Last month I took part in the techUK webinar ‘What does the tech sector need from the UK Quantum Strategy?’.

This techUK event brought together leading voices in the UK’s quantum ecosystem to explore how the local tech sector can make quantum commercialisation a success, and also how we can ensure the UK remains a world leader in quantum. The panel included: me, Pippa Sharma Deputy Director of Technology Strategy and Security at BEIS, Per Nyberg Vice President of Strategic Markets at Quantum Machines, and Sue Daley, Director of Technology and Innovation at techUK.

The webinar touched on topics including:

• Navigating how the UK tech sector can benefit from the growing demand for quantum in the UK
• Developing quantum access with the UK technology sector; understanding how cloud, AI, and high-performance computing (HPC) will be crucial
• Exploring what quantum procurement will look like in different markets
• Highlighting UK successes and underscoring the UK as the world leader in quantum
• Navigating how the recently announced UK Quantum Strategy can help make this a reality.

It was exciting to be included in the debate, hearing from leading industry experts about the role that the UK can play within the quantum industry as it evolves – but also to have the government perspective in parallel was a perfect marriage – industry and government. The UK’s special relationship with its global allies including Australia, Japan, and the US - can only be incredibly beneficial in the acceleration of quantum commercialisation for the UK. Particularly as the UK is a member of NATO, AUKUS, and the FVEY – it only adds to the strength of our UK’s position.

One of the areas that we need to collaborate on closely is the acceleration of quantum literacy. Attracting more talent into the industry is one way of achieving this. There’s certainly a lot more that can and should be done in this area. I am looking forward to how these conversations will evolve as the industry develops.

The quantum industry will need a range of skills, including ”electricians” and “plumbers”, as well as computer scientists, - one option is ramping up apprenticeship schemes into deep tech. Here at Oxford Instruments, we have provided work experience opportunities for students in Oxfordshire and the neighbouring counties for many years - this has always proven to be popular. In 2016, we launched the Discovery Work Experience Programme. The purpose of the programme is to provide valuable insight into Oxford Instruments and to give students an opportunity to find out what it is like to work in our industry via a series of work-based learning activities and explore available options for future careers.

There is also a need to address talent-hiring globally and streamline visas for external talent coming to the UK, as we all know the visa system is oftentimes not the most accessible. As we continue to grow the quantum sector, we must recruit the best talent - worldwide if we want to maintain the UK’s quantum advantage. Per also argued that there is also an opportunity to attract companies to come to the UK by developing a thriving skills base as this is a limiting factor in the industry.

Another area that’s closely related is Pippa Sharma’s insight into the need to promote the adoption of quantum technology and quantum computing by businesses. The best way to ensure and encourage this is for businesses to understand where and how quantum computing will benefit them. More needs to be done to help businesses get this understanding, from IT system integrators through to end-user business applications.

In terms of UK successes, there are a number, including OQC and Rigetti, who are hosting their first quantum computer outside the US at our facility in Tubney, just outside Oxford. The UK also has an established legacy of innovation – such as telecoms - which could present quantum opportunities to build a broader ecosystem in networking. Per also argued that there are lots of opportunities for commercialisation in and around the industry, particularly in the quantum supply chain. Per also pointed out that quantum will not replace conventional computing but will be a hybrid, incorporating into end-user applications as part of the tech stack, leading to lots of convergence points to build an ecosystem. I agree that quantum commercialisation will be a hybrid model and quantum processors will be accelerating technology solutions alongside GPUs and CPUs – the best solution will be used for the application. Per agreed that HPC will be the first commercial home for quantum computing and over time will be integrated into cloud infrastructure. This will be good for quantum as the HPC community is a big driver of standards and interoperability and will help democratisation to enable the technology to evolve without having singular dependencies.

All in all, it was a great discussion set up by techUK which helped highlight the importance and opportunities that the commercialisation of quantum computing has in the UK - especially if we focus on attracting talent into the industry.

Author - Stuart Woods