Event summaries, slides and recordings

Lunchtime Briefing with Tom Newby, Head of the Office for Quantum, DSIT

Author WIG Date 3 Jun 2026

Theme(s)

Technology as a driver of growth and productivity

WIG was delighted to welcome Tom Newby, Head of the Office for Quantum, for a lunchtime briefing. The discussion took place against the backdrop of the government's Industrial Strategy, published last June, which identified quantum as one of eight priority sectors and a set of frontier technologies with the potential to accelerate economic growth. The session addressed a pivotal moment: the foundations are firmly in place, but the next phase requires a step change in commercialisation, adoption, and cross-sector deployment. 

Key Takeaways 

  • The UK is second in the world for quantum companies and third for private investment, but translating that position into commercial scale and wide-scale adoption remains the central challenge 

  • A £2 billion government package, anchored by a £1 billion commitment to procure large-scale quantum computers for national supercomputing infrastructure, marks the first commitment of its kind globally 

  • Quantum sensing and networking are already being trialled at scale; quantum computing remains further out but carries transformative potential across optimisation, simulation, and cryptography 

  • The threat to conventional encryption from sufficiently powerful quantum computers is a live government concern; migration to post-quantum cryptography is already underway 

  • Nations that lead on adoption, not just invention, will capture the greatest competitive advantage: domestic use cases are as strategically important as R&D 

  • Skills shortages — particularly in engineering and configuration — represent a critical bottleneck to scaling quantum technologies across the economy 

Themes 

Invent, make, and adopt in the UK 

Scientific excellence is necessary but insufficient. Tom emphasised that the nations winning the quantum race will be those that are best at adoption, not just discovery. The government's procurement commitment is designed partly to send a demand signal into the 2030s, giving companies developing quantum applications confidence that a domestic customer exists at scale. Industry and the corporate sector must stand alongside government as early adopters. 

 

Supply chain depth as a strategic asset  

The UK has coverage across the full quantum supply chain, from cryogenic cooling and compound semiconductors to photonics, software, and end applications. The UK is one of only two countries to have developed world-leading quantum fridges. This breadth is a genuine differentiator, but one that requires active stewardship to prevent capability from migrating elsewhere. 

 

Government as anchor customer and market-maker  

The £1 billion supercomputing commitment goes beyond procurement. It is explicitly designed to aggregate demand from academic and industrial users, establish specifications that can bring other customers to market, and de-risk investment for the private sector. The first phase of the programme is already live. 

 

Quantum applications are closer than they appear 

While fault-tolerant quantum computing remains a 2030s prospect, sensing and networking are being trialled now. BT is already running quantum network trials across the UK. Applications in navigation (GPS-independent positioning), underground infrastructure detection, and neurological scanning are live and commercially active. The 2035 mission target for fault-tolerant quantum computers with applications in critical sectors is tracking ahead of early commercial roadmaps. 

 

Skills as a binding constraint  

The skills required to scale quantum are not limited to quantum physicists. Engineering skills to configure quantum computers and networks, and eventually application-layer thinking across sectors, are needed economy-wide. This is a cross-sector challenge that cannot be resolved by academia alone. 

 

Areas for Collaboration 

  • Adoption: Large organisations across industry and the public sector need to identify concrete use cases and commit to being early customers, rather than waiting for the technology to fully mature before engaging.
  • Skills: Cross-sector coordination is needed to build the engineering and configuration pipeline alongside scientific training; quantum literacy at the application layer will become a broad workforce requirement.
  • Supply chain: Sustained industrial commitment to maintaining UK capability in critical components (cryogenics, photonics, compound semiconductors) is needed to protect and extend the UK's supply chain advantage.
  • R&D to deployment pathways: The National Quantum Computing Centre in Oxford and five national research hubs provide strong infrastructure, but deeper industry engagement is needed to translate research activity into operational deployment at scale.
  • Convening: Continued cross-sector dialogue between government, large corporates, and the quantum supply chain is essential to coordinate demand signals, share deployment experience, and maintain the UK's first-mover position internationally. 

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Event Speakers

Tom Newby is the Head of the UK Office for Quantum Technologies in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Tom has worked on technology policy and strategy in various roles in the centre of government and Ofcom, the communications regulator. Before his current role he was Head of Spending Strategy in HM Treasury where he delivered the 2021 spending review.