The UK government has ploughed an extra £121m into quantum to drive development of the technology
The government has committed £121m of funding over the next 12 months to support quantum computing in the UK. While quantum computing remains a nascent technology, it promises to revolutionise research and development, and power computational tasks that cannot be performed on today's most advanced supercomputer, paving the way to significant economic benefits in countries that can harness the technology effectively. The UK's National Quantum Technologies Programme sets out the government's long-term effort to back early-stage research, and support getting quantum technologies out of the lab and onto the marketplace. According to data from professional services firm Qureca, China has made the largest investment in quantum technology, which it estimates is worth $15bn, followed by the US ($7.7bn). The UK's investment in quantum technology ($4.3bn) is ahead of both Germany ($3.3bn) and France ($2.2bn), according to Qureca's data, which demonstrates the government's continued funding and its big bet on this emerging technology sector. Coinciding with World Quantum Day, the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology said the funding is being made available over the next year to expand the use of the technology and secure the UK's position as a world-leader in quantum as part of…