Quantum City is the national public engagement and outreach initiative of the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme, established to help build public understanding of quantum technologies and their growing role in society.

What is Quantum City

Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Quantum City is co-ordinated by the Integrated Quantum Networks Hub on behalf of the network of five UK Quantum Technology Hubs:

Originally launched in 2018 and currently in its third phase, Quantum City aims to bring together contributions from all stakeholders of the National Quantum Technologies Programme across academia, national labs, industry and government in a single, dedicated online platform. Visitors to the site can expect to find out more about the disruptive potential of quantum technologies and their role in society; read news about relevant developments across the wider UK quantum community; access teaching resources and information about career pathways in the field; and get notified about events they can get involved in.  

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Quantum in the UK

Quantum technologies are emerging technologies underpinned by properties of quantum physics, enabling them to reach capabilities unattainable by their classical equivalent. In this respect, their potential for genuinely transformative societal impact is huge.  

Successive UK governments realised the inherent possibilities as early as 2013, when initial investment was announced into a National Quantum Technologies Programme (NQTP) designed to build on the country’s research excellence in the field of quantum science. More than a decade later, the national programme is a visionary partnership between government, academia and industry aiming to fast-track the transition of quantum technology prototypes from the lab to commercial products into markets, kickstarting a fully quantum-enabled economy in order to generate national wealth and transform lives for the better. The coordinated nature of the NQTP investment in research and development, skills creation, support for industry, and responsible innovation through standards development has served as a model for many other countries when designing their own quantum programmes.  

The current strategic vision is for the UK to be a world leading quantum-enabled economy, building on scientific excellence and creating a thriving quantum sector to ensure that quantum technologies are an integral part of the UK’s digital infrastructure and advanced manufacturing base, driving growth and helping to build a strong and resilient economy and society.

The  NQTP is overseen by the UK Government’s Office for Quantum, part of the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, and delivered by the following organisations and national agencies: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC); Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC); Innovate UK (IUK); Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl); National Physical Laboratory (NPL); Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ); Ministry of Defence (MoD); National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).