Newsroom

Quantum Industry Day 2026 just showed how far Singapore’s quantum ecosystem has come

Date: 23 April 2026

For the third year running, Quantum Industry Day (QID) convened more than 250 senior leaders, technical and innovation leads from government, industry, and the research community. Industry participation formed the majority at more than 50% of attendees, reflecting an increasing commercial interest and momentum across the quantum ecosystem. Together, they delved into a question of growing urgency: how do we move quantum technologies from the lab into practical, realworld use? In 2026, this question had sharper answers than before.

This year, a noticeable shift in mindset was observed. Conversations moved beyond when organisations need to prepare for quantum computing and quantumsafe technologies, toward how to begin that preparation. The presence of National Research Foundation Singapore (NRF) Chairman Mr. Heng Swee Keat as Guest-of-Honour underscored Singapore’s commitment to quantum as a long-term strategic capability. His speech has also been published on the NRF website: Quantum Industry Day GoH speech

This signals a growing momentum in outlook, with the following key patterns observed during QID:

On quantum computing, discussions focused increasingly on pathways toward adoption across sectors. This was also reflected in the signing of an MoU between the National Quantum Computing Hub (NQCH) and Osaka’s Centre for Quantum Information and Quantum Biology (QIQB), to support collaboration on middleware and hybrid quantumclassical stacks. Industry speakers also highlighted growing commercial traction across sectors, with examples ranging from molecular simulations in pharmaceuticals and materials discovery, to optimisation use cases in logistics, supply chains, and finance.

On quantumsafe communications, the National Quantum-Safe Network (NQSN) moderated a panel comprising of IMDA, GovTech Singapore, Singtel, SPTel, and SpeQtral. The panel took stock of Singapore’s position on PQC migration, satellite QKD, and crossborder interoperability. The message was clear: preparation needs to begin now.

Industry focus groups across finance, life sciences, logistics, maritime, and computational sciences explored proofofconcepts and approaches to deriving tangible business value from quantum technologies. It was clear this progress depended on close industry partnerships. During the afternoon roundtable discussions, a recurring theme was the importance of stronger knowledge exchange-not only for businesses to better understand quantum technologies, but for quantum experts to better understand business needs within each domain.

This was also reflected in attendees’ feedback, with participants sharing that QID 2026 presented content in an accessible format while remaining relevant to organisational priorities. Several also noted that discussions helped shape their perspectives on the timelines for engaging in quantum initiatives.

With industry partnerships and knowledge transfer becoming increasingly relevant, our strategic partner Quantinuum announced a Quantum Grand Challenge hosted in Singapore. This is open to industry and quantum experts to develop real-world use cases. The Quantum Grand Challenge presents an opportunity to partner and grow alongside one of the world’s leading quantum computing companies, making the journey more grounded and next steps more concrete. Quantinuum will release details of the Quantum Grand Challenge in May 2026.

We are grateful to our coorganiser Quantinuum and partners QAI Ventures, Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), Enterprise Singapore, and the Singapore Computer Society for making QID 2026 possible, and to NRF Chairman Mr Heng Swee Keat for joining us as GuestofHonour. We also extend our appreciation to His Excellency Mr Ishikawa Hiroshi, Japan’s Ambassador to Singapore, and to our distinguished guests and industry partners for being part of QID 2026.

There is more to come, and we look forward to building it together with partners across the ecosystem.