The UK quantum ecosystem met in London on 2 Nov for the UK Quantum Technology Showcase, its ninth such annual gathering. This vibrant event had much to tell about how the priorities of the influential and much copied UK National Quantum Technology Programme are evolving as it prepares for its second decade.
The increasing scale of the event (1200 delegates and 80 exhibitors, up from 1000 and 67 in 2022) was hosted this year in a notably more professional ‘trade show’ format [1]. Less emphasis now on physical lab demonstrators, more on marketing stands. As Prof Dominic O’Brien (UK QCS Hub Director) quipped “we no longer need to convince people that quantum is a real thing”.
Sir Peter Knight (Chair of UK NQTP Strategic Advisory Board and father of the UK quantum program) told GQI
“In our 10th year of the UK National Quantum Technology Programme, I see real progress in the journey from concept to product of economic and societal value. This journey is sure to be accelerated by the March 2023 UK government commitment of £2.5Bn for a further 10 years. The joined-up ecosystem we have developed has enabled us to be a world-class player, much studied by our friends from around the world, as evidenced by the substantial overseas delegations to this year’s showcase. I was stunned by the buzz and excitement seen at the showcase this year: what a great ride!”
The UK didn’t invent the idea of quantum technology, but in 2014, it was the first to mobilize a national program to promote and coordinate government investment and its commercialisation, in partnership with UK academia and a soon to emerge quantum start-up community. Elements of this approach have been widely adopted by more recent national and regional programs around the world.
This was the first Showcase since the UK Government published its updated National Quantum Strategy, designed to steer the program through the next ten years [2]. It’s natural to ask what’s different about the challenge the UK now sees ahead? How should investors view the health of the UK ecosystem? Should potential adopters sit up and take notice?
The central role of international partnering
Headline announcements at the Showcase [3] included a new science and innovation agreement signed between the UK and the Netherlands. In an indication of the multiple connections across wider science and technology policy, a parallel quantum agreement between the UK and Australia was announced not at the Showcase but at the International AI summit taking part at Bletchley Park [4]. This adds to existing agreements with the US and Canada, and closely follows the long awaited deal for the UK to rejoin Horizon Europe [5].
Both the Netherlands and Australia are heavyweights in quantum tech, and choice picks with which to deepen the UK’s collaboration. Taken together GQI sees this as strong progress on international partnerships, a specific goal of the UK National Quantum Strategy,.
A key challenge ahead is whether such governmental agreements can lead to tangible momentum on the ground. In this regard, GQI sees the existing UK-Canadian collaboration as a useful indicator. This has already given rise to a series of modest-scale, but technologically cutting edge collaborations with clear technology synergies. A further 11 joint Canadian-UK projects were announced at the Showcase [3].
GQI believes recapturing the momentum the UK has lost in Horizon Europe will be more challenging. As an ‘Associated Country’ the UK will now again have a role in program governance and UK researchers will again be able to lead consortia [6].
However, in areas impinging on ‘strategic assets, interests, autonomy or security’, participation by Associated Countries can be restricted ‘by work programme’ (article 22(5) of EU regulation 2021/695 [7]). The Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-2024 was formally adopted in March 2023 and its wording envisaged the UK association that has followed [8]. Broadly this allows for UK participation in space related quantum calls, but excludes the UK from most non-space related quantum calls (including those focussed on quantum computing platforms, quantum photonic integrated circuits and sensing for market uptake). Neither is the UK a member of EuroQCI or EuroHPC (partly funded from Horizon Europe and which now has significant quantum activities).
Promoting EU ‘technology sovereignty’ is an important (and entirely legitimate) theme underpinning Horizon Europe. GQI has not yet seen a clear reconciliation of this goal and the UK National Quantum Strategy, though the two are not inevitably incompatible.
Another headline announcement sees the NQCC partner with IBM to give the strong quantum software research base in the UK premium tier access across IBM’s fleet of quantum systems.
This complements and extends the hardware access provided by the NQCC Quantum Software Lab’s existing relationship with AWS, and the NQCC’s active program of work with other quantum cloud providers and UK-based QC developers such as OQC, Oxford Ionics, Universal Quantum, ORCA and Quantum Motion. [9]
GQI expects IBM to deliver on the promise of its 100×100 Challenge (to be able to calculate accurate observables for 100-qubit, 100-layer circuits in less than a day’s runtime) by the end of 2024, and that these new systems will be a key driver of activity in 2024. So the new deal is timely. It is also a significant indicator of how the NQCC is managing to find the delicate balance demanded by its ‘first customer’ role: to support local hardware innovation, but also to ensure that the UK downstream ecosystem has access to the best current kit regardless of from where it hails.
