The second half of 2019 saw quantum technology transition from a topic of research strategy to an explicit element of national security and industrial planning across multiple continents. Israel approved a NIS 1.25 billion (~$390 million) national quantum initiative covering academia, industry, and defense. Russia adopted a quantum technologies roadmap worth 51.1 billion rubles (~$790 million), assigning three state-owned enterprises to lead computing, communications, and sensing. NATO, at its London summit in December, formally designated quantum technologies as one of seven priority areas in its Emerging and Disruptive Technology roadmap. The Netherlands published a national quantum agenda, and the ITU-T approved the first global standard for QKD networks. Across Europe, the EuroQCI Declaration grew from ten to nineteen signatory states, signaling broad political commitment to quantum-secured communications infrastructure.
Israel Approves NIS 1.25 Billion National Quantum Initiative
What happened. In late 2019, Israel approved the Israel National Quantum Initiative (INQI), a five-year program with a budget of NIS 1.25 billion (~USD 390 million). The initiative is a joint venture of the Israel Innovation Authority, the Council for Higher Education’s Planning and Budgeting Committee, and the Ministries of Defense, Science, and Finance, operating through the TELEM Forum for National R&D Infrastructure. A government committee had initially proposed NIS 300 million focused on academic institutions, but the final recommendation expanded the scope more than fourfold. Roughly 60 percent of the funds were allocated to academia, with plans to shift toward industry as the field matures. Earlier in September, Tel Aviv University inaugurated its Center for Quantum Science and Technology, signaling growing institutional readiness.
Why it matters. Israel’s initiative is notable for both its scale relative to the country’s size and its explicit inclusion of defense applications, including encryption and code-breaking capabilities. The decision to expand from a NIS 300 million academic proposal to a NIS 1.25 billion national program reflects a recognition that competitiveness in quantum technology requires investment across the full ecosystem, from basic research to industrial deployment. The inclusion of international R&D cooperation as a line item positions Israel to participate in bilateral quantum partnerships that were forming during this period, particularly with the United States.
What remains unclear. How will the planned shift from academic to industrial funding be managed, and on what timeline? The initiative’s governance spans multiple ministries and agencies, raising questions about coordination mechanisms and decision-making authority over the program’s five-year span. It is also unclear how defense-related quantum work will be balanced against open international research collaboration.
Who should care. Defense technology firms and dual-use research institutions with interest in the Israeli market. International quantum computing companies seeking academic partnerships. Policymakers tracking mid-size countries that are making outsized quantum investments.
Russia Adopts National Quantum Technologies Roadmap
What happened. In December 2019, Rosatom presented to the Russian government a quantum computing roadmap prepared as part of a broader Quantum Technology Roadmap under the federal project “Digital Technologies” of the national program “Digital Economy.” The total budget was 51.1 billion rubles (~$790 million), including 8.7 billion rubles from private companies. Three major state-owned enterprises were assigned to lead specific domains: Rosatom for quantum computing, Russian Railways (RZD) for quantum communications, and Rostec for quantum sensing and metrology. The quantum computing component alone projected financing of 23.66 billion rubles for 2020 to 2024.
Why it matters. Russia’s roadmap establishes a state-directed model that concentrates quantum technology development in three large industrial conglomerates, each already active in critical infrastructure. This mirrors the organizational logic behind Russia’s nuclear and telecommunications sectors, where state-owned enterprises serve as both developers and end users. The roadmap’s target of a 30-to-100 qubit quantum computer by 2024 and 1,000 qubits by 2030 provides a concrete benchmark against which progress can be measured. The decision to assign quantum communications to RZD is distinctive: no other country has made a railway operator the lead institution for this domain.
What remains unclear. Whether the private sector contribution of 8.7 billion rubles will materialize under the specified timeline. The roadmap’s reliance on three state enterprises raises the question of whether Russia’s approach will attract the kind of startup activity and international talent that characterize quantum ecosystems in the United States, the EU, and Israel. Sanctions and restricted technology transfer may also constrain access to key equipment and materials.
