GCRI · Quantum Technologies
Quantum Technologies
Quantum science and technology convergence, opportunities, limitations and transition risks. Quantum Technologies is an established platform of The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation.
- STEM methods
- 5
- Canonical methods this field applies
- Topics
- 8
- Subject pages in the field
- Counterparts
- 5
- Platforms in shared fields across the network
- Report series
- 2
- Reports series it contributes to
The order things happen in.
- 01QuestionNational, regional or institutional priority
- 02EvidenceSTEM foundation of the platform
- 03BuildFoundry
- 04OrganiseNexus ecosystem
- 05TestUniverse (independent site)
- 06PublishReports
- 07DecideCompetent authorities and institutions, through NXS-RLS (participants, agreements and handoffs)
- 08RenewCorrections and the next annual agenda
A real technology wrapped in uncertainty and hype.
Quantum technologies exploit superposition, entanglement and interference, properties of matter at the smallest scales, to compute, measure and communicate in ways classical devices cannot. The science is mature; the engineering is not. Quantum states are fragile, errors accumulate quickly, and building machines that control large numbers of qubits reliably remains one of the hardest engineering problems under way.
That combination creates two opposite risks. One is overstatement: claims about imminent breakthroughs can distort research funding, investment and policy. The other is understatement of a specific, well-understood threat. A sufficiently large, error-corrected quantum computer could run known algorithms that break the public-key cryptography securing much of today’s communications, payments and identity systems. Data intercepted and stored today could be decrypted later, so the risk begins before such a machine exists.
The transition is systemic because cryptography is embedded everywhere: in browsers, payment networks, industrial controllers, satellites and devices with lifetimes of decades. Migrating to post-quantum algorithms is a multi-year programme of inventory, testing and replacement across supply chains, and the weakest link determines the exposure.
Post-quantum migration tracker.
The screen a team would use to follow this field: its measures, states and decisions. Names are examples and values are illustrative.
Post-quantum migration tracker
Crypto inventory · Wave 2
Migration
- Inventoryall crypto
- Prioritisedata lifetime
- Selectstandard algorithms
- Hybrid deployclassical and PQC
- Testinterop
- Cut overretire
Systems by priority
| Archive signing | RSA-2048 | 30 | ML-DSA hybrid | Piloting |
| VPN gateway | ECDH | 7 | ML-KEM hybrid | Planned |
| Payments HSM | RSA-3072 | 10 | Vendor roadmap | Blocked |
| Web TLS | ECDHE | 3 | Hybrid key exchange | Done |
Progress
The questions this field works on.
Quantum computing
Hardware, algorithms and actual maturity.
TopicQuantum sensing
Measurement, navigation and Earth-science applications.
TopicQuantum communications
Communications research and deployment limits.
TopicPost quantum cryptography
Transition security and algorithm standards.
TopicQuantum and materials
Chemistry and materials simulation.
TopicQuantum workforce
Research capacity and scarce skills.
TopicQuantum industries
Potential supply chains and applications.
TopicResponsible quantum innovation
Dual-use, equity and uncertainty.
A cascade through interdependent networks.
A hazard footprint takes out co-located assets in every layer; fragmentation, dependency between layers and overload of the survivors then spread the failure. The 3D view separates the layers by depth. Teaching model with stated illustrative values, not a prediction.
