- Shifting from pilots to infrastructure - UAE grows local qubit hardware - Saudi and Qatar scale partnerships The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are investing heavily in quantum technology as they try to translate academic research and overseas partnerships into practical applications and greater technological autonomy. Quantum computing harnesses the behaviour of subatomic particles to tackle problems in chemistry, materials science and logistics that conventional computers cannot handle. The technology “has matured out of its validation stage and into nascent industrialisation”, according to a report this month by Noah Ramos, chief innovation strategist at Montreal-based investment research company Alpine Macro. Artificial intelligence still dominates the region’s investment agenda, with Gulf states announcing more than $300 billion of related infrastructure plans. Quantum investment, while significant, is difficult to quantify because many major initiatives do not disclose spending. The US and China are accelerating a “sovereign quantum race”, Ramos said. Malak Trabelsi Loeb, Dubai-based CEO of quantum technology consultancy Vernewell Group, said the region was shifting from experimentation towards physical infrastructure and early applications. “An ecosystem is emerging, while the formation of a sustainable regional industry will depend on the creation of locally retained expertise, intellectual property, specialised companies and recurring commercial demand,” she said. UAE builds from the qubit up A qubit – a quantum bit – is the fundamental unit of information in quantum computing. Abu Dhabi’s Technology Innovation Institute (TII) operates superconducting-qubit processors containing between five and 80 qubits, including chips fabricated in house. TII opened cloud access to some of its physical processors in February. Leandro Aolita, chief researcher at its Quantum Research Center, said it would “accelerate experimentation and hybrid quantum-classical development on locally developed infrastructure”. Elvira Shishenina, senior director of strategic initiatives at US quantum company Quantinuum, said TII researchers had used its systems for