Who should care. International firms selling quantum-enabling components (cryogenics, photonics, control electronics) who may face compliance questions on Russia-bound exports. Defense and intelligence analysts tracking Russian quantum capability timelines. Researchers monitoring the comparative performance of state-directed versus market-driven quantum development models.
Netherlands Publishes National Agenda on Quantum Technology
What happened. On September 16, 2019, physicist Robbert Dijkgraaf presented the National Agenda on Quantum Technology to State Secretary Mona Keijzer of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. The agenda, developed by Dutch knowledge institutes and companies including TNO, QuTech, QuSoft, NWO, QT/e, and the Lorentz Institute, identifies four action lines: research and innovation breakthroughs, ecosystem development and market creation, human capital, and social dialogue about quantum technology. It also introduces the concept of “Quantum Delta NL” as a vision for positioning the Netherlands as an international hub for quantum technology.
Why it matters. The Dutch agenda is distinctive for its emphasis on ecosystem coordination rather than top-down industrial policy. Rather than a single government program, it proposes a network-based approach that connects existing research strengths (QuTech on qubits and quantum internet, QuSoft on algorithms, QT/e on enabling technologies) into a coherent national platform. The inclusion of “social dialogue” as one of four action lines is unusual among national quantum strategies published to that point and reflects concern about public understanding and trust in quantum technologies.
What remains unclear. The agenda outlines vision and structure but does not specify a total funding commitment. The “Quantum Delta NL” concept would later receive 615 million euros through the Dutch National Growth Fund, but that decision came in 2021. In late 2019, the open question was whether political appetite existed to fund the agenda at the scale its authors envisioned.
Who should care. Quantum technology companies evaluating European locations for research or commercialization. Universities and research institutes seeking collaboration with QuTech or QuSoft. Policymakers in countries with strong research bases but underdeveloped commercialization pathways who are looking for alternative models to the large-budget national programs adopted by the United States and China.
NATO Designates Quantum as a Priority Emerging Technology
What happened. At the NATO Leaders’ Meeting in London on December 3-4, 2019, Heads of State and Government agreed on an Emerging and Disruptive Technology (EDT) Implementation Roadmap. The roadmap identified seven priority technology areas: data, artificial intelligence, autonomy, quantum technologies, biotechnology and human enhancement, hypersonic technologies, and space. Allied Command Transformation had developed the initial framework, which defense ministers first endorsed at their October 2019 meeting.
Why it matters. NATO’s formal designation of quantum as a priority EDT area carries different weight from a national strategy or research program. It signals that the Alliance views quantum technology as relevant to deterrence, defense, and capability development across 30 member states. The roadmap provides a basis for subsequent NATO-wide coordination on quantum, including innovation programs, shared threat assessments related to quantum-enabled cryptanalysis, and joint development of quantum sensing for defense applications. For Allied governments that had not yet formulated national quantum strategies, the NATO roadmap created external pressure to consider quantum within their defense planning.
What remains unclear. The London roadmap is a framework document, not a funded program. The specific implications for procurement, capability planning, and interoperability standards remained to be defined. How NATO would handle the tension between broad Allied cooperation on quantum and the export control restrictions that some member states maintain on quantum-enabling technologies was an open question.
Who should care. Defense ministries in NATO member states, particularly those that have not yet established national quantum programs. Defense contractors positioning for quantum sensing and secure communications contracts. Intelligence agencies assessing the cryptographic transition timeline.
ITU-T Approves First Global Standard for QKD Networks
What happened. On October 25, 2019, ITU-T approved Recommendation Y.3800, the first in a series of standards on network and security aspects of quantum information technologies. Developed by Study Group 13, the standard describes the basic conceptual structures of QKD networks, including layered models and functional elements needed for design, deployment, operation, and maintenance. In December 2019, the ITU-T Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group also formally created the Focus Group on Quantum Information Technology for Networks (FG-QIT4N) to provide a pre-standardization platform for broader quantum networking questions.
