"The market is maturing and preparing for growth."

Matthew Martin, Managing Director, Quantum Design Oxford

For World Quantum Day, Matthew Martin, Managing Director, Quantum Design Oxford commented:

During World Quantum Day 2026, it’s important to again note how far the physics has come in the last 12 months. However, the conversations happening across the quantum ecosystem are no longer about qubit performance and error correction, whilst this remains a critical component of the activities being undertaken. They are now also about challenges of scaling, future infrastructure needs, skills, and supply chains, signalling that the market is maturing and preparing for growth.

One of the clearest signals of where the industry is heading is that quantum computers are now being deployed in data centres, which makes quantum computing accessible without the capital cost of an in-house system and also that use case applications are developing. Moving outside the lab and beginning to scale forces the industry to solve engineering problems that the lab environment never surfaced. Seeing companies start to test the water with applications shows that they regard quantum computing and other quantum technologies as the powerful tools that they potentially are, and are shaping up to be ready to make use of them.

But scaling quantum computing requires product engineers, supply chain specialists, technicians, and more. As an industry, we have some way to go in building and attracting skills from elsewhere to ensure a broader skills base. The window to get this right is not indefinite. The decisions being made by governments, investors, and industry to attract and train those teams over the next 12 to 24 months will determine which nations and organisations are positioned to lead.