university spin outs; ✅ An Oxford Economics report suggests the technology will be responsible for a, potential, 7% increase in productivity for the UK by 2045, that’s some £212 billion [link to report in comments] So, a real growth opportunity for the UK. What precisely is the Government doing to enable the quantum leap? The Minister set out several points, highlighting the increased investment from 1 billion over 10 years to 1 billion over the next 4 years and stressing that the Government are focusing on skills, infrastructure and international partnerships. All positive moves but are they setting the sector for optimization? I think the Government need to be bolder, move from broad spread to higher stakes focused strategy, not least to address the gaps in infrastructure, private investment and procurement. I was delighted that in his "short answer" the Minister agreed with me, also indicating that we "will hear more about that shortly." Immediate action they could choose to take and that I hope will be included in any upcoming announcements:   🎯 Skills: adopt the recommendations of the 2025 quantum skills task force mentioned by the Minister [link to report in comments] 🎯 Scaling: make some deep bet investments, go beyond early R&D across the extended quantum stack to support self-sustaining, sovereign quantum capability. 🎯 Champion sovereign actors: actively prevent loss of local start-ups abroad, not least through meaningful access to capital. 🎯 Drive domestic demand: utilise the role of Government as first customer. Not just positive in terms of funding but equally significant in terms of signals sent, do this alongside incentivizing private sector adoption. 🎯 Support "Hybrid" Solutions: focus on software and algorithmic innovation that allows quantum to work alongside AI, particularly for near-term use cases. In short, I believe the Government must be bold and go deep in funding, scaling, skills and across the stack, and as first customer, the UK Government as quantum leading. As always, I welcome your thoughts.

🚀 Europe just made a bold move in the quantum race and it’s exactly the kind of strategic vision we need right now. The European Commission has just unveiled a new €1 billion quantum initiative, combining funding from Horizon Europe, the Digital Europe Programme, and the Chips Joint Undertaking. This isn’t just big news for researchers, it’s a turning point for Europe’s technological sovereignty. I have lived through multiple technology shifts from launching AIBO to driving AI and digital transformation across Europe,  I believe, I know the importance of investing before the wave crests. And quantum is the next wave. What’s happening? 🔹 Quantum Flagship 2.0: Building on Europe’s leadership in quantum research, this will support everything from quantum sensing to computing, simulation, and communication. 🔹 EuroQCI: A secure, ultra-fast quantum communication infrastructure linking all EU countries, satellites, and key institutions which is positioning Europe as a leader in cyber-resilient networks. 🔹 A roadmap toward first-generation quantum computers by 2030, integrated into a European ecosystem with trusted hardware and software. It’s all about building European-made quantum processors, testing real-world quantum use cases, and developing skills and jobs across all member states. What excites me most is that this is a mission-driven approach, aligned with the Digital Decade goals and industrial competitiveness. Quantum will be critical not only in defense and health but also in sustainability, energy, and finance. 🇪🇺 As a Digital EU Ambassador, I see this as a vital step for Europe to lead responsibly in the next frontier of tech. Let’s make sure startups, SMEs, corporates, and academia all seize this opportunity and make Europe the quantum hub of the future. 📘 Learn more: 🔗https://lnkd.in/eXKS-stf 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eRtmrkw4 The picture below was created by Adobe Stock

