Australian Quantum Coalition formed, Google, Microsoft are founding members

On August 31, nine local and international participants in Australia came together to form the Australian Quantum Alliance (AQA). The founding members are local players Quintessence Labs, Q-CTRL, Quantum Brilliance, Silicon Quantum Computing, Nomad Atomics and Diray, as well as global giants Google, Microsoft and Rigetti.

"Australia has been at the forefront of quantum technology research and development, contributing to breakthroughs for more than two decades," said Vikram Sharma, CEO of QuintessenceLabs, announcing the alliance at the event, "As scientific research increasingly moves from the research labs into industry use cases and adoption, it is important that we ...... establish a mechanism through which we can maintain Australia's leadership position."

The AQA represents an important milestone in the development of Australia's quantum ecosystem and follows more than a year of discussions facilitated by the Australian Institute for Strategic Policy and the Technology Council. The Alliance will sit within the Technology Council and aims to be the "common voice" of the Australian quantum industry by promoting, strengthening and connecting the country's quantum ecosystem.

The formation of the consortium comes at a time when the new federal government plans to use $1 billion in critical technology funds to develop Australia's quantum industry and plans to develop a national quantum strategy by the end of 2022. The Department of Industry, Science and Resources previously estimated that quantum technology could provide $4 billion in economic value and create up to 16,000 new jobs by 2040. sharma said in response, "As the government develops and implements the australian strategy, AQA aims to drive the growth of the quantum industry and be a trusted source of advice for the government, working with the broader community and future consumers of quantum technologies, and to work with like-minded organizations and internal stakeholders. "

The Technology Council has issued statements that quantum is a promising emerging technology in Australia: more than 3 percent of global quantum startups are from Australia, compared to a global average of 1.7 percent. The local industry also attracts 3.6 percent of global venture capital funding, which the report says is much higher than Australia's 1.6 percent contribution to global gross domestic product (GDP). CEO Kate Pounder also said the alliance will ensure that Australia, already a leader in quantum research, can "lead the commercialization of that research by creating, scaling and attracting world-leading quantum companies" and "stay at the forefront of the global quantum race ".

Reference link:

https://www.innovationaus.com/australian-quantum-leaders-form-industry-alliance/