From research to reality: Unlocking the UK's quantum potential
As the quantum technology market moves towards mass readiness, the UK is in a prime position to exploit investments and generate a new, highly skilled, sovereign, exportable industry which can promote UK growth across many sectors.
However, this will not come for free or without dedicated thought. As with any new venture, technology developers require funding and investors require returns. Whilst the UK has done well with research, increasing readiness to consumable COTS products, or safety assured components of integrated solutions, will require additional people, knowledge and skills.
There also needs to be a high level of assurance – assurance from industry that the technology will work, and assurance from the market that there is a demand for it. Technology companies, the government and major industry contractors must collaborate to make the right technology and investment decisions today, for the benefit of the UK tomorrow.
Standards, expertise and action
When it comes to exploiting the potential of quantum technologies, the priorities, potential use cases and the readiness of existing technologies all depend on the sector.
Quantum technologies cover a broad area; there is no one answer or approach. However, a key pillar is always standards. Technology companies must allow for the collaborative generation of standards and/or frameworks that can encompass many technology ventures. Rather than specifying specific technology options into future programmes or trials, industry can specify standards that multiple providers may be able to meet. This reduces the risk of emerging technologies such as quantum failing, making it easier to plan their use in future programmes.
We’re already seeing the challenges in quantum computing where multiple languages, operating environments, hardware and algorithms are developing, adding significant complications. Technology companies coming together and providing standardisation would greatly improve our collective ability to understand what is on offer.
In addition, industry needs to be prepared to come to the table, not just with funding but with expertise. It is the role of complex systems integrators to consider safety, security, software standards, delivery pipelines, assurance, requirements specification, interfaces and other engineering requirements which will ultimately be required to realise a market solution. By providing engineers, architects and analysts with the requisite skills and experience in advisory, consultancy, or supportive roles, we can help UK industry speak the same language and drive the development of safe, legal and commercially viable solutions.
Then there’s government, which has a critical role to step up and deliver on previous strategies. The UK Government has already identified key domains in which it would like quantum technologies to appear, but without the expertise, collaboration and investment from those domains – such as healthcare, defence, or financial security – any investment and development from industry is simply guesswork. The government must provide the internal funding and framework for experts to engage in use cases, shadowing, workshops and requirements to help industry understand where these technologies can be placed, such that industry can in-turn build assured products to a target market.
Protecting sovereign capabilities
The government also has another key role in protecting the industry. When taxpayer and investor money is used to fund start-ups and research, we must ensure that those start-ups are not then bought out by overseas companies – and that UK investment does not benefit another country. We must recognise the quantum technology industry as a key resource for the country not just for profit, but for national security and stability.
On a purely practical front, relying on other countries for secure networks or to provide critical sensors would limit our ability to safely operate that technology in the future. Questions of trust and politics asides, the simple act of having more players with the same technologies in different countries, different regulatory frameworks and different legal systems increases the chance that one or more companies expose critical weaknesses in these technologies. This could jeopardise the potential benefits of future systems, particularly in the security and sensing domains. Whilst being “UK sovereign” does not stop such exposures, it at least reduces the risk.
In summary, every part of the sector has a key role to play. The government must provide expertise to understand the demand and provide legislation to ensure that UK investments and key technologies are able to be kept in the UK when confronted with huge amounts of overseas funding. Industry must provide the expertise to bring products safely and legally to market, while coming together to simplify the offering and reduce the risk of failure.
Whilst all of us in this industry can agree that quantum technologies are needed for the future, without a dedicated understanding of what we all bring to the table, the realisation of this market is unlikely to happen by accident.