Amaravati Quantum Valley: Building India’s Indigenous Quantum Hardware & Talent Hub Under the leadership of Hon’ble CM Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu Garu, Andhra Pradesh is fast-tracking Amaravati Quantum Valley—a 50-acre deep-tech district designed to anchor quantum computing, hardware, AI, and semiconductors. What’s taking shape now : India’s first Quantum Reference Facility (₹40 Cr): testing, benchmarking & characterisation—foundation for indigenous quantum computer manufacturing within 24 months. Iconic core building (40,000 sq ft, ultra-secure, climate-controlled) + 9 Mn sq ft phased offices and labs to host 60,000+ specialists, startups, and researchers. QChipIN: India’s largest open quantum testbed—academic & startup access built-in. Go-live target: Jan 1, 2026 (soil testing underway at Uddandarayunipalem). Hardware breakthrough: Amber Enterprises investment : Amber Enterprises to set up India’s first Quantum Cryogenic Components Facility in Amaravati (₹200 Cr, phased). Focus: cryogenic assemblies essential for superconducting quantum computers (near-absolute zero). Outcome: domestic supply-chain for quantum hardware; reduced import dependence; faster time-to-lab for Indian teams. Global partners & roadmap IBM: Initial 133-qubit system (AQCC) with roadmap to a 156-qubit Heron (Quantum System Two) by Mar 2026. TCS: Quantum services, algorithms, and sector applications (life sciences, energy, finance). L&T: Core infrastructure & precision build; LTIMindtree: Quantum CoE & incubation. Ecosystem collaborators: IIT Madras, IIT Tirupati, TIFR, QpiAI (8-qubit system in Nov ’25), QNu Labs, AstraZeneca, Amazon, HCL, Bank of America. Access model: MoUs include subsidised rentals & free access hours for academia/government under the State Quantum Mission. Capital & jobs flywheel: Targeting USD 500 Mn by Jan 1, 2027 and USD 1 Bn by 2029 in cumulative investments. Direct boost to manufacturing, design, and applied research; high-skill job creation across quantum control, cryogenics, RF/microwave, photonics, firmware, and verification. Aligned to India’s National Quantum Mission (NQM) Complements NQM’s 2023–31 goals across computing, communication, sensing & materials. Mission leadership endorses Amaravati’s cryogenic and testbed stack as critical for an indigenous quantum supply chain. Why this matters : Quantum + AI + Semiconductors + Cryogenics in one campus = prototype → pilot → product cycle on Indian soil. Public-private design lowers barriers for startups & universities, accelerating patents, publications, and deployments in health, agriculture, logistics, governance, and security. Call to collaborate #AmaravatiQuantumValley #QuantumComputing #DeepTech #Cryogenics #Semiconductors #AI #MakeInIndia #NQM #Research #Hardware #InvestAP #AndhraPradesh #ChandrababuNaidu #TDP #Innovation

IBM Puts Quantum Computing on Display as Strategic Infrastructure in London Introduction Quantum computing is moving out of hidden laboratories and into public view. IBM’s installation of a fully operational quantum computer on London’s York Road signals a deliberate shift from abstract research to visible, deployable infrastructure, reinforcing quantum technology as a strategic pillar of national competitiveness. The Breakthrough on York Road IBM has installed a Quantum System One in a street-facing London office, making one of the coldest and most sensitive machines on Earth visible to the public while keeping it fully operational as part of IBM’s global quantum network. Engineering at the Edge of Physics The system operates at roughly 15 millikelvin, colder than outer space, to preserve fragile quantum states and prevent decoherence. A gold-plated cryostat houses a quantum chip smaller than a postage stamp, while the surrounding structure exists entirely to cool, isolate, and stabilize it. A hermetically sealed borosilicate glass cube dampens vibration and shields the system from thermal and acoustic noise generated by nearby traffic and rail lines. The design demonstrates that quantum computers can function reliably outside underground bunkers and bespoke research facilities. Strategic and Economic Intent The installation supports the UK’s National Quantum Strategy and is operated in collaboration with the Hartree Centre and the Science and Technology Facilities Council. Researchers and companies access the system via the cloud to explore applications in materials science, drug discovery, and financial modeling. Its proximity to the City of London positions IBM as an infrastructure partner for banks and financial institutions pursuing quantum-enabled optimization and risk analysis. From Quantum Supremacy to Utility The system is a Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum device, still subject to errors and requiring mitigation techniques. It functions as a testbed for error correction research and for future IBM processors such as Heron and Flamingo. The emphasis has shifted from headline-grabbing demonstrations to practical experimentation and commercial readiness. Why This Matters IBM’s London quantum installation reframes quantum computing as physical, national infrastructure rather than distant promise. By combining public visibility, industrial access, and government alignment, it marks a transition toward quantum utility and geopolitical signaling. The glass-walled system on York Road is less a showroom than a declaration that the quantum era is moving into everyday economic and strategic planning. I share daily insights with 36,000+ followers across defense, tech, and policy. If this topic resonates, I invite you to connect and continue the conversation. Keith King https://lnkd.in/gHPvUttw

