On February 5, 2024, UK Science Minister Andrew Griffith announced a £45 million (~$57 million) investment in the United Kingdom’s quantum sector, allocated across two programs aimed at accelerating the development and adoption of quantum technologies in healthcare, energy, transport, and government services.
Of the total, £30 million was invested through a joint initiative of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Technology Missions Fund and the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) to fund the development and delivery of seven quantum computing testbed prototypes based on diverse hardware architectures, including trapped-ion, superconducting, photonic, and neutral-atom platforms. The testbeds were to be deployed at the NQCC facility by March 2025, according to the government announcement.
A further £15 million was allocated through the Quantum Catalyst Fund, delivered by Innovate UK in conjunction with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). The fund supported six projects selected from an initial feasibility phase to develop prototypes demonstrating quantum solutions for public sector challenges, including a quantum-enabled brain scanner for neurological disorder diagnosis and a quantum sensor navigation system for trains.
The investment formed part of the UK’s National Quantum Strategy, published in March 2023, which committed £2.5 billion over ten years to developing quantum technologies in the UK. Quantum technologies are designated as one of five critical technologies in the UK Science and Technology Framework.