World Quantum Day: European investments take quantum from concept to real-world applications

World Quantum Day is a moment to recognize how far quantum computing has progressed—with accelerating commercial adoption, scientific achievements, and partnerships with academia, government, and businesses. In my more than five years at D-Wave, I have seen the conversation evolve from quantum curiosity, where organizations were exploring what might be possible, to quantum adoption, where commercial and public-sector organizations are using the technology to solve complex, real-world problems. D-Wave’s own progress reflects that momentum. Today, D-Wave is the only dual-platform quantum computing company, capable of delivering both annealing and gate-model systems, software, and services.

Today, quantum and quantum-hybrid applications can deliver tangible results that benefit everyday citizens, including faster response times for public sector services, optimized telecommunications networks, and solving complex global supply chain bottlenecks through faster decision-making and the ability to respond to changing conditions.

Quantum in Action: Optimising Emergency Response

The U.K.’s recent commitment of up to £2 billion for quantum innovation underscores its strong position to accelerate quantum computing’s transition from lab experimentation to large-scale adoption.

One notable example of quantum computing’s potential value to the U.K. comes from North Wales Police (NWP), which like many organizations faces large-scale optimization challenges, such as dispatch routing, coverage planning, and real-time resource allocation to enhance emergency response. NWP collaborated with D-Wave on a proof-of-technology project to optimize police vehicle placement and incident response by using a hybrid quantum-classical approach that combines D-Wave’s annealing quantum computing systems with classical computing solvers. The result was a dramatic reduction in planning time, from roughly four months of manual work to about four minutes of computation.

European Leadership in Quantum Commercialisation

I am excited about what lies ahead, as quantum-powered solutions move into wider adoption and begin delivering meaningful efficiencies across industries. We’re already seeing that potential in transportation, where Rüter in Oslo developed an application using a quantum-powered solution to optimize ticket inspection schedules across its public transport network. We’re also seeing it in commercial applications: BASF, one of the world’s largest chemical manufacturers, developed a proof-of-concept quantum-hybrid application to optimize production assignment and scheduling at a large-scale bottle-filling plant. The application enabled the company to achieve a 14% reduction in lateness and an 18% cut in unloading times through improved tank sequencing and utilization.

In the U.K., the National Quantum Computing Center (NQCC) has supported near-term application development in partnership with industry, funding projects to optimize the allocation of personnel, machinery, and materials across multiple manufacturing projects. These projects focus on reducing costs, energy consumption, and carbon emissions.

Growing Global Public-Private Partnerships

No single country or region controls the full global quantum supply chain, which makes cross-border collaboration among like-minded nations essential. Quantum computing hardware developed in North America, combined with European cryogenics and the expertise of U.K. talent, can accelerate the development of impactful quantum applications. Strengthening and supporting this interconnected global ecosystem is essential and is an important reminder on World Quantum Day.

As quantum hardware continues to scale, public-private partnerships will continue to be critically important. Annealing and gate-model quantum systems each bring different capabilities to the table, and both will be necessary in tackling the full range of complex computational problems. D-Wave is committed to advancing both.

Annealing systems are already demonstrating their advantage for optimization problems, while gate-model systems hold significant promise in areas such as quantum chemistry. The path from possibility to impact is becoming clearer.

All of these complex problems are within reach. On this World Quantum Day, let’s recognize how far the industry has come while keeping our focus on the practical actions that will turn progress into lasting results.

Author

Technology and Innovation programme activities

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