Lunchtime quantum talk with Rachel Maze, DSIT

The IOP quantum Business Innovation and Growth Group (qBIG) members and network were recently lucky enough to be joined in person by Rachel Maze, Head of Quantum Technologies Policy at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Rachel has spent more than 15 years within UK government and parliament developing and evaluating science and technology policy within the House of Lords, Defra’s Chief Scientist’s Office, the Government Office for Science, and the Technology Strategy and Security Team in DSIT.

As the person who led the development of the UK’s National Quantum Strategy, which was announced earlier in 2023, Rachel shared with us updates of what has happened within the Office for Quantum, and across delivery partners since the strategy was announced.

Dr Anke Lohmann, from Anchored In and the chair qBIG, introduced us to the lunchtime talk and explained a little more about the group itself. (The qBIG Group supports the 10-year plan, set within the quantum strategy, by playing a role in building and coordinating the ecosystem and by bringing together stakeholders to provide input in shaping the strategy’s future development and implementation.)

Rachel then reintroduced the audience to the strategy, a vision and plan backed by £2.5bn. The strategy builds on the foundations laid out by the National Quantum Technologies Programme (NQPT), which began in 2014. Rachel explained that the strategy aims to:

• ensure that the UK remains a world-leading country for science and technology;
• make the UK a go-to place for business in quantum technologies;
• deliver benefits for the economy, society and national security in the UK with the use of quantum technologies; and
• create a national and international regulatory framework that supports innovation and the ethical use of quantum.

Rachel said that since the launch of the strategy, significant progress has been made. Not only has the Office for Quantum been set up, but there have been many calls and funding rounds, for example:

• £100m has been committed for R&D within the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), including the call for the next generation of quantum hubs;
• the competition for the new Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) was launched (also by EPSRC) – both the hubs and CDTs will be announced and launched this year;
• there is a £70m competition for near-term quantum missions in computing and position, navigation and timing (PNT);
• the £20m networking accelerator competitions (Innovate UK); and
• a £15m Quantum Catalyst Fund (Innovate UK).

There are also two reviews currently underway. The Regulatory Horizons Council (RHC) review in quantum technologies, which is about to report its findings, and the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) quantum infrastructure review. There is still time to find out more about this infrastructure review by going directly to RAEng. Since the announcement of the UK National Quantum Strategy, two agreements have been signed – one with the US and one with Canada – and two more (with Australia and the Netherlands) were signed during a quantum showcase in London in November.

And what more does the Office for Quantum have lined up?

• a skills taskforce is now being set up with former IOP President Professor Sheila Rowan chairing the first meeting, the week starting 23 October 2024;
• through the National Physical Laboratory and partners including the BSI, there will be the development of a National Quantum Standards Network; and
• community engagement on the next phase of the NQTP – the missions on computing, networking and sensing have been drafted, and workshopping these will happen soon. There will be input from industry required, and qBIG will play a part here, so it is a great time to join the group.

Rachel also shared more information on the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC), which is due to open its physical doors very soon (it has been operating ‘virtually’ for quite some time). The accelerated SparQ programme, the NQCC’s flagship user engagement programme, which enables application discovery, supports skills development, and provides opportunities for networking, will not only provide access to quantum computers through the cloud, but will also be bringing people in to learn about quantum computing hardware.

The qBIG Group supports the strategy by playing a role in building and coordinating an ecosystem and by bringing together stakeholders

Lastly, the Government Procurement Catalyst and Quantum Missions were discussed.

The catalyst began with a £15m competition exploring how quantum technology can provide new capabilities in public services. Here, there was a good response and 30 winners were announced for the first round in September. This January, the phase 2 down-selection will happen. The Office for Quantum is looking for what works and what does not. It is just the beginning, and work is being done across departments, to identify what quantum means for areas such as health, transport and security. Look out for future opportunities to engage with government users.

The Quantum Missions aim to:

• bring together the UK community to innovate and achieve key milestones;
• have clear and measurable outcomes that tackle major societal challenges; and
• have spill-over benefits where funding will crowd in at least £1 of private funding for every £1 of public funding.

Two short-term Quantum Missions were announced in March 2023, with a total funding of £70m. Firstly this was to demonstrate how quantum sensors and clocks can provide greater resilience for PNT services that are critical for UK society, and secondly to demonstrate the quantum computing advantage over classical computers in useful applications – such as machine learning – by 2025. There will be more community engagement on long-term missions on computing, networking and sensing and to shape and stress test the current missions, setting a programme of work behind them.

To round the event off, Rachel’s talk was followed by a Q&A moderated by Kate Marshall of IBM Quantum. Questions ranged from international missions to skills, and cross-government department coordination on national strategies such as transport and semiconductors.

For any further information please email: [email protected].

Thanks to qBIG Group secretary Wenmiao Yu, Quantum Dice, for the idea and organisation of this lunchtime talk.

Join the qBIG special interest group to find out more and keep up to date with events such as this one!