Why it matters. Y.3800 extends QKD from isolated point-to-point links into a framework for multi-node networks capable of integration with existing telecommunications infrastructure. The standard was proposed jointly by Japan’s NICT, NEC Corporation, and Toshiba, reflecting the strong role of Japanese and East Asian institutions in shaping the global QKD standards agenda. The creation of FG-QIT4N, with leadership from organizations in China, South Korea, Germany, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and the United States, established a venue where competing national approaches to quantum networking would be negotiated. The focus group’s division into two working groups (QKDN and broader QIN) acknowledged that the ITU-T’s quantum work would eventually extend beyond key distribution.
What remains unclear. Whether Y.3800 and its successor standards will achieve the degree of adoption needed to shape commercial QKD deployment, or whether proprietary implementations will outpace the standards process. The composition of FG-QIT4N’s leadership, with significant representation from Chinese institutions, raised questions for some observers about whether the standardization process could become a venue for technology governance competition between major powers.
Who should care. Telecommunications operators evaluating QKD deployment. QKD equipment manufacturers seeking interoperability frameworks. National cybersecurity agencies assessing QKD certification requirements. Standards bodies and trade policy officials monitoring the geopolitics of quantum standardization.
EuroQCI Declaration Nearly Doubles Its Signatory Base
What happened. Between July and December 2019, the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) Declaration expanded from seven initial signatories to nineteen EU member states. In July, Hungary, Portugal, and Poland joined. In late November and December, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, and Finland signed as a group of nine additional countries. All signatories committed to working with the European Commission and the European Space Agency on the development and deployment of a quantum communication infrastructure across the EU within ten years.
Why it matters. The expansion of the EuroQCI from seven to nineteen states within six months demonstrated that the political case for European quantum communication infrastructure had broad support across member states of varying size and technological capacity. The inclusion of countries with limited existing quantum research infrastructure (such as Cyprus and Croatia) alongside major research nations (such as France) suggests that the EuroQCI was being viewed not only as a technology development initiative but also as a matter of collective digital sovereignty and cybersecurity. France’s signature was particularly important, given that country’s independent defense technology posture and its ongoing parallel development of a national quantum strategy.
What remains unclear. The Declaration is a political commitment, not a funded program. The terrestrial and space-based segments of the EuroQCI required separate implementation decisions and funding, with the Digital Europe Programme and Connecting Europe Facility as potential sources. Whether smaller signatory states would participate as technology developers or primarily as infrastructure recipients remained an open question. The relationship between EuroQCI’s QKD-based approach and the parallel movement toward post-quantum cryptographic algorithms had not yet been addressed in the initiative’s framing.
Who should care. European QKD technology developers and telecommunications operators. EU member state officials responsible for digital infrastructure and cybersecurity. European Space Agency contractors. National security agencies evaluating the security model for pan-European quantum key distribution.
Also in July–December 2019
On August 30, President Trump signed Executive Order 13885 establishing the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee (NQIAC), with up to 22 quantum experts selected by the Secretary of Energy to advise on the implementation of the National Quantum Initiative Act signed into law in December 2018.
On December 19, the United States and Japan signed the Tokyo Statement on Quantum Cooperation, the first bilateral quantum cooperation statement to reflect principles of the Joint Committee on the Research Environment, promoting joint research, workforce development, and sharing of infrastructure.
Switzerland launched NCCR SPIN with CHF 17 million in initial funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation, establishing a new national center at the University of Basel focused on silicon and germanium spin qubits for scalable quantum computing.
The European Union launched the €15 million OPENQKD project, coordinated by the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, bringing together 38 partners from 13 European countries to build QKD testbeds whose findings would feed into the broader EuroQCI initiative.
For detailed cross-jurisdictional analysis, policy domain breakdowns, and sector-specific implications of every development covered in this briefing, visit the Quantum Policy Radar.