July 2024 saw a burst of quantum policy activity on both sides of the Atlantic, with the United Kingdom committing £160 million to five new quantum research hubs, the White House quantifying the federal post-quantum cryptography migration at $7.1 billion, Germany becoming the first EU member state to add quantum computers to its national export control list, Singapore directing S$100 million toward quantum capabilities in financial services, and NATO’s new Transatlantic Quantum Community holding its inaugural session under Danish leadership.
United Kingdom: Five Phase 3 Quantum Technology Research Hubs Announced with £160 Million
What happened. On July 26, Science Secretary Peter Kyle announced five new Quantum Technology Research Hubs, backed by £160 million in combined public and private investment. According to the Policy Tracker post, EPSRC and other UKRI councils provided £106 million, with industry contributing more than £54 million in cash and in-kind support. The five hubs cover quantum computing (Oxford), quantum networks (Heriot-Watt), biomedical sensing (UCL), sensing and imaging (Birmingham), and positioning, navigation, and timing (Glasgow). Each hub received between £15 million and £19.5 million for up to 60 months.
Why it matters. This is the third generation of UK quantum hubs, following Phase 1 (2014-2019) and Phase 2 (2019-2024), making the UK one of a small number of countries that has sustained a decade-long, structured investment cycle in quantum technology. The sectoral focus has shifted: Phase 3 includes dedicated hubs for biomedical sensing and navigation/timing, reflecting a move from basic research toward application domains with near-term commercial and defence value. The £54 million in industry co-investment signals growing private-sector demand for applied quantum capabilities.
What remains unclear. How will the Phase 3 hubs interact with the commercial quantum ecosystem that the National Quantum Strategy aims to build? The hub budgets are modest relative to single-company investments in the sector, and the mechanism for translating hub outputs into UK-based commercial products or services is not specified. Whether UKRI will pursue a Phase 4 beyond 2029, or transition to a different instrument, is also an open question.
Who should care. UK quantum researchers, university technology transfer offices, quantum startups seeking academic collaborators, defence procurement officials tracking quantum PNT, and health technology innovators exploring quantum sensing.
United States: White House Reports $7.1 Billion Cost for Federal PQC Migration
What happened. In July 2024, the White House Office of Management and Budget delivered a congressionally mandated report estimating the total government-wide cost of migrating federal information systems to post-quantum cryptography at approximately $7.1 billion between 2025 and 2035. The report, required by the Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act of 2022, covered civilian agency systems only; the Department of Defense and intelligence community were developing separate estimates for classified systems.
Why it matters. This is the first official U.S. government cost estimate for the PQC transition, and it establishes a financial baseline that will shape budget requests for years to come. The $7.1 billion figure, spread over a decade, is large enough to require dedicated appropriations but not so large as to be politically impossible. A substantial share of the cost relates to replacing legacy systems that cannot support new cryptographic algorithms, meaning the PQC migration will also function as a forced modernization of aging federal IT infrastructure. The report appeared weeks before NIST finalized its first three PQC standards in August 2024, giving agencies a cost framework just as the technical standards arrived.
What remains unclear. The report acknowledged “a high, but expected, level of uncertainty” in the estimate. How much classified-system migration costs will add to the total remains unknown. Whether Congress will appropriate dedicated PQC transition funding, or expect agencies to absorb costs within existing IT budgets, is unresolved. The report also did not specify timelines for individual agency migrations.
Who should care. Federal agency CISOs and IT budget planners, cybersecurity vendors and systems integrators, congressional appropriators, and enterprises that supply cryptographic products to the U.S. government.
Germany: Quantum Computers Added to National Export Control List
What happened. On July 23, the 21st ordinance amending Germany’s Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance entered into force, adding quantum computers, parametric signal amplifiers, and cryogenic refrigeration units to the national Export List. As detailed in the Policy Tracker post, exports of listed items to destinations outside the EU customs territory and outside a set of allied countries (including Australia, Canada, Japan, the UK, and the United States) now require authorization from the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA).
Why it matters. Germany became the first EU member state to place quantum computers under explicit national export controls, moving ahead of any EU-wide instrument. The action aligns Germany with the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, all of which introduced or expanded quantum-related export controls in 2024. The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security subsequently recognized Germany as having equivalent controls, qualifying it for the License Exception IEC framework. This positions Germany as a template for how other EU member states might approach quantum export controls before any harmonized European regulation emerges.
What remains unclear. Whether other EU member states will follow Germany’s approach, or whether the European Commission will propose a unified quantum export control framework. The practical impact on Germany’s quantum industry, particularly on companies like AQT’s German operations or IQM’s European activities, has not been publicly assessed. The thresholds for controlled items (such as specific cryogenic cooling power ratings) and their calibration relative to U.S. and UK lists also warrant close comparison.