Controls
- Assets per layer
- 18
- Hazard footprint
- 8% of area
- Assets that depend on another layer
- 60%
- Spare capacity (tolerance)
- 30%
Readouts
- Assets hit by the hazard
- 4%
- Assets still working
- 20%
- Amplification of the initial damage
- 21.5 times
- Steps to settle
- 3
Numbers, methods and sources
| Step | Data centres working (%) | Networks working (%) | Power working (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 94 | 94 | 100 |
| 1 | 44 | 50 | 83 |
| 2 | 22 | 17 | 39 |
| 3 | 22 | 6 | 33 |
Methods
- Interdependent networks Buldyrev and others (2010), Catastrophic cascade of failures in interdependent networks, Nature 464
- Overload cascades Motter and Lai (2002), Physical Review E 66
- Betweenness load Brandes (2001), Journal of Mathematical Sociology 25
- Multilayer networks Kivela and others (2014), Journal of Complex Networks 2
- Infrastructure interdependencies Rinaldi, Peerenboom and Kelly (2001), IEEE Control Systems 21(6)
- Uncertainty fan (parameter Monte Carlo) Spiegelhalter, Pearson and Short (2011), Visualising uncertainty about the future, Science 333
- One-at-a-time sensitivity (tornado) Saltelli and others (2008), Global Sensitivity Analysis: The Primer, Wiley
Data
The model runs on the teaching values set by the controls. To calibrate it for a place, read it against these admitted layers and series, which this page’s map can draw:
- Major roads Natural Earth
- Railways Natural Earth
- Seaports Natural Earth
- Airports Natural Earth
- Urban extents Natural Earth
- Night lights tonight, outages (VIIRS Day/Night Band) NASA/NOAA VIIRS (Suomi NPP) · register nasa.gibs.context-live-layers
- Natural events (NASA EONET) NASA EONET · register nasa.eonet.events
Across the six pillars, led by Nexus Consortium
- Experiments Labs
- Built in Quantum Technologies in Foundry
- Tested at Quantum Technologies in Universe
- Codified in Digital, Cyber and AI in Standards
- Published in Quantum Technologies in Reports
- Taught in Faculty of Technology and Digital Systems in Academy
The areas of quantum this platform takes on.
Quantum Technologies studies the science and engineering of devices that use superposition, entanglement and other quantum effects: quantum computers, sensors and communication networks, the cryptography that must change because of them, the materials they rely on, and the workforce, industries and governance that will shape their use. Its pages separate demonstrated results from claims and projections, label every value by its evidence and state every limit. It prepares evidence; research institutions, agencies and governments decide.
Quantum computing
Qubits, error correction and the problems where quantum computers may outperform classical ones.
Quantum sensing
Clocks, magnetometers, gravimeters and other sensors that use quantum effects for precision measurement.
Quantum communications
Quantum key distribution, entanglement distribution and the networks being built to carry them.
Post-quantum cryptography
Classical algorithms that resist quantum attack, and the migration to them.
Quantum and materials
Materials for qubits and devices, and quantum simulation of molecules and materials.
Quantum workforce
Skills, training and career paths for a field that combines physics, engineering and computing.
Quantum industries
Firms, supply chains, investment and the gap between research prototypes and products.
Responsible quantum innovation
Governance, dual use, export controls, equity of access and claims discipline.
How Quantum Technologies is modelled, measured and tested.
The model, its assumptions, its data and its uncertainty, in the form a scientist or engineer would check. Structures follow published methods. The values drawn are illustrative, not findings.
System model
The couplings between the systems in Quantum Technologies: signs of influence, a reinforcing and a balancing loop, and cross-links where stress jumps.
Model, equations and assumptions
The model structure used for Quantum Technologies, the assumptions it makes and how each is tested.
Ri = f(Hi, Ei, Vi, Ci)hazard, exposure, vulnerability and coping capacityEAL = ∑k pk · Lkover events k with annual probability pkxt+1 = A xt + B ut + εtA carries the couplings, u the shock, ε the error| Assumption | Why it is made | How it is tested |
|---|---|---|
| Hazard and exposure are independent within an event | Keeps the loss integral tractable | Compare with a copula fit on joint records |
| Couplings are linear near the operating point | Lets shocks propagate through A | Perturb beyond the linear range and compare |
| Vulnerability curves transfer between places | Local curves are rarely available | Validate against observed losses where they exist |
- Inputs
- versioned datasets with provenance
- Outputs
- distributions, never single numbers
- Code
- released with the model card and tests
- Reproduction
- same data, code, environment and seed
What Quantum Technologies does.
Quantum technologies are devices and systems that use quantum effects such as superposition and entanglement to compute, sense and communicate. Quantum Technologies covers computing, sensing, communications, post-quantum cryptography, materials, workforce, industries and responsible innovation, separating demonstrated results from projections. Research institutions, agencies and governments decide.
Its community
Quantum physicists; security engineers; research universities; policy-science analysts.
Its methods
Quantum computing evidence; quantum sensing; post-quantum security.
