£43m investment to establish world's first Quantum Technologies Innovation Centre
University of Bristol announce plan to establish Quantum Technologies Innovation Centre to take quantum research from the lab to the commercial world.
Experts predict that harnessing the quantum world – the behaviour of matter and energy on the atomic and subatomic level – will revolutionise technology by making it faster, smaller, more secure and, ultimately, more useful for a wide variety of applications.
The Government anticipates that quantum technology will be an industry worth £1 billion to the UK economy in the next 10 years, boosting British business and making a real difference to our everyday lives.
The £43 million Quantum Technologies Innovation Centre (QTIC) has been funded in partnership by £15 million from the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), £21 million from industrial partners and £7 million from the University of Bristol. It will be based in the University’s new enterprise campus, to be built in the heart of the city.
More than 200 researchers at the University will work in partnership with companies to develop the prototypes of tomorrow and play a major role in establishing new quantum businesses.  Importantly, the centre will provide affordable specialist incubation facilities for businesses harnessing the quantum advantage to create new products and services.
These new technologies will impact upon society and all major market sectors, including defence, finance, aerospace, energy and information and communications technology (ICT) in ways that cannot yet be predicted.
Mustafa Rampuri, Programme Manager for QTIC, said: “QTIC is the world‚Äôs first dedicated open access innovation centre facility for developing a broad spectrum of quantum technologies. It provides pay-as-you-go incubator labs and office space, access to state of the art equipment, supported by experts in a range of business, technology and manufacturing areas.
“It’s an ideal time to take these technologies out of the lab and engineer them into commercial products and services, ensuring that the UK and Bristol region is the epicentre of a global quantum revolution.
“The opportunities are vast and very exciting. Our aim is for the facility to be an internationally recognised centre for the engineering and commercialisation of practical integrated quantum technologies, enabling companies from any sector to co-create new products and exploit the quantum advantage.”
Read the full article on the University of Bristol website
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