On Friday 6 November, the UK National Quantum Technologies Showcase 2026 returns to London’s Business Design Centre, welcoming businesses, researchers, investors and policymakers to meet the innovators working towards the solutions.

Now in its twelfth year, the showcase will combine an expanded conference and exhibition, with more than 2,750 delegates and over 130 exhibitors anticipated to learn where quantum technologies are heading and what their development could mean for different industries.

Organised by Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), in collaboration with the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme (NQTP), this year’s event leads with the theme ‘Turning Breakthrough Ideas into Industry Giants’. The focus is on helping promising technologies become investable, scalable businesses, and building the partnerships needed to bring them into wider use.

What to expect?

Visitors can explore demonstrations, speak directly with technology developers and hear perspectives from sector specialists. The exhibition will provide opportunities to discover potential applications, discuss business challenges and identify partners, while the top-flight conference will offer insight into the latest developments and commercialisation of quantum technologies in the UK and around the world.

As well as keynotes and panel discussions, new for this year is a dedicated session for Women in Quantum that offers participants the chance to share experiences, career perspectives and ideas that would help to strengthen the community’s future across the quantum ecosystem.

How quantum tech is disrupting sectors

Healthcare: making advanced imaging more accessible

Healthcare and life sciences offer opportunities ranging from more sensitive measurements to new approaches to drug discovery. Advances in quantum technologies, photonics and metamaterials are helping developers rethink how medical equipment is designed.

One of the showcase exhibitors, Siloton, is developing compact eye-imaging technology that could make monitoring retinal disease more accessible. Its approach compresses optical components normally found in larger scanning equipment onto a photonic chip smaller than a £1 coin.

The company has trialled its technology with an initial group of patients, capturing retinal images using a handheld prototype. Its ambition is to enable more affordable monitoring outside hospital settings, including at home. For showcase visitors, Siloton offers a tangible example of how advances in chip-based photonics could address a practical healthcare challenge.

Finance: testing the potential for better decisions

Financial services organisations are exploring quantum approaches to challenges such as portfolio optimisation, risk modelling and fraud detection. These involve complex calculations and large amounts of information, making them areas of interest for new computing methods.

Quantum random number generation is another relevant capability, with potential applications in simulations used to assess risk. The showcase offers finance professionals an opportunity to discuss these possibilities with developers and learn about performance, integration and commercial readiness for their organisation.

Infrastructure: understanding what lies beneath

For construction, transport and utilities businesses, understanding underground conditions can be critical to planning and maintaining infrastructure. Hidden structures and voids can create uncertainty, delay projects and make surveys more difficult and expensive.

University of Birmingham spin-out Delta.g is developing quantum gravity sensors that measure tiny variations in the gravitational field to reveal features beneath the surface. Its work builds on research that demonstrated the detection of an underground object outside laboratory conditions.

The potential is to give infrastructure teams better spatial intelligence before they excavate, helping them assess ground conditions and plan work with greater confidence. Delta.g’s development, which is also relevant to subsurface data requirements in the defence sector, illustrates how quantum sensing could become a practical tool for industries whose challenges extend well beyond computing.

Telecoms and cybersecurity: preparing for future networks

For telecoms businesses, quantum technologies offer potential advances in secure communications, precise timing and network synchronisation. These capabilities could contribute to the development of more resilient communications infrastructure.

Cybersecurity is also part of the picture. Quantum computing creates both opportunities and challenges, including implications for how sensitive information is protected. Visitors can explore developments in quantum communications and discuss how emerging capabilities relate to their organisation’s security needs.

Together, these applications underline why quantum matters beyond the companies building the technology: organisations across the economy will need to understand its potential impact.

Computing and AI: exploring new approaches to complex problems

Quantum computing is being explored as a way to tackle particular problems that are difficult or resource-intensive for conventional computers. Applications under investigation include scientific modelling and machine learning.

ORCA Computing develops photonic quantum computers designed to work alongside existing computing infrastructure. Its systems are being integrated with AI and high-performance computing at Digital Realty’s Innovation Lab in London, providing an environment in which organisations can explore hybrid quantum–classical approaches.

Originating from the University of Oxford, ORCA’s work includes applications in generative AI and life sciences, including research into protein and peptide design. Rather than replacing conventional computers, this approach explores where quantum systems could contribute to a wider computing workflow, an important distinction for businesses considering how to engage with the technology.

Make the connections that matter

Whatever your sector, interest in quantum or stage of development, the showcase will help you make valuable connections, explore opportunities and find the support you need to take your next step.

Join the UK National Quantum Technologies Showcase 2026 on Friday 6 November, from 9am to 4pm, at the Business Design Centre, London