On World Quantum Day 2025, the UK government announced a £121 million investment in new technologies – a bold step to convert world-class research into tangible benefits for the economy, public services, and businesses. As the global race accelerates, the UK must decide whether it will lead or lag behind a technology it helped pioneer.
The funding package signals ambition – but delivering real-world impact now depends on turning prototypes into deployable solutions that serve national needs across sectors.
From lab to marketplace: Real-world impact and strategic targeting
On World Quantum Day 2025, the UK government announced a £121 million investment in new technologies – a bold step to convert world-class research into tangible benefits for the economy, public services, and businesses. As the global race accelerates, the UK must decide whether it will lead or lag behind a technology it helped pioneer.
The funding package signals ambition – but delivering real-world impact now depends on turning prototypes into deployable solutions that serve national needs across sectors.
From lab to marketplace: Turning quantum research into real-world impact
Technology is fast evolving from theoretical promise to practical tool. The UK’s new £121 million investment is designed to bridge that gap, supporting the development, testing, and the rollout of commercial applications.
The funding breakdown includes:
• £46.1 million via Innovate UK to support computing, sensing, networking, and Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT).
• £21 million for the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) to advance software and testbed development.
• £10.9 million to the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) for quantum measurement integration in businesses.
• £23.6 million for research hubs, including £15.1 million for fellowships and £3 million for workforce training.
To make the most of this investment, the UK should focus on three priority areas:
Commercial pilots in high-impact sectors
Quantum’s strengths – high-performance computing, secure communications, and precise sensing – are well suited to sectors like finance, healthcare, logistics, and energy. Commercial pilots in these areas can demonstrate return on investment and drive adoption.
For example, HSBC is working with the NQCC to use algorithms to detect complex patterns in financial data – targeting the UK’s estimated £2.6 billion annual cost from money laundering.
Scalable testbeds and innovation sandboxes
Startups need access to real-world environments to trial technologies. Programmes like the Quantum Technology Access Programme (QTAP) provide testbeds and sandboxes that reduce risk and promote experimentation. Scaling these efforts will accelerate industry adoption.
Building a quantum-ready workforce
Success requires more than physicists – it needs software developers, systems engineers, and cybersecurity professionals. The UK must invest in skills development, fellowships, and retraining programmes to build a workforce capable of supporting large-scale deployment.
Is the UK doing enough to lead in quantum?
The UK is home to the world’s second-largest quantum sector, thanks to early investments through the National Quantum Technologies Programme. But global rivals are catching up. Fast.
The US, EU, and China are all pouring billions into innovation – not just in research, but in commercialisation and defence. To stay competitive in quantum, the UK must out-execute, not just outspend.
Key Priorities:
• Sustained investment to attract global talent and maintain research leadership.
• Support for scale-ups to bridge the gap between promising pilots and viable commercial products.
• Stronger public-private partnerships, using government procurement to support UK startups and strengthen domestic markets.
While the £121 million commitment is a strong signal, leadership depends on long-term strategy, smart regulation, and consistent delivery.
Responsible and Secure Deployment: Building Trust
Quantum technologies bring unprecedented power – but also introduce new risks. Quantum computers could eventually break today’s encryption, and sensors may challenge existing privacy frameworks.
To ensure responsible deployment, the UK must:
• Accelerate post-quantum cryptography, especially across critical infrastructure and defence sectors.
• Establish ethical and regulatory frameworks for sensing and AI applications, ensuring transparency and data responsibility.
• Promote global standards, using its leadership to shape rules on cross-border security and interoperability.
The government’s National Quantum Strategy recognises the importance of building trust. Embedding ethics and cybersecurity into every stage of innovation will be key to earning public and international confidence.
Real-world value: Use cases already making a difference
Innovation is already moving from theory to impact. UK-led initiatives are delivering value across multiple sectors:
• Financial Crime Prevention: HSBC is piloting quantum machine learning to spot suspicious activity in massive datasets, improving anti-money laundering efforts.
• Secure Communications: BT and Toshiba have built a quantum key distribution (QKD) network to protect sensitive data transfers between research institutions.
• Logistics and infrastructure: Firms like Frazer Nash and SeerBI are using quantum systems to optimise the energy grid and predict delays in global supply chains.
• Healthcare and drug discovery: Quantum fellowships are supporting breakthroughs in personalised medicine and diagnostics—speeding up research and improving accuracy.
These projects show that quantum is no longer a future concept- it is delivering measurable benefits today.
The quantum opportunity: A moment the UK must seize
The UK’s investment is more than just funding – it’s a platform to secure long-term national advantage. To succeed, the UK must act decisively:
• Champion real-world applications, particularly in areas with clear public benefit and commercial upside.
• Support a strong innovation ecosystem, where startups, academia, corporates, and government work together to co-develop and scale solutions.
• Embed trust and security from day one, ensuring responsible development and deployment.
• Position quantum as a strategic capability, integrated into the UK’s industrial strategy and national security priorities.
The potential benefits are vast – from new jobs and global exports to better public services and technological sovereignty.
Conclusion: From discovery to delivery
The UK’s £121 million investment is a vote of confidence in its scientific strength and a challenge to turn that into national capability. Technologies are maturing fast – and the decisions we make now will shape who leads the next era of innovation.
By targeting funding smartly, supporting scale-up success, and embedding security and ethics from the outset, the UK can ensure that quantum is not just a scientific achievement, but a driver of economic growth and societal good.
The future of quantum is here. The UK must lead not just in ideas – but in impact.
Rama Boya
Co-Founder & CEO, DeepInfinity.AIDeepInfinity.AI are a generative AI company, working to bring generative AI solutions to healthcare