The potential for emerging technologies to deliver new jobs, public services which are fit for the future, and everyday improvements to all our lives is a defining opportunity.
We can either be proactive, and build on the foundations now which will see us realise those opportunities in full, or fall behind and spend the coming decades playing catch-up. We will not play catch up.
When it comes to quantum the UK has already been laying the foundations for more than a decade – launching a first of its kind quantum programme in 2014 which has already been backed by more than £1bn in public funding to support skills, research, and infrastructure.
Because of our early work to get ahead of the pack, we’re starting to see quantum’s potential bearing fruit.
Companies are using it to tackle financial fraud and specialist pieces of wearable med tech are already in circulation which give us new insights into the treatment of epilepsy.
Our successes already see us ranked second in the world both for the number of quantum companies and levels of private investment.
But now is the time to capitalise on that progress – to help those companies grow, crowd in more investment, and put British invention in global demand.
Today, we’re cementing our early advantage and positioning ourselves as the most forward-thinking quantum nation in the world.
To do that, we’re investing £2bn on a wide array of support. But at its heart there is a simple plan – a first-in-the-world commitment for the UK to buy and use large scale and effective quantum computers, and in so doing grow companies.
The advanced commitment procurement process we’re launching today will help British companies dine at the top table – building the hardware, software, infrastructure, and strong supply chains we need for a sustainable, successful quantum industry. It will create jobs, provide new livelihoods, and give firms a global marketplace to realise their ambitions.
What that will mean for our researchers and scientific community is access to the most powerful systems ever built – accelerating their work in ways which would have seemed unthinkable even a few years ago. What it means for quantum companies is a customer for their products and a route to manufacturing, sustainability and global exports.
The end result for the public will be what these computers and technologies will be used for - new treatments and drugs as we transform our understanding of disease, new materials, cleaner and greener ways to power our homes and businesses, stronger protections for the vital services we all rely on every day, and enhanced security for data.
As this technology grows and evolves, so do the needs of the sector and the scientific community.
The steps we’re taking today won’t just support our quantum industry in the here and now, but set a global gold standard for how the defining technology of the future can be harnessed to deliver transformative change in the years and decades to come.
Lord Patrick Vallance is the Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation in the UK.
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