Its outputs
Quantum readiness primers; research horizon reports; technical comparisons.
What Quantum Technologies studies, separating results from claims.
Quantum Technologies, studies quantum computing, sensing and communication, the cryptography that must change because of them and the industries and workforce around them. Its first rule is to separate demonstrated results from roadmaps and projections. It assesses no vendor and gives no investment view.
Timelines shown here are labelled as projections with their sources; no date for a cryptographically relevant quantum computer is presented as known.
Quantum touches the domains through sensing, security and materials.
- WaterHow this field couples to itQuantum gravimetry could improve groundwater and subsurface monitoring.
- EnergyHow this field couples to itGrid control and metering rely on public-key cryptography that must migrate.
- FoodHow this field couples to itQuantum simulation is studied for catalysis, including fertiliser chemistry.
- HealthHow this field couples to itHealth data with long confidentiality lifetimes face harvest-now, decrypt-later risk.
- BiodiversityHow this field couples to itQuantum sensors are studied for environmental and ecological monitoring.
Where quantum evidence goes.
Status assessments are designed for the Exponential Technology series and migration planning for the Foresight Outlook series. Claims are recorded with their source and evidence label under the proposed Nexus Standards.
- Physicists can contribute status reviews with sources.
- Security teams can share migration lessons.
- Educators can propose workforce pathways.
Evidence on maturity, limits and transition.
Each output is designed to separate three kinds of claim: results demonstrated in peer-reviewed experiments, results reported by developers but not yet independently verified, and projections. Readers can see which kind they are reading, where it comes from and what new evidence would change the assessment. Work is designed to draw on the Foundry systems NXS-LAB (research, experiments and simulations), NXS-NSF (trust, authorisation and assurance) and NXS-COR (compute, nodes and runtimes), and to contribute to the Exponential Technology and Foresight Outlook report series.
Evidence and comparison
Quantum computing evidence, quantum sensing and post-quantum security, assessed against published technical results.
Primers and horizon reports
Quantum readiness primers, research horizon reports and technical comparisons, once reviewed.
Who it is for
Quantum physicists, security engineers, research universities and policy-science analysts.
GCRI does not regulate, certify, license or approve. The platform does not endorse vendors, rate products or advise on investments.
The steward of physics and quantum technology in the STEM Commons.
Quantum Technologies stewards the canonical descriptions of physics and quantum science and quantum computing, sensing and communication. It also applies cybersecurity and cryptography, materials science and chemistry and probability and statistics. See the STEM foundation page.
Within GCRI, Cybersecurity and Digital Resilience covers the wider security picture, including post-quantum migration. At The Global Risks Forum (GRF), AI and Digital Governance convenes institutions on the governance of digital technology. At The Global Risks Alliance (GRA), Payments and Market Infrastructure, Financial Cyber and Operational Resilience and Fintech Nexus build shared industry understanding of what the cryptographic transition means for financial systems. See counterparts across the Consortium and the cyber and digital resilience field gateway.
Built on named science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Every claim on Quantum Technologies rests on methods with a canonical page in the STEM Commons, so readers can see what a finding depends on and where its limits lie.
How work moves in this field.
A question becomes evidence, a governed build, an organised community, a controlled test, a reviewed publication and, finally, a decision taken by the competent authority under its own rules.
- Question Universe National, regional or institutional priority. Question in Quantum Technologies
- Evidence Foundry STEM foundation of the platform. Evidence in Quantum Technologies
- Build Foundry Foundry. Build in Quantum Technologies
- Organise Universe Nexus ecosystem. Organise in Quantum Technologies
- Test Universe Universe (independent site). Test in Quantum Technologies
- Publish Reports Reports. Publish in Quantum Technologies
- Decide Competent authority Competent authorities and institutions, through NXS-RLS. Decide in Quantum Technologies
- Renew Universe Corrections and the next annual agenda. Renew in Quantum Technologies
Each step of the cycle in the pillar it runs in; the decision stays with the competent authority, outside the programme.
- Labs
- Foundry
- Universe
- Nexus Standards
- Reports
- Risk Academy
- Competent authority (outside the programme)
How this works across the six pillars.
