Towards an additional 100 million NIS investment: Activity data of the National Quantum Computing Center revealed
The Israel Innovation Authority has announced a 100 million NIS call for proposals to establish new national quantum computing R&D infrastructure. This initiative marks the next phase in Israel's strategy to secure technological independence.
The Israel Innovation Authority has published a call for proposals totaling 100 million NIS for the establishment of a new national infrastructure for research and development in the field of quantum computing. This is the next stage in Israel's national strategy, designed to strengthen local research capabilities and ensure technological independence in the global quantum race. The strategic move is intended to provide Israel's industry and academia with an advanced laboratory that will combine several quantum computing technologies, with the goal of establishing Israel's technological independence.
Against the backdrop of this move, data on the activity of the National Quantum Computing Center (IQCC) — the first center established as part of previous government investments — is being revealed for the first time. The performance provides a first glimpse into whether public investment in quantum infrastructure is already generating research and development, and establishing Israel in the field.
Quantum computing is a computing technology that operates according to the laws of quantum physics: instead of using regular "bits" that can only be 0 or 1, it uses "qubits" that can be both 0 and 1 simultaneously and be linked to each other. These properties allow a quantum computer to calculate millions of possibilities in parallel, and solve extremely complex problems within seconds — such as analyzing molecules for new drugs, logistics optimization, and cracking encryption — that a regular computer would take thousands of years to solve.
The center, established in 2024 at Tel Aviv University by Quantum Machines and with the support of the Innovation Authority, currently serves more than 30 clients from Israel and abroad. More than 10 of the total clients are Israeli entities, including all the leading research universities, among them Tel Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University, the Technion, Ben-Gurion University, and the Hebrew University. This is alongside the use of the center by a series of local startups that are at the forefront of technology.
Among them is QuantumCore, which uses the IQCC as part of the development and characterization process of a unique technology it is developing. During the development phase, thousands of component measurements are required at extreme temperatures of about 10 millikelvin. Therefore, QuantumCore performs the measurements in parallel in several laboratories, including the IQCC, with the goal of accelerating the characterization process and reaching the production of a full quantum processor.
In addition, the infrastructure established in Israel has become a magnet for the world's leading names. At the IQCC, the world's first development of an advanced connection between quantum computing and classical computing was carried out in collaboration with chip giant NVIDIA, which allows for the acceleration of complex calculations in hybrid systems. Furthermore, the center became the first in the world to deploy the advanced quantum processors of the company Qolab in the field, which were developed by the company's founder and Nobel Prize winner in physics, Prof. John Martinis.
The Israeli model is already being exported to the world; these days, Quantum Machines is establishing another center in Chicago in collaboration with the State of Illinois, as part of the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park. This center is based on the knowledge, infrastructure, and control systems developed in Israel. The first public investment in quantum infrastructure proved the ability to generate significant research and commercial activity that yields results. The new investment by the Innovation Authority of 100 million NIS is the next step in expanding these capabilities, aimed at ensuring Israel's technological independence and providing a competitive advantage to the local quantum sector.
