On 10 February 2026, at the closing ceremony of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ) held in Accra, Ghana, a global network of 21 academic centres came together to launch the Quantum Software Alliance (QSA). The Alliance will champion and co-ordinate the development of quantum software and algorithms, with the goal of shifting quantum computing from lab-based theory to real-world applications.
Global Research Agenda
Representatives from the network have drafted a Global Research Agenda available at quantumsoftwarealliance.org. It calls for establishing a “software roadmap based on rigorous resource estimation”, with an aim to champion the development of open and interoperable solutions that can boost collaboration and innovation. It will also provide independent and expert advice to government, industry and the public.
The QSA will also make a direct appeal to policymakers and funding agencies to support community-driven efforts, and to formulate quantum research programmes that place a more strategic focus on the development of quantum algorithms and software.
Alliance members
The founding members are as follows:
- aQa, University of Leiden, Applied Quantum Algorithms, Netherlands
- AQSN, Australian Quantum Software Network, Australia
- CQT, Centre for Quantum Technologies, Singapore
- EQSI, European Quantum Software Institute, International
- Freie Universität Berlin, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Germany
- IFIP Working Group on Foundations of Quantum Computation, International
- IQC, Institute for Quantum Computing, Canada
- National Institute of Nuclear Physics, Italy
- PCQT, Paris Centre for Quantum Technologies, France
- PQI, Portuguese Quantum Institute, Portugal
- QAT, Quantum computing Architectures, Algorithms, Applications and their Theory, France
- QC, Quantum Center at ETH Zürich, Switzerland
- QMATH, Centre for the Mathematics of Quantum Theory, Denmark
- QSL, University of Edinburgh Quantum Software Lab, UK
- QSA, Quantum Systems Accelerator Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA
- QuICS, Joint Centre for Quantum Information and Computer Science, USA
- QuSoft, Research Centre for Quantum Software, Netherlands
- SQC, Sheffield Quantum Centre, UK
- TII, Technology Innovation Institute, UAE
- University of Tokyo Quantum Information Group, Japan
- VCQ, Vienna Centre for Quantum Science and Technology, Austria
Other organisations are invited to join the QSA. Full membership is available to academic centres and supporting membership is open to relevant companies.
Professor Chris Heunen, Chair of the QSA Steering Committee, said: “Our role at the QSA is to ensure that quantum software researchers receive the attention and support they need to accelerate the innovation pathway towards practical quantum computing.”
CQT Director José Ignacio Latorre, who also serves on the QSA Steering Committee, said, “The Quantum Software Alliance gives a strong voice to researchers. This is important. We can take responsibility to make the technology work for the good of society and to communicate without hype.”
Professor Yasser Omar from the University of Lisbon, member of the IYQ Steering Committee and of the QSA Steering Committee, introduced QSA to the global audience.
“The launch of the QSA today shows how the closing of the International Year of Quantum is also the beginning of a global quantum initiative, setting the ground for others to follow, and for the establishment of an international Quantum Decade,” he said.
