Insider Brief
- An IBM report concludes that governments need sustained investment, workforce development, cybersecurity modernization, resilient supply chains and international cooperation to remain competitive in quantum technologies.
- The report compares the quantum strategies of the United States, China, the European Union, India and Australia, finding that each pursues a distinct mix of public investment, innovation, education and commercialization.
- The report warns that preparing for the quantum era requires action beyond quantum computing alone, including advances in quantum communications, sensing and post-quantum cryptography.
Governments that focus narrowly on quantum computing risk falling behind in a technology race that increasingly encompasses communications, sensing, cybersecurity and international partnerships, according to a new report from the IBM Center for The Business of Government.
The report concludes that maintaining leadership in quantum technology will require sustained investment, workforce development, stronger cybersecurity, resilient supply chains and continued international cooperation. While the United States retains advantages through its research institutions, startup ecosystem and private investment, the report says other nations are pursuing different strategies that could reshape the global balance of technological leadership.
Published by the IBM Center for The Business of Government in collaboration with the Potomac Quantum Innovation Center, Navigating the Global Quantum Landscape: Strategic Insights for Government Leaders compares the quantum strategies of the United States, China, the European Union, India and Australia. The report was written by Paula Ganga, a visiting fellow at Duke University‘s Nicholas School of the Environment.
Rather than treating quantum technology as a single field, the report examines three major areas including quantum computing, quantum communications and quantum sensing. It argues that governments must prepare for advances across all three while balancing economic competitiveness, national security and scientific collaboration.
The report arrives as governments around the world accelerate investments in quantum technologies. According to the report, global public and private investment exceeded $40 billion in 2024, reflecting growing recognition that quantum technologies could eventually influence industries ranging from pharmaceuticals and finance to defense and energy.
Five Pillars of Quantum Strategy
The report organizes its recommendations around five strategic elements that it says will determine long-term success.
Investing: Quantum systems require expensive laboratories, specialized equipment and years of research before commercial products emerge. The report says government funding provides the foundation while private investment helps transform laboratory discoveries into usable technologies.
Innovation: The report describes innovation as the outcome of sustained research spending and suggests that countries able to convert scientific discoveries into commercial products will be better positioned to shape future markets.
Education: The report says governments must build a quantum-capable workforce not only by training researchers but also by preparing engineers, software developers and public-sector employees who will eventually deploy quantum technologies.
Security: While quantum computers promise new scientific capabilities, they also threaten today’s widely used encryption systems. Governments therefore need to accelerate adoption of post-quantum cryptography while strengthening supply chains for critical quantum components.
Cooperation: Although geopolitical competition often dominates discussion of quantum technology, the analysts write that many of the field’s most important advances have resulted from international scientific partnerships.
The report recommends that governments continue supporting scientific research, expand quantum education programs, invest in quantum-resistant encryption, strengthen domestic supply chains and deepen collaboration among universities, industry and allied nations.
Different Countries Pursue Different Models
Rather than identifying a single winning strategy, the report describes several competing approaches.
According to the report, the United States combines federal research funding with an unusually strong private investment ecosystem. Government agencies including the Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, National Institute of Standards and Technology and Department of Defense support foundational research, while venture capital finances startups developing commercial applications.
The report indicates that U.S. quantum startups raised more than $1.5 billion in venture funding during 2024, with investment continuing at a strong pace through 2025. At the same time, it points to ongoing debate over future federal funding and the reauthorization of the National Quantum Initiative.
China, by contrast, follows a state-directed model with Beijing committing approximately $15.3 billion in public investment, although the report also notes estimates vary because Chinese government spending is less transparent than funding reported by Western governments.
China’s strategy emphasizes centralized planning and near-term deployment of quantum communications technologies while consolidating research under state-backed institutions. According to the report, several major Chinese technology companies have transferred quantum research assets to government-linked organizations, reflecting greater state control over the sector.
According to the report, Europe has forged a third model. The European Union has committed roughly $10 billion in public funding while coordinating multinational initiatives including the Quantum Flagship program and EuroHPC quantum computing infrastructure.
The report credits Europe with a strong scientific research base but says commercialization remains a challenge because private investment trails that of the United States. It also suggests that Europe’s research efforts remain fragmented across member states despite continent-wide initiatives.
India and Australia illustrate emerging approaches. India is described as building foundational research capabilities through targeted investments and international partnerships. Australia, meanwhile, benefits from respected research institutions and government support but faces continuing challenges commercializing discoveries and retaining talent.
Quantum Computers and Beyond
Quantum computing remains the most transformative area because quantum processors exploit the unusual behavior of quantum mechanics to solve certain problems more efficiently than classical computers.
Unlike conventional computer bits, which represent either zero or one, quantum bits, or qubits, can theoretically exist in combinations of those states. That property allows quantum computers to evaluate some complex calculations in ways that differ fundamentally from traditional computers.
The report points to potential applications including materials discovery, drug development, financial modeling and optimization of electrical grids.
In health care, it highlights IBM‘s collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic, where a dedicated quantum computing system supports biomedical research and drug discovery efforts.
The report also cites studies suggesting quantum computing could dramatically reduce energy consumption for some computational workloads compared with today’s largest supercomputers, although practical fault-tolerant quantum computers capable of delivering those benefits remain under development.
While quantum computing attracts the greatest public attention, governments should prepare for advances across several branches of quantum technology, according to the report.
Quantum sensing uses quantum effects to measure extremely small changes in motion, gravity or electromagnetic fields. According to the report, potential applications include medical imaging, navigation systems and geological exploration.
Quantum communications aim to transmit information using quantum properties that could make some forms of communication significantly more secure than conventional methods.
Security Concerns Drive Urgency
Much of the report’s urgency stems from cybersecurity.
Quantum computers capable of breaking today’s public-key encryption do not yet exist, but governments increasingly worry about “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks in which encrypted information is collected today for future decryption.
The report says successful attacks against existing cryptographic systems could threaten financial networks, military communications, critical infrastructure and government data.
Those concerns have become more immediate following recent U.S. policy actions.
The analysts write that two executive orders issued in June direct federal agencies to accelerate migration toward post-quantum cryptography while expanding broader national quantum initiatives. They add that these measures reinforce the importance of preparing government systems well before cryptographically relevant quantum computers become available.
Competition Balanced by Collaboration
Although comparisons between China and the United States often frame quantum technology as a geopolitical race, the report argues that international cooperation remains essential.
It points to collaborations involving research institutions, government laboratories and multinational scientific projects as evidence that some of the field’s most significant advances have crossed national boundaries.
According to the report, governments should pursue policies that protect sensitive technologies while maintaining scientific partnerships capable of accelerating innovation.
The report stops short of predicting which nation will ultimately lead the quantum industry. Instead, it concludes that leadership will depend less on any single scientific breakthrough than on governments’ ability to sustain investment, educate skilled workers, secure digital infrastructure and translate research into practical applications over many years.
