South Africa has a long history in quantum research with an explosion of activity in the recent decade. Bolstered by this momentum, in March 2021, the South African Quantum Technologies Initiative (SA QuTI) was formally launched by the South African Department of Science and Innovation with the first seed funding released in September 2021. SA QuTI puts quantum technology firmly on the national agenda with ambitious aims for a quantum industry in South Africa. Here, the authors report this to the international quantum community and share their perspectives on what this means for South Africa's quantum future.
South Africa has a long history in quantum research with an explosion of activity in the recent decade. Bolstered by this momentum, in March 2021, the South African Quantum Technologies Initiative (SA QuTI) was formally launched by the South African Department of Science and Innovation with the first seed funding released in September 2021. SA QuTI puts quantum technology firmly on the national agenda with ambitious aims for a quantum industry in South Africa. Here, the authors report this to the international quantum community and share their perspectives on what this means for South Africa's quantum future.
Quantum science and technology is a rapidly growing field that harnesses the unique properties of quantum mechanics. The manipulation of quantum systems has led to unprecedented development in secure quantum communication, simulation, computing, sensing and metrology. Despite the significance of these technologies, the existing literature lacks a comprehensive understanding of how they can address various challenges faced by Africa. We address this gap by using systematic literature review methods and draw insights from diverse perspectives to present an overview of the current state of quantum science and technology in Africa. Furthermore, we explore how the full adoption and implementation of quantum technologies can contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 1-4, 10, 13, and 17. We analyze the data from literature review and insights from African quantum experts, which we synthesize into a cohesive summary. This review underscores that, with appropriate efforts, quantum technologies can significantly promote social, economic, and environmental sustainability in Africa. This review goes beyond the present literature to offer a conceptual framework, theoretical insights and practical recommendations. This study is particularly timely, coinciding with the 2025 International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, which recognizes 100 years since the initial development of quantum mechanics.
As the first applications leap out of research laboratories toward commercialization, the global race for dominance in the maturing field of quantum technologies is becoming ever fiercer. To retain its historical lead and kick-start a continent-wide quantum-driven industry and accelerate market take-up, Europe has launched the Quantum Flagship, an ambitious €1 billion, 10 year endeavor. This article provides an overview of the underlying considerations and the current state of the initiative. Furthermore, it briefly presents the 20 projects selected to be at the core of the ramp-up phase of the initiative, which will address core applications of quantum technologies such as communications, computing, simulation, as well as sensing and metrology, all of which are supported by basic science. Finally, we present the broader ecosystem of European funding instruments and institutions which aim to create the next generation of disruptive technologies within quantum sciences, placing Europe as a worldwide knowledge-based industrial and technological leader in this innovative field.
Recently, the European Commission supported by many European countries has announced large investments towards the commercialization of quantum technology (QT) to address and mitigate some of the biggest challenges facing today's digital era - e.g. secure communication and computing power. For more than two decades the QT community has been working on the development of QTs, which promise landmark breakthroughs leading to commercialization in various areas. The ambitious goals of the QT community and expectations of EU authorities cannot be met solely by individual initiatives of single countries, and therefore, require a combined European effort of large and unprecedented dimensions comparable only to the Galileo or Copernicus programs. Strong international competition calls for a coordinated European effort towards the development of QT in and for space, including research and development of technology in the areas of communication and sensing. Here, we aim at summarizing the state of the art in the development of quantum technologies which have an impact in the field of space applications. Our goal is to outline a complete framework for the design, development, implementation, and exploitation of quantum technology in space.
Abstract The UK has, through a mix of government and industry funding, committed more than £1Bn over ten years to a coordinated programme in quantum technology. Five years into this programme, the UK National Quantum Technology Programme has induced a step change in the nation’s capabilities for establishing a new sector in future quantum information technologies. We describe how the programme arose and the activities it has supported and influenced to deliver these new capabilities, building on a first phase of over £385M investment across several UK government agencies. As the programme enters its second phase, with a further substantial investment by UK government and global industries, we review the prospects for ensuring the advanced quantum science and demonstrator platforms in imaging, sensing, timing, communications and computing developed over the past five years drive the formation of the sector and embed quantum tech in a broad range of industries by means of new products and services.
