Government turns to quantum to bolster security and services with £121m investment – UKTN

The UK government is making £121m of investment in quantum technologies available over the next year to support public services and enhance cybersecurity.

Announced on World Quantum day – 14^th April – the investment is part of the £1bn public-private partnership-backed National Quantum Technologies Programme, a collaborative scheme from government, industry and academia to establish and support a robust quantum economy.

Quantum computers are vastly more powerful than their traditional counterparts, using the unique superpositional properties of qubits to build computers and sensors with enormous processing capabilities.

The government believes that supporting domestic quantum technology will return massive benefits, notably tackling fraud and cybercrime.

Banking group HSBC for example has been working with the National Quantum Computing Centre to research how the technology can be used to identify indicators of money laundering.

Research from UKTN has found that banks have in the past three years massively scaled up interest in quantum and as a sector has quietly become one of the most prominent patent holders for quantum technologies.

Quantum – manipulating the universe at its smallest scale – has the potential to save millions for our economy, create thousands of jobs and improve businesses across the country – stopping fraudsters in their tracks, protecting our bank accounts and more,” said Technology Secretary Peter Kyle.

“The UK is home to the second largest community of quantum businesses in the world and this investment means they can go further paving the way for new quantum tools and products that make our lives easier, fuel growth, and help us tackle the great challenges of our era.”

Last month, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – part of GCHQ – issued guidance for organisations to prepare for quantum-based cybersecurity measures by 2035.

Read more: Quantum generative AI: The next ChatGPT moment?

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