The UK must prioritise business use-cases for quantum to boost its quantum capabilities

Quantum has emerged as an area of deep tech innovation that is generating significant global interest. The UK has a strong ecosystem of academics, startups and experts interested in applying quantum computing, sensing and networking to industry. As the country navigates the exploratory phase of quantum, it is increasingly important to consider how well quantum solutions can be adopted by industry, embedded into commercial products and services, and be of benefit to society more broadly.

At Digital Catapult, our interventions enable industry leaders to understand how quantum solutions could solve critical challenges, accelerating the practical application of this deep tech across industry. Our programmes strengthen the skills necessary to integrate quantum technology into existing workflows and enable access to the infrastructure necessary to trial and validate new solutions. In delivering these interventions, we recognise that the priority for the UK must now be to encourage business use-cases for quantum technologies with a demonstrable return on investment (ROI).

Overcoming quantum’s perception problem

At present, quantum can sometimes be perceived as an example of ‘cool tech’, with little thought given to its practical application in industry. Many business leaders understand quantum as a concept but fail to recognise is commercial viability or how it could be leveraged to drive efficiency and productivity gains across business operations. The view of quantum as a frontier experimentation instead of a business capability could be caused by the lack of high-value, commercially valid use-cases. For example, research has found that business leaders remain largely sceptical of quantum solutions, adopting more of a cautious and cost-conscious approach.

This sentiment has influenced budgets for spend on exploring quantum innovation, with surveys reporting that 46% of businesses expect quantum budgets to remain flat for the foreseeable future. As such, the scepticism amongst business leaders and stagnant budgets are indicative of the need to demonstrate the potential value of quantum innovation and a clear pathway towards ROI. This research also tells us that quantum innovation must align with real-world industrial challenges, aligned to the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy where quantum innovation could yield significant gains in areas like industrial supply chain resilience, defence and security, and energy systems and utilities. With quantum companies competing for a slice of limited innovation budgets, the quantum winners will be the companies that can operationalise and apply their solutions effectively to industry.

The need to narrow the knowledge gap

To accelerate commercial deployment, improving quantum literacy and understanding is key. This includes educating business leaders in control of quantum and innovation budgets. The OECD’s 2026 report on business readiness around quantum innovation highlighted a significant disconnect between quantum awareness and preparedness, while a survey of 501 UK executives by EY and the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) found that 97% believe quantum computing would disrupt their industry, but only one-third had started strategic planning to improve their readiness for adopting quantum. This attitude was also reflected in the OECD’s 2026 report which found that 73% of businesses had not identified a commercial use case for quantum, while 87% had no dedicated quantum budget.

The research highlights the need to improve understanding of how quantum innovation can be applied commercially across industry to drive business growth and solve the challenges hindering commercial performance. This is why programmes and initiatives like Digital Catapult’s Quantum Technology Access Programme, delivered in partnership with the NQCC in 2026, are critical to enhancing business understandings and producing valid use-cases of quantum innovation. Our programme democratises access to quantum expertise, reduces barriers to adoption for non-specialist organisations, and builds confidence amongst business leaders to experiment and innovate with quantum innovation.

Convening capabilities and rethinking quantum readiness

Critical to the success of Digital Catapult’s interventions in quantum is the ability to convene capabilities, bridging the gap between industry, government, academia and the UK’s startup community. In bringing together pioneering quantum startups, quantum experts and technologists with industry leaders like BAE Systems, Vodafone, the Port of Dover and Airbus, the programme facilitates collaboration, knowledge sharing and skills-development. The UK cannot commercialise quantum technologies at scale without reskilling the workforce with new, quantum relevant skills, and this is why interventions that consider skills development and quantum literacy remain foundational to driving demand for commercial use-cases of quantum innovation. Access to infrastructure goes hand in hand with skills development, creating pathways for experimentation before full-scale investment.

Digital Catapult’s quantum programme provides participants with access to the ORCA Computing PT-1 photonic quantum computing system which enables the validation of and experimentation on quantum solutions to solve a range of challenges – previous participants have studied use cases including quantum computing optimisation of energy systems, and frequency allocation in satellite communication. By making sure that infrastructure is accessible to the broader innovation community and industry, businesses can get a better understanding of what quantum innovation looks like in practice and how quantum is not only a concept but a commercial reality. In improving understanding of quantum technology and providing access to tangible infrastructure, the UK will continue to build business cases of quantum innovation and be able to demonstrate valid ROI to industry. This is why our interventions are critical to equipping the UK to be future ready.

The UK has demonstrated global leadership in the realm of quantum innovation, and the next challenge is ensuring that quantum capabilities can be commercialised across industry. Doing so will see quantum and innovation budgets expand in parity with research to discover new quantum capabilities, strengthening the UK’s industrial resilience and enabling deep tech companies to scale in the process. Interventions from organisations like Digital Catapult play a key role accelerating the journey from concept to commercial product or service. But there is still a long way to go, which is why convening capabilities will be critical to the sustainable commercial growth of quantum computing in the UK.

To keep up to date with Digital Catapult’s quantum work, register your interest here for more information.

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Technology and Innovation programme activities

techUK bring members, industry stakeholders, and UK Government together to champion emerging technologies as an integral part of the UK economy. We help to create an environment where innovation can flourish, helping our members to build relationships, showcase their technology, and grow their business. Visit the programme page here.