GQI notes that the new partnership also builds on the UK’s existing high profile conventional collaboration with IBM, the Hartree National Centre for Digital Innovation (a site collocated with PsiQuantum’s new Daresbury cryogenic R&D facility). We expect to see more relationships that break out of a narrow quantum context.
Awards by the NQCC of up to £30M of funding for UK quantum computing testbeds as part of the UK Quantum Computing Mission are expected this month. GQI is watching to see if the ‘usual suspects’ are joined by any new faces.
A significant thread in the UK’s international quantum strategy (and science & innovation policy more widely) is to become a global leader in regulation and standards. To forward this the Showcase saw the launch of the UK Quantum Standard Networks Pilot. This NPL led initiative will seek to co-ordinate and encourage UK participation in international standards setting bodies in the quantum sector.
GQI sees this as a tantalizing opportunity for the UK, but we should be in no doubt about the difficulty of gaining traction in this area. The organizations involved are often large and coordination difficult. Even between two organizations with a long standing and friendly relationship, such as US NIST and UK NPL, and that have areas of closely aligned current interest (for example random number standards and quantum random number generator assurance) GQI struggles to point to practical evidence of effective collaboration.
A preeminent focus on financing quantum
George Freeman (UK Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation) gave the opening address at the Showcase. Rather than giving a simple roll-call of the potential benefits of quantum technology or the progress of UK projects, Freeman emphasized what he identified as a key coming challenge: securing the very significant follow-on funding that quantum startups will need to continue their mid-life growth. This goes beyond the usual domain of seed and venture capital, into unlocking the backing of larger institutional funds and local public markets. This is an area that has become a particular focus on UK science & technology policy [10], [11].
The US with its deep markets and voracious tech-risk appetite does not face this challenge in the same way. However GQI feels almost all other nascent quantum ecosystems do. Emerging UK government policy such as the Edinburgh Reforms [10] and Mansion House Reforms [12] promise to reinvigorate UK capital markets and unlock new sources of funding for high growth tech firms. However as reform in primary legislation didn’t make it into this year’s King’s Speech some aspects will be delayed [13]. Whether the UK government’s new policies can succeed remains to be seen. They constitute an important new dimension against which to benchmark quantum ecosystems.
Also speaking at the Showcase was Tom Newby, recently appointed to head the new Office for Quantum, charged with coordinating quantum activities across the UK government (though based within DSIT). Where other countries have appointed an equivalent role, they have typically sought an individual with a scientific background and a notable research pedigree. This is not Newby, who’s background is History & Politics, regulation strategy at Ofcom and then the UK Treasury. He is a self described ‘policy wonk’.
It has become a trope criticism of the UK civil service that it’s top ranks are dominated by arts & humanities generalists. However, GQI feels the appointment of Newby is perhaps an astute choice. £1 billion invested over 10 years may sound big for a research program, but for even a mid-sized nation state it isn’t really serious money. To really succeed the UK program needs to sustain its transition from a spirited bottom up initiative, to one that is enabled top down as a matter of sustained central government policy. And while the program already has many talented physicists, engineers and computer scientists embedded within its ranks, perhaps additional senior policy expertise is exactly what is required to bring the additional balance the leadership team needs for the next phase.
One new high profile pillar of the UK R&D scene was conspicuous by its absence from the Showcase. Launched in Jan 2023, ARIA, is the UK’s new agency for transformational research [14]. Its inspiration, US DARPA continues to be active in sponsoring quantum research. The question naturally arises, what might ARIA drive in this area?
The recently appointed initial slate of ARIA programme directors includes Jacques Carolan, a research leader with a strong quantum photonics pedigree and a more recent focus specifically on neuromorphic computing. Whether quantum can support an ARIA program in this area remains to be seen. GQI continues to watch for evidence that these multiple legs of UK innovation funding will prove complementary.
Distinctive voices on technology direction
Presentations at the Quantum Showcase also throw light on how senior UK eyes see the technology itself developing.