Quantum Technologies works through six pillars of one annual programme, led by the Nexus Consortium, with GCRI, GRF and GRA each contributing in its role: explore, experiment and prototype in Labs, build, simulate and prepare in Foundry, convene and test in Universe, codify, correct and apply in Nexus Standards, publish in every format in Reports, teach in the open in Risk Academy.
handoff in playrecorded handoffno direct handoff
Programme yearAll phases
Route
The whole programme
Every pillar hands its work to another; together they close the year’s feedback loops.
L · F · U · S · R · A
- Pillars
- 6 of 6
- Handoffs
- 18 of 18
- Loops
- 17 closed
Handoffs in play
- F01Universe → Foundry · Admitted mission becomes a cycle project with a decision caseReadiness preparation
- F02Foundry → Universe · Core Build Report and go or no-go evidenceControlled build
- F03Foundry → Reports · Sealed observations and indicator series behind a profileCloseout
- F04Universe → Reports · After-action and scenario findings for chapters 10 and 13After-action review
and 14 more
- LabsWhere questions become experiments and prototypes: new methods, data and tools are tried in the open, with their limits on record, before the Foundry builds them, under the Nexus Consortium.Labs
- FoundryWhere methods, data and models become reproducible builds, each run with its inputs, version and limits on record.Quantum Technologies in FoundryFoundry
- UniverseWhere a build is tested under controlled conditions with independent evaluators, so a method’s skill is measured, not assumed.Quantum Technologies in Universeuniverse.nexus
- Nexus StandardsWhere methods, identifiers and data schemas are codified in the open and corrected when a test finds a fault.Digital, Cyber and AI in Standardsnexustandards.com
- ReportsWhere findings are published with their method, uncertainty and evidence class, and corrected as new versions.Quantum Technologies in ReportsReports
- Risk AcademyWhere methods and systems are taught on real data and real places, by working the case, on Risk Academy.Faculty of Technology and Digital Systems in Academyrisksacademy.com
What the work is read against.
The platform does not set standards. It reads its evidence against the frameworks that competent bodies have adopted, so a finding can be placed where a decision-maker already works.
| Framework or standard | Body | What it sets |
|---|---|---|
| Post-quantum cryptography standards FIPS 203, 204 and 205 | US National Institute of Standards and Technology | Standard algorithms for key establishment and digital signatures resistant to quantum attack |
| ISO/IEC JTC 3 Quantum technologies | ISO and IEC | Joint technical committee developing terminology and standards for quantum technologies |
| ETSI Industry Specification Group on Quantum Key Distribution | European Telecommunications Standards Institute | Specifications for QKD components, interfaces and security evaluation |
| ITU-T Y.3800 series | International Telecommunication Union | Recommendations on networks supporting quantum key distribution |
| CEN-CENELEC JTC 22 Quantum Technologies | CEN and CENELEC | European standardisation roadmap for quantum technologies |
| Quantum Europe Strategy and Quantum Flagship | European Union | European research, infrastructure and industrial strategy for quantum |
| National quantum strategies | National governments | Public investment, research priorities and security positions on quantum |
| Export controls on quantum items | National governments, several acting in coordination | Restrictions on exporting specified quantum computers, components and know-how |
The same field, seen three ways.
GCRI studies a field as science, GRF governs it and GRA builds shared financial understanding of it. Quantum Technologies links to its counterparts so that work on one side is visible on the others.
- AI and Digital GovernanceInstitutionGRFShared fieldCyber and digital resilience
- Fintech NexusInstitutionGRAShared fieldCyber and digital resilience
- Payments and Market InfrastructureInstitutionGRAShared fieldCyber and digital resilience
- Financial Cyber and Operational ResilienceInstitutionGRAShared fieldCyber and digital resilience
- Financial Crime and Fraud RiskInstitutionGRAShared fieldCyber and digital resilience
Where this page’s references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
Pages in Quantum Technologies.
