The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI)
Quantum technology depends on rare materials, specialized components, cryogenics, lasers and scarce expertise, and its effects reach every system that relies on cryptography, precise timing or navigation. This page sets out the causal, physical, economic and social links between quantum technologies and other systems, how disruption could travel along them and how the platform analyses them. A dependency map describes connections; it is not a forecast of when any capability will arrive.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
Layers 3
Connected activity, for this page
Keyboard, with the map focused
Hold Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll to zoom
Latest available
NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth
Loading the latest NASA imagery.
Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.
For dependencies and consequences, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on night lights, true-colour imagery and population density with night lights tonight from NASA GIBS, framed on Japan and Korea; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date; indicators, not assessments of any place; claim ceiling INTEGRATED.
Layers and dates
Dependencies and consequences in Quantum Technologies describe how quantum as well as cyber and digital resilience connect to other systems through physical, economic, social and ecological links, and how stress travels along them toward fields such as those of AI and Digital Governance and Fintech Nexus. Every dependency map states its assumptions, data and uncertainty; it describes connections, not a forecast.
Fig.How GCRI, GRF and GRA share one field while the authorities decide. Design, not a record.
The working screen behind this subject: its structure, terms and states. Names are placeholders and values illustrative.
| Dependency | Why it matters | Exposure |
|---|---|---|
| Cryogenics and helium | Many qubit technologies operate near absolute zero | Specialized refrigeration and constrained helium supply |
| Lasers, photonics and vacuum systems | Control and readout for trapped ions, atoms and photons | Few specialized suppliers |
| Advanced materials and fabrication | Superconducting circuits, isotopically pure materials, detectors | Concentrated manufacturing capacity |
| Classical computing and control electronics | Error correction and control require fast classical processing | Shares supply chains with semiconductors |
| Skilled people | Physics, engineering and software expertise | Small, internationally mobile talent pool |
Communications, payments, software updates and identity that rely on public-key cryptography must migrate before a capable quantum computer exists.
Quantum clocks and sensors could reduce dependence on satellite navigation, which matters for telecoms, power grids and finance.
Export controls, research security and concentration of capability shape who benefits and who is exposed.
The cryptographic channel is the clearest. Many systems share the same algorithms and libraries, so a weakness in one class of algorithm is a common-mode failure across sectors. Long-lived devices, embedded systems and archived data extend exposure far into the future, and a migration is only as strong as the slowest supplier. Payments and Market Infrastructure at The Global Risks Alliance (GRA) examines what this means for financial plumbing.
A second channel is expectation. Overstated claims can redirect investment and policy, and a correction can strand both. The platform therefore reports demonstrated results separately from projections; see quantum computing and responsible quantum innovation.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Interdependency | A two-way dependency between infrastructures, such as power needing telecoms for control while telecoms need power to run. |
| Cascading risk | Risk that a failure in one system or component triggers failures in others that depend on it. |
| Compound event | Two or more hazards or drivers occurring together or in sequence whose joint impact exceeds what either would cause alone, such as drought followed by intense rain; IPCC assessments use the term. |
| Dependency mapping | Tracing the people, processes, technology, facilities and suppliers a service relies on. |
Analysis uses probability and statistics to treat uncertain timelines as distributions rather than dates, and cryptographic analysis to map where vulnerable algorithms sit. Each map states its assumptions and uncertainty; see methods and uncertainty. Back to the field overview.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.