Insider Brief
- California’s Quantum California initiative convened roughly 200 leaders from industry, academia, government and national laboratories at the University of California San Diego to coordinate efforts aimed at scaling and commercializing quantum technologies across the state.
- The two-day Quantum San Diego Convening, organized by the Qualcomm Institute, Quantum Machines and Hewlett Packard Enterprise with support from the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, focused on infrastructure, technical bottlenecks and system-level integration challenges tied to quantum computing.
- The gathering also contributed to California’s statewide quantum strategy under Assembly Bill 940, with discussions intended to inform future policy, funding decisions and coordination among regional quantum ecosystems including San Diego, Berkeley and Santa Barbara.
PRESS RELEASE — This week, leaders from industry, academia, national laboratories and government came together for the Quantum San Diego Convening – a focused, two-day gathering at the University of California San Diego that furthers the efforts of Quantum California, the state’s new public–private initiative intended to strengthen California’s position as a global hub for the quantum industry.
“California’s quantum leadership depends on the strength of the ecosystem we build around it, and events like this help bring together the researchers, companies, investors and public-sector partners needed to move quantum technologies from breakthrough science to commercialization,” said Dee Dee Myers, Senior Advisor to Governor Newsom and Director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. “Through Quantum California, we are working to support that ecosystem, strengthen coordination across regions and ensure California remains the best place in the world to scale this cutting-edge industry.”
The event was sponsored by the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) and jointly organized by the Qualcomm Institute at UC San Diego, HPE Quantum and Quantum Machines to align priorities across California’s quantum ecosystem and address the central challenge of scaling quantum technologies. The effort contributes to the fulfillment of Assembly Bill 940, which calls for a statewide quantum technology strategy, following recent gatherings at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Barbara.
“This is more than an event,” said UC San Diego Qualcomm Institute Director Ramesh Rao. “The San Diego community has tremendous expertise in radio frequency engineering and electromagnetics – areas that will be critical for scaling quantum technology. This gathering not only contributes to the state’s plan for quantum infrastructure, it also showcases San Diego’s scientific strengths and coalesces a quantum community in our region.”
The convening included stakeholders from across California, reflecting the state’s distributed quantum ecosystem. The event also served as a platform for advancing collaboration through initiatives such as the Quantum Scaling Alliance, which focuses on addressing system-level challenges required to move quantum computing from laboratory research to deployable systems.
“Scaling quantum systems is a system-level challenge that spans hardware, control and infrastructure. The Quantum Scaling Alliance is focused on addressing that integration, and this convening is an important step in aligning the ecosystem around those priorities,” said Itamar Sivan, CEO and Co-founder of Quantum Machines.
The event enabled working-level discussion and coordination among approximately 200 participants. The program focused on the transition of quantum computing from scientific validation to engineering at scale, with sessions addressing technical bottlenecks, infrastructure requirements and cross-sector alignment.
The program featured keynote contributions from leaders in the field, including John Martinis (CTO and co-founder, Qolab, UC Santa Barbara), alongside speakers representing the University of California system, national laboratories and industry. On the second day, the State of California convened a working session with participants to inform the development of a statewide quantum strategy. This effort was the third of three such gatherings intended to translate ecosystem input into a coordinated roadmap and support future policy and funding decisions.
“California has the depth of research, industry presence and innovation infrastructure needed to lead in quantum technologies,” said Riley Need, UC San Diego Qualcomm Institute Research Specialist. “Convenings like this help highlight priorities to translate that strength into coordinated action.”
More information: https://quantumsandiego.org/