Who should care. European quantum hardware manufacturers, export compliance officers at companies with quantum supply chains, EU trade policy officials, and allied governments coordinating export control alignment.
Singapore: MAS Commits S$100 Million for Quantum and AI in Financial Services
What happened. On July 18, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) committed an additional S$100 million (approximately USD 74.5 million) under the Financial Sector Technology and Innovation Grant Scheme (FSTI 3.0), with S$60 million earmarked specifically for a new Quantum track. The Quantum track funds establishment of quantum computing and security innovation functions in Singapore, strategic quantum technology endeavors, cybersecurity pilots, and talent development. Separately, Singapore’s National Quantum Office, A*STAR, NUS, and the National Supercomputing Centre signed an MoU with Quantinuum on July 23 for access to its H-Series and Helios quantum computers.
Why it matters. Singapore is, to our knowledge, the first jurisdiction to create a dedicated quantum funding track within a financial sector technology grant scheme. This is a sector-specific approach: rather than treating quantum as a general technology investment, MAS is creating incentives for financial institutions to build in-house quantum capabilities. The S$60 million quantum allocation came only two months after Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced the National Quantum Strategy in May 2024, indicating rapid translation from national strategy to sector-level implementation. The Quantinuum MoU adds international hardware access to the domestic funding picture.
What remains unclear. How many financial institutions will apply for Quantum track grants, and whether the S$60 million allocation will be fully subscribed. The MoU with Quantinuum covers biological modelling and drug discovery applications, which is unusual for a financial sector initiative, suggesting the arrangement may serve broader national research priorities beyond finance. Whether other national regulators will replicate the sector-specific quantum grant model is worth tracking.
Who should care. Financial institutions operating in Singapore, quantum computing service providers, fintech firms exploring quantum applications, and financial regulators in other jurisdictions considering quantum readiness programs.
NATO: Transatlantic Quantum Community Holds Inaugural Meeting
What happened. On July 2, NATO’s Transatlantic Quantum Community (TQC) held its first meeting, with Denmark serving as national chair. More than half of NATO Allies were participating at launch, including the United States, Canada, France, Italy, and Czechia. As reported in the Policy Tracker post, the TQC brings together quantum experts from national governments, industry, academia, and funding bodies. Its establishment followed NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg’s September 2023 call for a transatlantic quantum community and the Alliance’s first Quantum Technologies Strategy, agreed in late 2023.
Why it matters. The TQC is the first Alliance-wide mechanism dedicated specifically to quantum technologies, and its voluntary, nation-led structure is distinct from NATO’s traditional top-down standardization bodies. Denmark’s role as inaugural chair reflects the country’s growing quantum profile, including its Export and Investment Fund’s investments in quantum companies. By the TQC’s first annual plenary in November 2024, 22 Allies were participating, a rapid expansion from the initial cohort. The community’s agenda, covering talent, funding, dual-use applications, and industry partnerships, mirrors the policy challenges most national quantum strategies are grappling with individually.
What remains unclear. Whether the TQC will produce binding standards, procurement recommendations, or remain a coordination and information-sharing forum. The relationship between the TQC and existing NATO bodies (such as the Science and Technology Organization) has not been publicly detailed. How the TQC will handle the participation gap, given that not all Allies have national quantum strategies, is also an open question.
Who should care. NATO member-state defence ministries, quantum companies seeking defence and dual-use contracts, allied governments developing national quantum strategies, and security policy analysts tracking technology governance within the Alliance.
Also in July 2024
The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking signed a procurement contract with Alpine Quantum Technologies for EuroQCS-Poland, a 20-plus qubit trapped-ion quantum computer to be hosted at PSNC in Poznań, with a total acquisition cost of EUR 12.28 million split between the EU and Poland’s Ministry of Digital Affairs.
Italy’s National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN) published a guidance document on post-quantum and quantum cryptography, providing Italian entities with an overview of the quantum threat and PQC transition considerations, consistent with Italy’s National Cybersecurity Strategy 2022-2026.
The Quad Investors Network’s Quantum Center of Excellence published its final report on quantum capabilities across Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, projecting a global quantum technology market exceeding $173 billion by 2040 and identifying cross-national collaboration opportunities.
The U.S. Economic Development Administration awarded approximately $41 million to the Elevate Quantum Tech Hub in Colorado and New Mexico, unlocking over $127 million in combined federal and state funding for quantum fabrication facilities, workforce development, and regional ecosystem coordination.
For structured analysis of each development covered in this briefing, including cross-jurisdictional comparison tables and sector-level implications, visit the Quantum Policy Radar.