Prof Elham Kashefi (UK NQCC Chief Scientist & Head of the NQCC Software Lab in Edinburgh), outlined her views on future priorities in quantum computing research. This struck a distinctive tone. Kashefi emphasized the energy efficiency advantages of quantum computation, perhaps an important way to communicate what quantum offers in the context of important societal priorities. Kashefi also conveyed a distinctly ‘distributed’ vision of quantum computing. Through this lens QC naturally converges with and leverages advanced quantum cryptographic protocols (another strength of Kashefi’s previous research). In this world, the line between module interconnects, locally distributed quantum computing and the role of the data center are blurred.
This builds on the modular QC concept targeted by NQIT in Phase 1 of the NQTP (though the required hardware proved out of reach at that point) and that was continued by the QCS Hub in Phase 2. GQI also sees the influence of the UKRI Quantum Data Centre of the Future project [15].
GQI anticipates this style of approach will receive a further major boost from the new quantum architecture and partnership announced by Photonic Inc. and Microsoft. GQI notes that UK NSSIF was a co-investor with Microsoft in Photonic Inc’s recent $100M funding round. [16]
In Phase 1 & 2 of the NQTP, the Quantum Comms pillar focussed on the technology that was closest to potential commercialisation. Significant strides were made in the demonstration of ‘prepare & measure’ quantum networks and the development of associated devices, including Toshiba’s market leading QKD products which Toshiba has developed and is manufacturing in the UK [17]. These devices are at the heart of the BT and Toshiba commercial trial of quantum secured communications services in London, an initiative that recently secured participation from HSBC (also presenting at the Showcase) [18].
The influential UK NCSC has remained a notable skeptic of QKD, leaving the UK government internally misaligned on this subject. The NCSC released its latest guidance on preparing for the migration to quantum-safe cryptography on 3 Nov. This does not denounce QKD by name, merely saying “The NCSC advice remains that the best mitigation against the threat of quantum computers to traditional public key cryptography is post-quantum cryptography (PQC)” [19]. The move of the NCSC to a ‘principles-based’ approach for the assurance of security technologies may ultimately provide a route to resolve this issue. In the meantime, the current NCSC advice remains a cloud over what would otherwise be the single biggest success of the UK NQPT to date.
GQI points to the French approach of including PQC as a pillar directly within their quantum program as an interesting alternative. One with perhaps both short and long term advantages.
Speaking at the Showcase, Prof Tim Spiller (UK Quantum Comms Hub Director) moved the technology debate onwards. The technology direction of the program is now naturally evolving towards entanglement based networking. Sometimes the end goal of such technology is described as the ‘Quantum Internet’. This term has been controversial in some circles, because for the uninitiated it might conjure up the wrong picture of how this technology might be used. Spiller offered a useful clarification and distinction on how he thinks we should view the opportunity. He sees the next potentially realizable goal as being a variety of ‘quantum internets’, each configured against specific use cases. However he sees a ubiquitous single Quantum Internet, with all of the low latency flexible switching we’ve come to expect from conventional Internet connectivity as too distant an aspiration for now.
GQI notes that this usage chimes with the tone struck by Microsoft in its recent blog post ‘Quantum networking: A roadmap to a quantum internet’ (note the lower case) [20]. This new usage is a useful elaboration on how this term has been used in the past by EU Quantum Flagship [21] and by the US NQI [22]. GQI expects it to stick.
Taken together, the picture painted by Spiller and Kashefi point to more practical convergence between two areas that have previously seemed distinct areas of the UK program: quantum computing and quantum comms.
The UK program also continues its strong focus on quantum sensing, imaging & timing. We can expect multiple new hubs in this area (consortia proposals have now been shortlisted, and we should learn the winners later this year). In the meantime the work of the existing hubs continues and a £45M award of projects for the UK’s new Position, Navigation & Timing (PNT) Mission were made earlier this year [23]. Quantum startups such as Infleqtion and Q-Ctrl were present at the Showcase emphasizing their plans to expand their activities in this area in the UK. Infleqtion announced their intention to manufacture clocks based on their Rb vapor cell Tiqker technology in the UK. These promise optical clock performance in a deployable rack form factor. Development is being supported in the UK by the ORACL project [24].
The alignment of these areas with the AUKUS defense pact is clear. In this area where dual-use technology is typical, the UK also offers a base for IP and manufacturing that is outside of the US ITAR regime.
