£15m competition to accelerate use of quantum technologies across Government

The first winners of a £15m competition to explore the benefits of using quantum technologies in the Government’s work across areas like health, transport and net zero were announced yesterday (September 7).

The Quantum Catalyst Fund aims to accelerate the adoption of quantum solutions by the public sector and will ensure the UK Government is well-placed to fully harness the benefits of using these technologies across a range of policy areas.

Quantum technologies, one of the Government’s five critical technologies, are devices and systems using quantum mechanics to provide capabilities that ‘classical’ machines like binary computers cannot. They already offer possible solutions to some of our greatest challenges in society and provide future capabilities that are yet to be explored.

These technologies hold the potential to tackle intricate problems that currently surpass the capacities of even the most advanced classical computers and will allow us to reach new frontiers in sensing, timing, imaging, and communications.

Over the next ten years, quantum technologies are expected to revolutionise many aspects of life in the UK and bring enormous benefits such as helping to grow our economy and create well-paid jobs across the country, one of the Prime Minister’s five priorities.

Some of the areas of interest that the Government has identified include:

• Transport: How could quantum technologies improve our ability to survey underground to improve infrastructure project delivery or provide more precise positioning and timing of trains in real time.
• Space: How might quantum technologies be integrated into space-based platforms to provide insights into the Earth’s climate and its environment or be utilised for space-based applications.
• Health: How can quantum technologies provide new or enhanced capabilities in healthcare.
• Crime: Could we use quantum technologies to enhance our ability to detect anomalies in cargo and parcels, such as contraband or people smuggling.
• Defence: How can quantum computing solve data analytics challenges in defence.
• Net Zero: How can quantum technologies help to reach net zero.

UK Minister of State for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, George Freeman MP, said: “The Quantum revolution is set to be as transformational as the rise of classical computing, and is now starting to open up whole new fields from superfast computing to navigation, allowing us to do things that were previously impossible.

“We can use our scientific leadership in quantum to build exciting new career paths, businesses and even whole sectors here in the UK, boosting economic growth.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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