NVIDIA, IBM, and Microsoft back quantum push; Australia and Finland strike partnership
IBM, NVIDIA, and Microsoft are among the global technology leaders investing heavily in quantum technologies, according to speakers at the Quantum Australia Conference, as Australia and Finland also announce a new jointly-funded quantum partnership.
Run by the national centre for quantum growth, Quantum Australia, the two-day conference featured investors, policymakers, and global industry leaders across financial services, mining, health and life sciences, defence, transportation, energy, and advanced manufacturing.
They were joined by technologists, investors and entrepreneurs from Australia’s growing quantum ecosystem, which now comprises over 40 quantum-focussed companies alongside a broader pipeline of adjacent and enabling businesses, 26 dedicated research organisations, and the world’s fifth largest quantum workforce, despite Australia representing just 0.3 per cent of the global population
Industry discussions highlighted applications where quantum technologies are closest to deployment,including quantum-safe security for government and critical infrastructure; precision sensing and timing subsurface sensing for mining and energy; and optimisation use cases in logistics, energy systems and finance, alongside emerging applications in advanced materials and healthcare.
With the capacity to unlock new levels of performance, productivity, efficiency and security, quantum technologies are emerging as a step-change complementing current AI systems, particularly for certain classes of complex optimisation, modelling, and infrastructure challenges.
This trend is already driving greater alignment between governments, research institutions, and industry, with international partnerships emerging as a key mechanism to accelerate deployment and scale.
The cross-border partnership announcement between Australia and Finland was made during Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio’s keynote, after delegations from each country met at the 2024 Quantum Australia Conference.
The collaboration will bring together the CSIRO, VTT (Finland’s national research and technology organisation), and leading Finnish universities, marking a significant step in international collaboration to accelerate quantum research, capability, and commercialisation.
It comes as major econmies including the United Kingdom, Germany, and the European Union are already pairing research investment with coordinated industry programs designed to accelerate deployment and capture downstream economic value.
Across these markets, early-stage quantum technologies are beginning to be tested in pilot environments to explore improvements in productivity and efficiency across critical sectors.
With national economic security increasingly linked to technological capability, capturing economic value from quantum will require translating research excellence into industrial adoption, as well as coordinating effort across research, industry and government to deliver impact at scale, according to Quantum Australia.
Petra Andrén, CEO of Quantum Australia, said: “Australia has built a globally recognised quantum capability, but the next phase will be determined by where and how these technologies are deployed at scale.
“Countries that align research, industry demand and government policy will capture the greatest share of economic value. Partnerships like this are critical to ensuring Australia remains part of the global systems where quantum is deployed, commercialised and scaled.
“To support system-level reform, Quantum Australia provides the coordination and delivery capability needed to unlock greater impact from existing investment, connecting actors across the ecosystem and translating capability into real-world outcomes.”
Minister Villie Tavio, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development of Finland said: “Finland is known for having one of the most dynamic quantum ecosystems globally, and for its pioneering work on hybrid quantum–supercomputing systems. I’m happy to lead the delegation which includes leading Finnish research institutions, hardware manufacturers, as well as quantum and high-performance computing experts. Nations that lead in quantum development shape the markets, standards and ethical frameworks of digital infrastructure. And Finland wants to be Australia’s trusted partner in the journey.”
Katie Scott, Senior Technology Leader of Microsoft, said: “AI and quantum are not competing – they are complementary. The real breakthrough will come from combining quantum with AI and high-performance computing to unlock advances in areas like materials, energy, and complex optimisation at unprecedented scale.”
About the Author
Adrian Gunning Adrian lives in Melbourne Australia and has a huge passion for gaming, technology and pop culture. He recently finished his a Bachelor of Journalism and is currently focusing on games journalism. When not writing and playing video games, Adrian can be found in Comics 'R' Us debating the pros of the DC Universe and cons of the Marvel Universe.
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