The Impact of World Quantum Day

World Quantum Day is an international event that is celebrated on 14 April every year.

The initiative, which quantum scientists from more than 65 countries are involved in, aims to promote the public understanding and awareness of quantum technology and science globally.

In 2024, the event hosted in excess of 440 events across more than 190 cities in more than 120 countries..

The day is a decentralised and bottom-up initiative that helps us understand how quantum science and technology help us craft vital technologies, understand nature and lead to future technological and scientific revolutions. 

But why 14 April?

This is a reference to 4.14, the rounded first digits of Planck’s constant. 

This product of energy and time is the fundamental constant that controls quantum physics.

Educators, scientists, communicators and artists — to name a small selection — celebrate quantum technology and science globally by hosting outreach talks, lab tours and interviews.

2025 marks 100 years of quantum mechanics with the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology — an incredible achievement for the quantum industry.

Google even celebrated with a Google Doodle illustating the concept of superposition, one of the fundamental principles that makes quantum computing possible.

Here, Technology Magazine looks into how leading organisations have embraced quantum computing to fuel further growth. 

IBM’s commitment to quantum computing

IBM has continued to showcase its commitment to advancing quantum computing.

In 2020, it showcased its debut quantum roadmap and later updated this in 2022 to showcase its plans on scaling quantum systems. This announcement detailed IBM’s 433-qubit Osprey processor.

Later, in 2023, IBM was set to redefine the control of large systems and single-chip processors through its delivery of a 1,121-qubit Condor processor.

Technology Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Marcus Law, spoke to Richard Hopkins, Distinguished Engineer at IBM, in April 2023, to explore how the company is embracing the possibility of quantum computing.

Richard explains the significance of IBM’s quantum computing plans.

He says: “It's probably the first time in IBM that I've seen a roadmap published quite so far out as we've published it. 

“We're publishing at least three years out every year. In that regard, it is entirely different from anything else I've seen us do in 30 years.

“We recognised very early on that there was a potential for hype and misinformation

“As a result, we have adopted a transparency policy to the likes of which I've never seen, and that has worked enormously well.”

The roadmap focused on improving gate fidelity and coherence for greater reliability and accuracy while scaling qubit numbers. 

Quantum algorithms showcased the ability to make qualitatively different decisions in fraud detection experiments.

IBM envisioned a seamless future where quantum capabilities are integrated seamlessly into computing workflows.

“Quantum is going to be a much more powerful capability than, I think, many people were envisioning,” Richard continues. 

“I think people had in their minds that quantum computers don't become useful until you've got logical qubits. What we're working out is how to get value out of these things for our clients in the near term. 

“Eventually, I'm sure we'll get to very large numbers of logical qubits, but we don't want to wait until that point to get value, and neither do our clients. So, we're doing something different.”

How the UK government is securing its position as a leader in Quantum technology

Coinciding with World Quantum Day, the UK Government has announced a £121m (US$159m) investment in quantum technology.

Secretary of State for Science and Technology, Peter Kyle, explains: “Quantum — manipulating the universe at its smallest scale — has the potential to save millions for our economy, create thousands of jobs and improve businesses across the country, stopping fraudsters in their tracks, protecting our bank accounts and more.
“Backing our world-class quantum researchers and businesses is an important part of our Plan for Change.  

“The UK is home to the second largest community of quantum businesses in the world and this investment means they can go further paving the way for new quantum tools and products that make our lives easier, fuel growth, and help us tackle the great challenges of our era.”

The investment

This investment will support commercialisation, research, talent development and real-world deployment of quantum technologies over the next 12 months and includes:

• £46.1m (US$60.7m) through Innovate UK

This will catalyse the use of quantum technology across many industries, such as networking, computing, sensing and position, navigation and timing (PNT)

• £21m (US$27.5m) to continue the work of the National Quantum Computing Centre

This will help advance its testbed programme with Innovate UK. Quantum Software Lab will offer support to help companies discover how quantum can solve problems and improve how we work

• £10.9m (US$14.3m) for the National Physical Laboratory’s (NPL) quantum measurement programme

This will encourage businesses to utilise the potential of the technology

The UK remains committed to becoming a leader in quantum computing through £23.6m (US$31.1m) in funding from EPSRC. This funding will help support the five research hubs in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Oxford and Birmingham, announced last year.

Peter adds: “We want to see a future where cutting-edge science improves everyday lives. That is the vision behind our investment in these new quantum technology hubs, by supporting the deployment of technology that will mean faster diagnoses for diseases, critical infrastructure safe from hostile threats and cleaner energy for us all.

“This isn’t just about research; it’s about putting that research to work. 

“These hubs will bridge the gap between brilliant ideas and practical solutions. They will not only transform sectors like healthcare and security, but also create a culture of accelerated innovation that helps to grow our economy.”

Other areas of investment include:

• £15.1m (US$19.9m) given to 11 Quantum Technology Career Acceleration Fellowships by UKRI EPSRC
• £4.3m (US$5.7m) from Science and Technology Facilities Council to support Quantum-enabled apprenticeships and early-career researchers 

With this announcement, the Quantum Missions Pilots competition and support for the five research hubs, the UK government has committed to investing an impressive £121m (US$159 m) in quantum computing over the next 12 months. 

Both IBM’s and the UK government’s commitment to quantum computing mirrors the wider goals of World Quantum Day in making quantum computing more scalable, accessibleand applicable to real-world problems. 

IBM’s transparent roadmap and technical breakthroughs, alongside the UK government’s vast investment in quantum technology, highlight how complex quantum principles can be turned into technologies that offer benefits to society.

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