Geneva has already transmitted election results over a telecom network secured with quantum cryptography. A real-world deployment protecting a democratic process. Now Switzerland has published its first national quantum strategy. Released on 4 March, the roadmap proposes CHF 200–300M in additional investment, complementing the CHF 100M already committed through 2028. The ambition is significant. The challenge now is execution: turning world-class research into infrastructure, industry and durable economic value. Switzerland has 200+ quantum research groups, ETH Zürich and EPFL rank among the world’s leading institutions, Swiss labs have already produced startups and commercial applications in quantum cryptography and sensing. The strategy focuses more on the shared national platforms enabling deep tech to cross the “valley of death” between the laboratory and the market. That includes: ▫️ specialised cleanrooms and test facilities ▫️ competence centres for quantum communication and sensing ▫️ a national quantum simulation facility ▫️ a public-private quantum hub to attract talent and capital ▫️ stronger deep-tech funding mechanisms ➡️ The goal is to reduce the infrastructure and capital barriers between breakthrough research and commercial deployment. More companies survive. More IP stays local. More value in the ecosystem. 🔹 Quantum cryptography and ultra-precise sensing are already moving into security-relevant and commercially meaningful applications - from secure comms to industrial use cases in energy, pharma, manufacturing. 🔹 Universal quantum computing - capable of solving problems beyond classical capability - still faces major technical hurdles. The race remains open. But the ecosystems most likely to prevail will be those connecting science, capital, industrialisation, security and trust into a coherent system. Europe has seen this pattern before. In cloud, digital platforms and AI, the debate about sovereignty began after dependency had already taken hold. Switzerland appears determined to move earlier this time, betting that trusted infrastructure will become the next strategic layer of the digital economy - and that institutional stability, scientific depth and shared industrial platforms can create a competitive advantage that scale alone cannot replicate. For boards and executives, 3 questions matter: 1️⃣ Which critical systems rely on encryption that quantum capabilities will challenge? Is there a credible transition plan? 2️⃣ Are the public-private investment instruments emerging across Switzerland and EU being tracked as strategic opportunities? 3️⃣ Is there a clear quantum readiness position across cyber, infrastructure, investment and talent? Curious how you see quantum today: a research frontier, or already emerging as infrastructure? #Quantum #DigitalTrust #DigitalSovereignty #DeepTech #Boardroom

There’s a growing cluster of Quantum startups just down the road from me. Not flashy, not loud, but definitely something to pay attention to 👇 . The German company Kipu Quantum just announced a new office here in Bilbao. Congratulations Enrique Solano! It’s one of those announcements that could easily go unnoticed, but I think it says something important about how the city, that I call home, keeps evolving. Bilbao has a long industrial history. Steel, shipbuilding, factories. That’s the foundation everything here was built on. A lot of that industry collapsed in the 70s and 80s. At one point, unemployment was over 30%. The city had to completely reinvent itself. Now we’re seeing something new here in the Basque Country: Quantum computing. Kipu Quantum are partnering with Bizkaia Quantum Advanced Industries (BIQAIN), which brings together public and private players (including IBM, Microsoft, Telefónica) and others, to make the Basque Country a serious player in quantum tech. I’ve lived in Bilbao for some years now, and while the city’s industrial past is still part of its identity, it’s interesting to see more and more quantum news coming out of Bilbao. The city seems to be slowly becoming a place where future-focused work like deep tech and quantum computing is starting to happen. Quantum in The Basque Country would have sounded strange 10 years ago. But now? Maybe not. There’s even a 1,000m² quantum facility here in Bilbao hosting up to 12 platforms. Some other examples of promising local initiatives: ✅ The Basque Government and IBM are installing Europe’s first IBM Quantum System Two (a 156-qubit processor) at the new IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center in San Sebastián. It’s due to go live by late 2025 ✅ Quantum Training & Talent Through BasQ, about 80 Basque researchers have already undergone quantum training. The EHU Quantum Center (University of the Basque Country) supports this effort by offering education and tech transfer programmes. ✅ Local Quantum Startup Cluster Bilbao-Leioa now hosts around 15 quantum startups in the María Goyri building—up from virtually none just three years ago . One leading example from Gipuzkoa is Multiverse Computing, a unicorn-in-waiting with significant funding and global reach in quantum-AI software IBM. Let’s see where this leads!