Quantum computing combines mathematics, quantum physics, and computer science to optimise, learn, and simulate chemical, physical, and biological systems.It offers the ability to solve problems in a unique method and to speed up solutions compared to standard procedures.This computing may solve issues with intractable inputs.With the capabilities of quantum computers and the availability of quantum development kits, quantum computing is expected to become ubiquitous, and the demand for trained people is expected to rise significantly.Quantum technologies are rapidly developing globally with substantial disruptive potential.Quantum technology is opening up new frontiers in computing, communications, and cyber security with widespread applications.The range of quantum technologies is expected to be one of the significant technology disruptions that will change the entire paradigm of computation, communication, and encryption.It is perceived that the countries that achieve an edge in this emerging field will have a more significant advantage in garnering multifold economic growth and dominant leadership roles.It is expected that lots of commercial applications will emerge from the developing theoretical constructs in this area.In India, there is a growing interest in quantum computing and communication with active participation from students, developers, industry, and academia, leading to many recent initiatives and developments.This article provides an overview of some of the recent developments of quantum computing in India and the future ahead.In its 2020 budget, the Indian government announced the National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications, which will be run by the Department of Science and Technology with a budget of 80 billion INR over five years [1].Among the next-generation technologies that will be pushed by this mission are quantum computers and computing, quantum communication, quantum key distribution, cryptanalysis, quantum devices, quantum sensing, quantum materials, quantum clocks, and so on.The mission will focus on basic science, technology development, building up human and infrastructure resources, innovation, and new businesses to solve problems that are important to the country.By putting the mission into action, India would be able to develop and use quantum computers, secure communications through fibre and free space, quantum encryption and cryptanalysis, and other related technologies.It would also be able to deal with national and regional problems that are unique to India.International Business Machines (IBM) and the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-Madras) joined forces in September 2022 to help India learn more about quantum computing and accelerate research [2].With this partnership, IIT Madras becomes one of the more than 180 members of the IBM Quantum Network around the world.IIT Madras is also the "first Indian institution" to join the global community of Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, academic institutions, and research labs working with IBM quantum technology to improve quantum computing and find business uses for it.As a member of the IBM Quantum Network, IIT Madras will have cloud-based access to IBM's most advanced quantum computing systems and IBM's quantum expertise.This will allow to look into real-world applications and see how this technology can help business and society in a wide range of ways.International Business Machines has also taken a number of steps to promote quantum computing in India and make it more well-known.IBM has made Qiskit, an open-source software development kit for the quantum developer community.The textbook "Qiskit" is available in Tamil, Bengali, and Hindi, and students in India accessed it more than 30,000 times in 2021 alone.Through the IBM Quantum Educators Programme, IBM works together with some of India's best schools.For educational purposes, teachers and students at these schools will be able to use IBM Cloud to access quantum systems, quantum learning resources, and quantum tools.With help from the National Security Council Secretariat, the Indian Army set up a laboratory for quantum computing and a centre for artificial intelligence at the Military College of
Over the past two years, a comprehensive strategy for quantum technology in Europe has been created by the joint effort of academia and the business sector with community support from all over the continent.By building on that, Europe is making the next big leap with the first wave of pioneering projects launched in October 2018, sending a clear global signal that we will do our very best to retain the historic lead in quantum sciences.Building on Europe's rich scientific heritage and the strong quantum community, the Quantum Technology Flagship was launched by the European Commission with a €1 billion budget.The ambitious initiative will support over 5,000 of Europe's leading researchers over the next ten years.As announced during the official kick-off in October 2018, 20 projects worth €132 million will be funded in the initial 3-year phase via the European Commission's Horizon 2020 programme.A solid indicator of success is the staggering number of proposals submitted for the first Flagship call: 140 consortia have requested almost five times the available budget.Over the decade-long course of the Flagship, over 150 projects are expected to be realised.The total €1 billion funding will foster the entire quantum value chain from basic research to industrialisation, thus bringing together researchers and the business sector.Four research and innovation domains will simultaneously be the focus of the European efforts: Communication, Computation, Simulation, as well as Sensing and Metrology represent the major applied areas in the field, which will also be advanced by breakthrough discoveries in the fifth, underlying domain of Basic Science.The Communication domain will foster the development of cheap, compact, faster and more secure random number generators, as well as components and systems for continuous variable quantum communication.Parallel to these, a blueprint for the pan-European Quantum Internet shall be created by developing all essential subsystems and giving the first experimental demonstration.Within Computing, two projects aim to develop quantum computers that are competitive with today's state-of-the-art supercomputers, either by realising a fully-automated ion-trap quantum computer or by building a machine with up to 100 superconducting qubits.The Simulation domain will push the already well-advanced neutral atom and ion-based quantum simulation platforms and address quantum annealing or optimization problems through full programmability.Parallel to that a quantum simulator platform made of ultracold atoms will be created, engineering a new generation of quantum cascade laser frequency combs characterized by non-classical emission and entanglement among the comb nodes.The Sensing domain will see the development of novel and compact atomic clocks, as well as the exploitation of atom-like defects in diamond to develop a variety of sensors and in magnetic resonance imaging to improve the detection of cardiovascular diseases.Furthermore, it will support combining state-of-the-art quantum sensor physics with MEMS atomic vapor cells, allowing for high-volume, high-reliability, low-cost deployment.Finally, within the domain of Basic Science, seven projects will investigate a variety of topics and technologies, with a focus on microfabricated devices and photonic systems.Enhancing capabilities in quantum technologies will help create a lucrative knowledge-based industry, leading to long-term economic, scientific and societal benefits, while delivering novel ideas, tools, components, materials, methods and processes.By funding ground-breaking projects, the Flagship will enable "quantum leaps" in technology development over the next decade, which in turn will lead to establishing markets within and wealth creation even beyond the European quantum ecosystem.Currently Europe is still at the leading edge of quantum technologies worldwide.However, this might rapidly change, as the demand for technology and talent is increasing at an unprecedented pace around the globe due to the promising future of quantum applications.Governments of industry powerhouse nations like the USA or China, as well as corporations such as Google, IBM, Microsoft, Alibaba, and Tencent are already investing substantial amounts to unleash quantum technologies' potential.