UK celebrates World Quantum Day with £121M for innovation, jobs, and anti-fraud tech

The UK marks World Quantum Day today with a new  £121 million investment in quantum technology for a range of use cases, including help to tackle crime fighting by spotting the first signs of fraud and halting money laundering, which could save billions for the economy.

Today’s investment is also giving the next generation of researchers the opportunity to bring their ideas for health, cybersecurity and beyond to life, birthing thousands of jobs and the businesses of tomorrow.

This is the latest part of the UK’s National Quantum Technologies Programme, which sets out the long-term effort to back early-stage research and support getting quantum technologies out of the lab and onto the marketplace. It sets the UK on the pathway to deliver its ambitious National Quantum Missions to make this tech deliver for the private and public sectors. 

Secretary of State for Science and Technology Peter Kyle said:  

“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.

Backing our world-class quantum researchers and businesses is an important part of our Plan for Change.”

The UK is home to the second-largest community of quantum businesses in the world.

The technology is already being harnessed, by using quantum computing’s unique ability to analyse complex data and detect subtle patterns, to tackle fraud, one of society’s biggest challenges, which currently costs the economy £2.6 billion each year.  

Quantum specialists at HSBC bank have been working with government-backed partners like the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) to find ways quantum can be used to identify the indicators of anti-money laundering. 

Specifically, today’s investment includes:

• £46.1 million through Innovate UK to accelerate the deployment of quantum technology across a range of sectors, including computing, networking, PNT (position, navigation and timing) and sensing.  
• £21 million to further the work of the National Quantum Computing Centre, including their testbed programme with Innovate UK, with support from the Quantum Software Lab to accelerate the discovery of more ways that quantum can overhaul how we work and solve problems.  
• £10.9 million for the National Physical Laboratory’s (NPL) quantum measurement programme to encourage more businesses to make full use of the technology 
• £23.6 million in funding from EPSRC for the 5 research hubs announced last year, including a £3 million investment into training and skills programmes.  
• £15.1 million being awarded to 11 Quantum Technology Career Acceleration Fellowships by UKRI EPSRC, to find more real-world applications for quantum, from drug discovery to disease diagnostics  
• £4.3 million from the Science and Technology Facilities Council to back early-career researchers and Quantum-enabled apprenticeships.

Lead image: Freepik.