Mandate and publisher
PageField overview
PageResearch and evidence
PageInnovation and practical technology
PageProgrammes and projects
PageData and technical methods
PageSpecialist community
PageLearning and professional development
PageEvents and technical dialogues
PageResearch and publications
PageParticipation paths
PageContact the specialist team
PageTrust, rights and status
PageSTEM foundation of Quantum Technologies
PageHow work moves in this field
PageBuild in Foundry
PageTest in Universe
PagePublish in Reports
PageThe same field across the Consortium
PageTopics
Questions and answers.
Who publishes Quantum Technologies?
Is Quantum Technologies active?
How can I contribute?
Where are findings published?
Which values on this platform are real?
How do I report an error?
Can quantum computers break encryption today?
Does the platform recommend quantum products or companies?
Contribute evidence from this page.
Reports is the Consortium’s quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.
- EmailGateway GW-GCRISend it from this pageEvidence, a correction, a case, a method, a review, a translation or profile input. It arrives tagged with this page, so the editor who owns it receives it.
- ZenodoOpen depositDeposit it and submit to the communityPublish your own record on Zenodo with your ORCID iD, then submit it to the Reports community there. Curators review it; the DOI stays yours.
- ReportsGCRISee every way to contributeThe contribution types, how each is reviewed, what credit you receive, the licence and what is never accepted.
Never send personal data, sensitive infrastructure detail or anything you have no right to share. A contribution is reviewed before use; sending it confers no authorship or editorial rights, and sponsorship never buys a finding.
How Quantum Technologies works.
Choose a view and press Play to follow the platform’s process, its programme year, the standards it applies and how its findings are published. The outline shows how the work is designed to run, not the status of any decision.
Quantum Technologies
How Quantum Technologies works
Platforms · Programme year · Standards · Reports
A platform joins a field to named methods, labelled evidence and the outputs it publishes, without becoming the authority it serves.
01 Scope
- 01Field and familiesStart · The platform leadThe home states the field, its families and who it serves.
- 02Topic dossiersRecord · Platform authorsTopics explain the subject with labelled evidence.
02 Evidence
- 03Evidence labelsRecord · GCRIEach value is labelled: observed, published statistics, estimated, modelled, scenario or unknown.
- 04MethodsStep · Method ownersMethods come from the STEM Commons, each with one canonical page.
03 Work
- 05Scenarios on the systemsModel · Foundry pillarScenarios run on the Nexus systems, labelled as scenario.
- 06Standards that applyRecord · Nexus StandardsThe platform names the standards that apply. A validator report is evidence for review.
04 Publish
- 07EditionsRecord · ReportsFindings are published through Reports with their limits.
- 08Authority decidesOutcome · The competent authorityDecisions and execution stay with the government, operator or licensed institution.
Quantum Technologies home · Platforms · Shared methodsAn outline of how the work is designed to run; it does not report the status of any decision or record.
Take part in Quantum Technologies.
Start from who you are. Answer an open call. Or form and lead a competence cell on the Quantum Technologies platform.
National institutions
Ministries, statistics offices and agencies: a national desk and chapter, and a seat in the working groups. National chapters
Sectors and professions
Operators, regulators, banks, insurers and professional bodies whose work touches Quantum Technologies. Participate
Learning
Courses and practice, with a record of every course completed. Free to study. Open learning
Standards
Draft, review and adopt the methods and data standards with the working groups. Working groups
Communities and research
Universities, civil society and individual experts: projects, data and review. Write to the team
| Open call | Seeks | Closes |
|---|---|---|
| Founding call for experts to the working groups CALL-FOUNDING-EXPERTS | expert, editor, chair | 2026-12-15 |
| Open nomination for the three independent expert seats of the Global Standards Council CALL-GSC-IND | council-member | 2026-12-01 |
| Nominations of interim regional members (applies only if the transitional provision is decided) CALL-GSC-REG | council-member | 2026-12-15 |
| Review of the wave-1 risk core outlines (C1, C2, C3, C4, C8, C10, C11) CALL-REVIEW-WAVE1 | contributor | 2027-01-31 |
| Experts for the core standards of risk science: uncertainty and evidence grading, scales, structured expert judgement, tolerability, extremes and compound events, catastrophic and existential risk, ethics and equity, units and measurement (NRS-C17 to NRS-C24) CALL-CORE-SCIENCE | expert, editor, chair | 2027-01-31 |
| Independent reviewers for the families of the hazard atlas, three from at least two regions for each family (NHS2-R19), priority families first CALL-ATLAS-REVIEW | expert | 2027-03-31 |
| Members of the interim Frontier Safety Review Panel and red-team reviewers (biosafety and biosecurity, AI safety and security, critical-infrastructure security); applications treated in confidence CALL-FRONTIER-SAFETY-REVIEW | expert | 2026-11-30 |
| Experts in ontology, metrology, software verification and conformity assessment for the requirement register, the NHS-2 machine representation, the conformance test suites and the conformity assessment scheme CALL-CONFORMANCE-ONTOLOGY | expert, editor | 2027-01-31 |
Calls past their closing date are hidden automatically. Every call, proposal and route: open areas and calls.