UKRI’s long list of co-funded pioneer, collaborative R&D, technology and feasibility study projects has already created an impressive compendium of projects underpinning the development of the UK ecosystem. Roger McKinlay, (UKRI Challenge Director Quantum Technologies) commented to GQI
“The trade show look and feel of the 2023 Showcase reflects the growth and increasing maturity of the sector. Since the publication of the National Quantum Strategy in March an additional £100M of ISCF-style challenge-led projects have been instigated in the areas of PNT, Computing and Networks as well as in a broader Government Catalyst. Although collaborative R&D remains important, much of the new activity is procurement using SBRI contracts. The companies who were demonstrating ideas a few years ago are now selling products. Those who were meeting with investors are now finding customers. The Showcase has not only grown bigger but grown up.”
To develop the necessary supply chains many of these have featured or incorporated photonic elements, widely seen as a key enabling technology across quantum platforms. Against this background, the Showcase also saw the announcement of 6 projects which constitute the SBRI component (£10M) of the UK’s Quantum Network Accelerator initiative, in addition to the 11 new projects (£ 4M) of the Canada-UK Commercialising Quantum Tech program [3].
The supply chain challenge is not a straightforward one, even for a technology like photonics, that in some areas seems relatively mature. For each specific quantum hardware stack we need to be able to work at compatible wavelengths throughout, we need a full suite of efficient components (electro-optic materials for switching and wavelength conversion have often been a bottleneck). Projects such as BQS, NEXUS-QP and H3Lo-QP, led by startups such as Covesion and Duality Quantum Photonics underline the increasing interest the UK program is showing in lithium niobate as a tool to meet these challenges.
GQI has also been waiting to see how this new round of projects would mix prepare & measure and entanglement based technologies. In the end a balance has been struck between the two, with KETS and Toshiba both securing support for projects tackling near to market challenges to extend the deployability of QKD.
A call to action on quantum readiness
In recent years many voices across the quantum computing landscape have been explicit in stating that they believe large FTQC machines will be required to deliver commercially useful applications. This includes several leading UK quantum companies present at the showcase such as Riverlane and Universal Quantum.
In contrast, other leading UK groups used the Showcase to make clear that their aspiration still remains to deliver commercially useful QC applications on an earlier time frame, potentially in the NISQ era..
Phasecraft highlighted the greatly reduced quantum resource requirements that software advances have unlocked (both via clear algorithmic optimisation and algorithm-aligned error mitigation techniques). Their projection is that a commercially useful overlap of hardware capability and software requirements could now occur as soon as 2025.
Oxford Ionics emphasized the limitations of hardware roadmaps that have prioritized scaling qubit numbers without improving fidelity. Their own approach targets a transformation of this picture by delivering a system with 2Q fidelity of 99.99%+.
GQI see’s projects such as Oxford Ionics’ NextQPU, and Nu Quantum’s portfolio of interconnect/switch related projects (Router, Medusa, Intercom, LYRA) as key benchmarks with which to compare the program of collaboration recently announced by Microsoft and Photonic Inc.
GQI notes George Freeman’s remark that a key action may be to “add another zero to the money that midlife quantum firms can raise in the UK”.
The next challenge
Over the past 9 years the UK NQTP has consistently continued to build momentum under five different governments; some pro-EU and pro-industrial strategy, some pro-Brexit and skeptical of formal industrial strategy. However all of these administrations have ultimately been led by prime ministers from the Conservative party.
The polls now point to a moderate Labour administration gaining power in the UK in 2024 under Sir Keir Starmer. Starmer promises a mission-driven government, with priorities on growth, sustainability and health. Perhaps the next challenge for the NQTP will be demonstrating how it can support these societal missions. It will feel it has much to bring to the table.