Great to see Hon Dr Shane Reti MP continuing to back New Zealand's quantum technology sector with this week's announcement of a $1.35m discovery phase for a quantum platform for New Zealand. While $1.35m might seem modest on the global stage, context matters. This isn't an isolated bet – it's the latest step in a deliberate, strategic approach to building quantum capability in Aotearoa. New Zealand has been quietly but purposefully developing our quantum tech sector for several years now, playing to our strengths in photonics through Te Whai Ao - Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies, led by the fantastic and passionate Frederique Vanholsbeeck. In January 2024 there was a $12m investment for a five year programme to increase international connectivity and domestic capability in this rapidly developing sector, focused on our strengths in sensing and secure communications. This new discovery phase will explore how we can accelerate our quantum research, identify commercialisation pathways, and position New Zealand in the global quantum economy. The New Zealand Institute for Advanced Technology will work with researchers and businesses to map our capabilities and opportunities between now and June 2026. What I particularly appreciate about this approach is the recognition that quantum technology isn't just a science project – it's about creating high-value jobs, attracting international partnerships, and building export opportunities in a sector that will define the next generation of computing, secure communications, and advanced sensing. The recent announcement of three New Zealand-Korea quantum collaborations shows this strategy is already creating international connections that can open doors for our researchers and businesses. This is how you build a technology sector: identify your strengths, invest strategically over time, connect research to commercial outcomes, and create the platforms that allow innovation to flourish. Tech New Zealand is looking forward to seeing what emerges from this discovery phase and how we can support the quantum tech community to make the most of this opportunity. #QuantumTechnology #NZResearch #Innovation #TechPolicy #ResearchAndDevelopment #DigitalEconomy Delphine Ducaruge, Zahra Champion, Sarah Box, Michelle Donaldson, Caroline Rainsford, Helen Robinson, ONZM, Dr Mahsa McCauley (Mohaghegh), Madeline Newman, Amit Gupta

In this week's column, I report from Chicago on the city's efforts to build the Silicon Valley of quantum computing. For decades, the labs of Illinois and surrounding states have nurtured breakthroughs in nanotechnology, the life sciences and the internet itself. Time and again, the researchers behind those developments have gone elsewhere to commercialize their ideas. But business and political leaders in the region are determined to break that pattern by putting a bear hug around the next likely technological leap: quantum computing that leaves contemporary computers in the dust. The city will be home to the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, to be located on 128 acres of the old South Works site where U.S. Steel once employed 20,000 people. Related Midwest is lead developer for the park and surrounding property, a longstanding passion project for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. The anchor tenant is PsiQuantum, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup that plans to build a fault-tolerant quantum computer on the order of 1 million quantum bits, or qubits, which it said would give it the most power of any quantum computer at launch alongside the company’s project in Brisbane, Australia. The park is also slated to host a center where companies will develop applications to run on hardware such as the PsiQuantum system. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will operate a proving ground at the park, evaluating the efficacy of quantum projects. “We have a right to win in quantum because of that research base, but on top of that we see the gaps that normally prevent this region from becoming an innovation ecosystem, and we’re intentionally trying to fill them,” said Kate Waimey Timmerman, chief executive of the Chicago Quantum Exchange. A Boston Consulting Group (BCG) forecast projects that total global quantum economic value creation will reach nearly $1 trillion by 2035, up from about $3 billion today. Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana’s share of that windfall could reach nearly $80 billion by 2035, up from roughly $60 million. PsiQuantum Chief Business Officer Stratton Sclavos said quantum could have a huge impact on the creation of new drugs. Today, that means using classical computers to synthesize and test up to 200,000 potentially promising compounds, a process that might take 10 years and have a failure rate of 90%. A quantum-based effort might instead focus on high-precision simulation of 200 compounds that the system has targeted. PsiQuantum says its use of existing photonics will reduce costs and improve its scale, time to market and usefulness.

