Morning, Monday, 15th December 2025
Online
This conference will examine next steps for supporting the development and competitiveness of the UK quantum technologies sector.
It will bring together stakeholders and policymakers to consider priorities and what will be needed from policy, regulation and stakeholders if ambitions in the Industrial Strategy and Digital and Technologies Sector Plan for supporting growth in the sector are to be achieved.
Policy, funding & commercialisation
With the Government committing £670m in funding to drive the development and adoption of quantum computers in the UK, including a 10-year funding settlement for the National Quantum Computing Centre, delegates will assess progress on the National Quantum Missions and how best to foster development, commercialisation, and the adoption of quantum to support innovation and new technologies.
Attendees will consider priorities for delivery of the Missions and how progress can be benchmarked. Areas for discussion include priorities for aligning funding with infrastructure and regulatory planning, and how links between the National Quantum Strategy, Digital and Technologies Sector Plan, and Industrial Strategy can be better coordinated to support commercial deployment.
The structure and scope of future quantum investments will be discussed, including identifying gaps for additional support for downstream adoption, testing environments, and public sector demonstrator projects. With the new full-stack quantum computer recently installed at the NQCC by Oxford Ionics as part of its testbed programme, delegates will discuss priorities for the 10-year funding commitment to unlock quantum computing development, readiness and adoption.
Skills, talent pipelines & regional development
There will also be a focus on the development of a sector-led Skills Action Plan, informed by recommendations from the Quantum Skills Taskforce. Strategic options will be discussed for how government, the higher education sector and industry can best respond to calls for more flexible entry routes into quantum careers, particularly through apprenticeships, conversion programmes, and interdisciplinary qualifications.
Attendees will consider next steps to strengthen regional talent pipelines, looking at how skills initiatives - such as through the National Quantum Technologies Programme - could be expanded across cluster strategies and local economic development plans.
Implementation & innovation
Further sessions will assess priorities for supporting innovation and expanding use-case development, with the Government investing £121m in quantum technologies earlier this year to help tackle crime, fraud and money laundering. Delegates will assess progress and next steps for the five Quantum Research Hubs launched in 2024 and EPSRC funding in 2025.
The agenda will also consider next steps for strengthening regional growth aligned to quantum development, including identification of Quantum Innovation Clusters as part of the Industrial Strategy. Opportunities for strategic alignment of AI growth zones with quantum clusters will be examined, alongside how development can be channelled into economic and technological growth.
Delegates will examine key supply chain issues, including frameworks for wider supply chain collaboration and priorities for addressing raw material bottlenecks.
Regulation, sector preparation & scale-ups
The conference will also be an opportunity to assess priorities for both innovators and investors in navigating the evolving regulatory landscape, including next steps for supporting scale-ups, and the role that the Quantum Regulators’ Forum and Regulatory Innovation Office might play in supporting market confidence.
Delegates will discuss the way forward for safeguarding intellectual property, addressing emerging data privacy challenges, and key considerations for tackling cybersecurity threat through the development of post-quantum cryptography.
With the FCA publishing a report in September 2025 on the potential applications of quantum computing in UK financial services, discussion will focus on sectoral approaches to guidance and regulatory engagement, as well as how firms can prepare for the emergence of quantum technologies in respective markets.
International initiatives & alignment
Options for coordination of UK and EU post-quantum cryptography regimes will be discussed, in light of the European Commission’s Roadmap for the Transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography published in June 2025. We also expect discussion on best practice and potential lessons for the UK from the Quantum Europe Strategy, launched in July 2025.
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those already due to attend include officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; Home Office; and National Wealth Fund.
