And it could change the way the world looks to overcome challenges as diverse as tunnelling underground, on-line security and pushing the limits of computing power.
That’s the view of Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, following the unveiling yesterday (Wednesday) of a new £150 million national network of Quantum Technology Hubs – based in Birmingham, Glasgow, Oxford and York.
Innovate UK has a clear role in determining the Hubs’ success: to involve business closely and to ensure academic excellence in this field translates into bottom-line commercial success for UK plc. Richard Murray, Innovate UK’s Lead for Emerging Technologies and Industries, explained further:
“We have a fantastic opportunity in the UK to develop a Quantum Technologies industry that is the envy of the world. With our unparalleled research and advanced industrial base, there’s every reason to be confident that it could be become worth over £1bn within the next decade.
“Our role at Innovate UK is clear and exciting: to set up communities, networks and investment opportunities that connect our research base to industry and to the business end-user to ensure successful commercialisation.
“We have a real opportunity to get ahead globally, and fantastic companies in areas such as lasers, vacuum systems, cryogenics and electronics who can lead the way forward.”
Quantum Technologies adopt the principles of quantum mechanics – the fundamentally different behaviour of matter at the very small sub-atomic level – to transform our approach to traditional challenges, or tackle new ones altogether.
“There are so many ways in which success with quantum technologies could change our world,” continued Richard, “with quantum sensors, quantum imaging, secure communications and quantum computing being just four examples.
“All manner of underground operations, such as tunnelling, or autonomous submarines, are much easier by using quantum positioning devices, which overcome the problem of GPS signalling not working underground.
“At the moment, tunnelling for many construction projects is hampered by the simple fact it is very difficult to know what other infrastructure is around. Quantum technologies could allow sub-surface imaging to take place, which allow objects like existing tunnels and sink holes to be easily identified.
“Secure, un-hackable communications systems are a real prospect which could transform our confidence in data security, both as individuals and societies. Encryption takes place in a physically different way, guaranteeing that any attempts to hack or corrupt can be easily detected.
“And quantum-based computing will completely change the way we use computers, making many familiar functions much more effective and efficient than we are currently used to. Conventional computers, for example, are poor at image recognition –improvements here could make a step change in areas such as image analysis.”