Two decades ago, Singapore made what Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information, described as a bold bet.
Speaking at the National Quantum Federated Foundry (NQFF) Industry Day on 23 February, Mrs Teo reflected on how Singapore invested early in a field that was mostly unknown outside of academia. “Quantum technologies were at a nascent stage of maturity,” she said. “Nevertheless, we recognized their potential to revolutionize critical sectors like financial services and pharmaceuticals.”
From an early bet to the National Quantum Strategy
That early conviction led to the establishment of the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) in 2007, anchoring upstream quantum research in Singapore. Nearly two decades on, the country has become decidedly more ambitious.
In 2024, Singapore launched its National Quantum Strategy, committing S$300 million to accelerate the development and deployment of quantum technologies. The strategy consolidates expertise through national-level quantum programmes aimed at translating research breakthroughs into practical applications.
One of the flagship initiatives under this push is the NQFF. Designed to federate Singapore’s network of clean rooms, NQFF builds capabilities in designing, fabricating and characterising the micro- and nano-devices essential for quantum technologies.
“NQFF delivers for Singapore niche capabilities that support our role in quantum hardware development,” Mrs Teo said. “Today’s Industry Day highlights the return on our early investment”.
Building hardware capabilities through partnerships
Today’s Industry Day also saw the signing of a new collaboration agreement between NQFF and Qolab, a quantum computing company co-founded by 2025 Physics Nobel Laureate Professor John M. Martinis.
Mrs Teo recounted her meeting with Professor Martinis at Davos in January this year.
“What caught my biggest surprise,” she said, “was when John said, ‘I’m coming to Singapore because we have a research collaboration — and that’s because you already have a base of semiconductor companies and an ecosystem that we want to plug into.’”
The collaboration, she added, ”is testament to the value that global quantum companies see in our ecosystem. It also speaks to the capabilities that have been built up, not just in quantum and nano fabrication, but also in its synergies with our traditional strengths in semiconductors and advanced manufacturing, and specifically in advanced packaging within semiconductor manufacturing.”
Mrs Teo noted that the collaboration opens a path towards denser integration of hardware components with qubits, enabling quantum computers to scale to higher qubit counts and move closer to practical, real-world applications.
“This will ultimately be what helps quantum technologies take off in a bigger way,” Mrs Teo said.
Mrs. Teo stated that an important benchmark of the progress in Singapore’s national level quantum programs is how they enable Singapore to partner with global quantum companies and collectively advance the development and translation of quantum research. She cited global startups such as French quantum computing company Quobly, which the NQFF is also collaborating with.
The next phase of Singapore’s quantum development
Mrs Teo revealed that the National Quantum Strategy is under review to ensure it remains ambitious and responsive.
Part of the impetus comes from the National Research Foundation (NRF) – the government department for Singapore’s overall strategy for research, innovation and enterprise – which, Mrs Teo said, has set a “very high bar” for progress.
The next phase will focus on strengthening Singapore’s value proposition as a quantum hub across research, industry and security domains. In the area of hardware, the strategy will aim to deepen capabilities in the design, fabrication and packaging of quantum processing units, as well as in qubit-agnostic control systems.
Mrs Teo concluded her speech by clarifying Singapore’s quantum goals. “Singapore will continue to work towards becoming a constructive node in the global quantum value chain, providing critical components and hardware for quantum technology to the world.”