Gather the cell
Bring together three to seven people with complementary skills: data, field practice, policy and communication.
Register it
Write to the team with the cell’s name, members, area and region. You receive a reference and a contact. Write to the team
Choose a charter
Pick one focus: research and evidence, data and maps, standards review, or community preparedness.
Learn together
Follow shared study paths at Risk Academy, with practice and a record of every course completed. Hazards and resilience
Lead and report
Hold regular sessions. Publish what the cell learns through Reports. Bring findings to the working groups. Working groups
What a national team or a local community can do on The Global Risks Index (NXS-GRX) today.
Your country’s profile
Open risk profiles for 195 countries, with sources and licences on every value. Open the Index
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Correct a value or reply for your country. The change is logged with its effect. Open the Index
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Offer a dataset. It enters through the licence gate, with your credit. Open the Index
Every figure on this page is indexed: hazards, climate, conflict, the world.
The Index is the Consortium’s indexing system for risk data. Every indicator, hazard, series and country profile carries its Nexus Standards identifier, its source and its licence, so what this page shows can be traced, corrected and reused.
- 01 · Sources205 registered sourcesEvery value keeps its source and licence; withheld values are counted.Data and licences
- 02 · Nexus StandardsNIS-1 and NHS-1451 indicators, 905 hazards; every record carries a UNI.Nexus Standards
- 03 · The Index54 series, 195 country profilesComputed on the standards; no value is published until an edition is released.The Global Risks Index
- 04 · This pageQuantum TechnologiesMaps, figures and feeds read the Index in the context of hazards, climate, conflict.Public API
Series in this context hazards, climate, conflict
- GLBGlobal SystemsThe state of interdependent global risk: the twenty domain indices aggregated to the world, the five core systems (water, energy, food, health, biodiversity) and their couplings, the global tail register and the gap…NXS-GRX-AR-000002Hazards · Climate · Conflict
- THDisaster Risk Intelligence (DRI)Signals, observations, event streams, geospatial layers and scenario packs turned into structured risk intelligence for preparedness and planning.NXS-GRX-AR-000111Hazards · Climate · Conflict
- GSGlobal CitiesUrban exposure, heat, flooding, informal settlement, service dependency and the economic weight of cities at risk.NXS-GRX-AR-000068Hazards · Infrastructure · Climate
- GSGlobal ClimateChronic and acute physical climate hazard, transition exposure, adaptation gaps and scenario pathways to 2030, 2050 and 2100.NXS-GRX-AR-000065Climate · Hazards · Finance
Country profiles the world
Every country profile carries the source and licence of each value. Correct a value or reply
Hazard domains NHS-1
- Atmosphere and weatherNXS-GRX-AR-000135
- Solid EarthNXS-GRX-AR-000138
- Systemic and compound eventsNXS-GRX-AR-000148
Geodata and API open
Open layers on an equal-area hexagon grid, shown as densities per km² or as symbols: People · GHSL 2025People · WorldPop 2025Built-up areaPortsAirportsRoadsRailwaysRivers and lake centrelines
/api/v1/public/grix · https://nexustandards.com/uni/{uni}
Developers · Data · Made with Natural Earth, Public domain; GHSL and WorldPop, CC BY 4.0
Snapshot of the Index registries pinned 2026-10-23 · 22c6eed. Research and risk-analytics information: not a rating, an official classification, a warning, a benchmark or advice.
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