Florida's first quantum computer will be located on the campus of Florida Atlantic University. If you lead a university, a public system, or a technology portfolio, this is the kind of infrastructure decision that should be on your radar immediately. The development places the state within a growing cohort of institutions that are investing directly in quantum computing infrastructure rather than limiting their engagement to theoretical or outsourced access. Universities that maintain in house quantum hardware and dedicated research laboratories gain structural advantages. These include increased competitiveness for federal funding, stronger industry partnerships, deeper doctoral training pipelines, and greater influence over the direction of applied and theoretical research. Institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, CalTech, Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, Maryland, Waterloo, Oxford, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China & National University of Singapore have embedded quantum research within long term institutional strategy. Quantum computing has transitioned from a narrow subfield within advanced physics to a structured interdisciplinary domain. Dedicated graduate programmes, industry funded laboratories, and national quantum initiatives have altered how students and researchers evaluate institutional excellence. National strategies globally demonstrate that quantum computing is understood as strategic technological capacity. From a governance perspective, the implications are huge. Current public key encryption standards are vulnerable to sufficiently advanced quantum systems. Security analysts have repeatedly warned that organizations require at least 5 years to prepare for post quantum cryptographic transition - but that they only have 3! At the same time, data interception practices already assume future decryption capability once scalable quantum systems mature. Think “harvest now, decrypt later.” This temporal asymmetry introduces long term security risk into present day digital infrastructure. For educational leaders, at all levels, the trajectory is clear. Quantum information science will soon enter advanced secondary curricula, expand at the undergraduate level, and become integrated into hybrid classical quantum computational workflows across research universities. Cloud based quantum access (e.g. from IBM) will lower entry barriers, but institutions that invest early in hardware, faculty development, and research ecosystems will define standards, attract talent, and shape policy discourse. Quantum computing represents a foundational shift in computational capability. Institutions that treat it as a peripheral innovation risk structural disadvantage. Those that embed it within long term strategic planning now will position themselves to influence the scientific, industrial, and regulatory frameworks that will define the coming decades.

Reclaiming the Quantum Narrative (4/6) After Green Washing… Quantum Washing. When the tool shapes the problem, something is off. A quantum computer should not be viewed as a powerful solution desperately in search of a problem, nor as a large hammer indiscriminately applied to small or ill-suited nails. The risk of a technology-first approach — one that emphasizes the extraordinary computational potential of quantum technologies before identifying concrete financial applications — is that it may lead to biased assessments, favoring problems that are well suited to quantum methods over those that are most relevant to practitioners. Quantum washing is a term we use to refer to the tendency to attribute near-term economic or operational benefits to quantum technologies either through implicit assumptions that are not currently satisfied or by focusing on problems chosen primarily for their amenability to quantum advantage rather than for their genuine economic relevance. Claims of universal speedups, real-time valuation of complex instruments, or systematic outperformance often mix long-term theoretical possibilities with present-day capabilities and obscure the fact that any genuine quantum advantage is necessarily conditional, localized, and problem-dependent. To avoid this pitfall, we systematically advocate the reverse approach. Our starting point should be a thorough analysis of the questions and challenges most relevant to a given industry, say the asset management industry, and a discussion of the strengths and limitations of existing classical approaches. It is only then that we start assessing whether quantum technologies may deliver genuine incremental value. One should turn to the “big hammer” only after all classical reasonably sized tools have been exhausted, and only for those nails that truly warrant a fundamentally new instrument. #QuantumComputing #QuantumTechnology #QuantumStrategy #Innovation #DeepTech #Finance #AssetManagement #TechNarrative #EmergingTech #ResponsibleInnovation Emmanuel Métais Noëmie NeversBenoit Arnaud Colin Godbarge Richard Perrin Bruno de Pampelonne Frank Moisson David Gesbert Anne Lange Oswaldo Zapata, PhD Camille Georges Joe Ghalbouni, PhD Sylvain Riffé Stern Frédéric Barbaresco