Toshiba Opens $16M Quantum Technology Center

Toshiba has opened a $16 million quantum technology center at Cambridge Science Park in the U.K. to develop quantum-secure networking products.

Toshiba created the facility to commercialize its quantum-secure networking technologies and manufacture products including its Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system. It joins Toshiba’s Cambridge Research Laboratory, the company’s first overseas research and development site, which opened in 1991 and specializes in physics, engineering and computer science research.

“Following more than 30 years of ground-breaking work in the U.K., we are delighted to be opening the quantum echnology center in Cambridge as our next step in further developing and commercializing quantum-secure communications technologies,” said Toshiba Digital Solutions president and CEO Shunsuke Okada.

“This investment reflects the strategic importance of these technologies, not only to Toshiba, but in delivering a quantum-secure economy for the wider world, and we look forward to working with more customers and partners to enable this economy.”

According to Toshiba, the new facility will initially create over 30 new jobs and operate alongside Toshiba’s Cambridge Research Laboratory, the company’s first overseas research and development site. It was founded in 1991 to specialize in basic and applied research in physics, engineering and computer science.

Related:HSBC Looks to Hybrid Quantum for Financial Services

“We have a clear mission to cement the U.K.’s status as a science and technology superpower by 2030, and last year the U.K. became just the third country in the world to have a tech sector valued at $1 trillion, with U.K. investment in quantum startups accounting for over 14% of total global investments in the past 10 years,” said minister of investment at the Department for Business and Trade, Lord Dominic Johnson.

“Toshiba’s new quantum technology center will play a key part in the wider quantum technology ecosystem operating in the U.K. and is testament to the thriving tech sector we have here in the U.K. and the ever-increasing investment flowing into technologies like quantum which will play such a crucial role in our future.”

Toshiba has recorded several real-life use cases for its quantum technology. In July, HSBC became the first bank to join its QKD-secured network.