For a detailed review of the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme and the new UK National Quantum Strategy please read GQI’s Focus Report | Quantum Tech in the UK
References
[1] ‘UK Quantum Technology Showcase 2023 – Innovate UK KTN’. Accessed: Nov. 09, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://iuk.ktn-uk.org/news/the-entangled-wonders-of-quantum-on-display-at-the-sectors-flagship-uk-tech-showcase/
[2] ‘National quantum strategy’, GOV.UK. Accessed: Mar. 16, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-quantum-strategy
[3] ‘New technologies on show at Quantum Showcase as Science Minister drives forward UK’s £2.5 billion Quantum Strategy’, GOV.UK. Accessed: Nov. 06, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-technologies-on-show-at-quantum-showcase-as-science-minister-drives-forward-uks-25-billion-quantum-strategy
[4] ‘Australia and UK sign Quantum Joint Statement’, Ministers for the Department of Industry, Science and Resources. Accessed: Nov. 07, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/husic/media-releases/australia-and-uk-sign-quantum-joint-statement, https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/husic/media-releases/australia-and-uk-sign-quantum-joint-statement
[5] ‘UK joins Horizon Europe under a new bespoke deal’, GOV.UK. Accessed: Nov. 06, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-joins-horizon-europe-under-a-new-bespoke-deal
[6] ‘Joint Statement by the European Commission and the UK Government on the UK’s association to Horizon Europe and Copernicus’, GOV.UK. Accessed: Nov. 09, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-statement-by-the-european-commission-and-the-uk-government-on-the-uks-association-to-horizon-europe-and-copernicus
[7] Regulation (EU) 2021/695 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 establishing Horizon Europe, vol. 170. 2021. Accessed: Nov. 09, 2023. [Online]. Available: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/695/oj/eng
[8] ‘Horizon Europe work programmes’. Accessed: Nov. 09, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe/horizon-europe-work-programmes_en
[9] ‘NQCC publishes its third annual report’, www.nqcc.ac.uk. Accessed: Nov. 08, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.nqcc.ac.uk/updates/nqcc-publishes-its-third-annual-report/
[10] ‘Financial Services: The Edinburgh Reforms’, GOV.UK. Accessed: Aug. 11, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/financial-services-the-edinburgh-reforms
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[12] ‘Chancellor’s Mansion House Reforms to boost typical pension by over £1,000 a year’, GOV.UK. Accessed: Nov. 09, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellors-mansion-house-reforms-to-boost-typical-pension-by-over-1000-a-year
[13] J. Cumbo, ‘Can the UK chancellor deliver on his Mansion House pension reforms?’, Financial Times, Nov. 09, 2023. Accessed: Nov. 09, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.ft.com/content/ef5315d3-0ccc-4693-a0fa-ed7b1019df78
[14] ‘ARIA – Home’, Aria. Accessed: Nov. 06, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.aria.org.uk/
[15] O. Computing, ‘Quantum Data Centre of the Future demonstration and feedback day’, ORCA Computing. Accessed: Nov. 06, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://orcacomputing.com/quantum-data-centre-of-the-future-demonstration-and-feedback-day/
[16] dougfinke, ‘Photonic Inc. Receives a $100 Million Venture Investment from Microsoft and Others. Will also Collaborate with Microsoft on Quantum Technology’, Quantum Computing Report. Accessed: Nov. 09, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://quantumcomputingreport.com/photonic-inc-receives-a-100-million-venture-investment-from-microsoft-and-others-will-also-collaborate-with-microsoft-on-quantum-technology/
[17] ‘Toshiba announces strategic investment in quantum technology with opening of cutting-edge commercial hub with product development and manufacturing facility in the UK’, Toshiba Quantum Technology. Accessed: Nov. 07, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.toshiba.eu/quantum/news/toshiba-announces-strategic-investment-in-quantum-technology-with-opening-of-cutting-edge-commercial-hub-with-product-development-and-manufacturing-facility-in-the-uk/
[18] ‘HSBC becomes first bank to join the UK’s pioneering commercial quantum secure metro network’, HSBC. Accessed: Nov. 06, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.hsbc.com/news-and-views/news/media-releases/2023/hsbc-becomes-first-bank-to-join-the-uks-pioneering-commercial-quantum-secure-metro-network
[19] ‘Migrating to post-quantum cryptography’. Accessed: Nov. 06, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/migrating-to-post-quantum-cryptography-pqc
[20] B. Lackey, ‘Quantum networking: A roadmap to a quantum internet’, Microsoft Azure Quantum Blog. Accessed: Nov. 06, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/quantum/2023/11/01/quantum-networking-a-roadmap-to-a-quantum-internet/
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[22] White House NQCO, ‘A Strategic Vision for America’s Quantum Networks’. Feb. 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/A-Strategic-Vision-for-Americas-Quantum-Networks-Feb-2020.pdf
[23] ‘UKRI awards £45 million to develop quantum technologies’. Accessed: Nov. 06, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.ukri.org/news/ukri-awards-45-million-to-develop-quantum-technologies/
[24] ‘Infleqtion is Awarded Funding from the UK to Build the UK’s First Commercially Available Atomic Clock’, Infleqtion. Accessed: Nov. 07, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.infleqtion.com/news/infleqtion-is-awarded-funding-from-the-uk-to-build-the-uks-first-atomic-clock.
November 10, 2023
