Celebrating International Quantum Strategy Day (IQSD) with the Quantum Strategy Institute
Quantum strategy, which involves the use of quantum mechanics principles to optimize decision-making and problem-solving, has become increasingly important in recent years due to the growing interest in quantum computing and the potential advantages it can bring in various fields, such as finance, logistics, and cryptography. In order to highlight quantum strategy’s importance in the quantum industry and beyond, the Quantum Strategy Institute (QSI), an international network of cross-domain experts, has launched the International Quantum Strategy Day (IQSD) holiday, to be celebrated on April 19th. “The primary goal of the IQSD is to engage the quantum industry/community in thinking about the value proposition of strategy as it relates to quantum technologies (i.e. the message is ‘Strategy is Key to Future Quantum Success’),” explained QSI Founder and Chair Brian Lenahan. “As quantum technologies grow in importance and broaden in market size, educating large groups on integrating solid strategic frameworks should support the long-term success of this nascent industry. Our hope is that more organizations embrace the quantum strategist role and support the education of individuals in this endeavor.”
On the dedicated IQSD day, the QSI and others are planning multiple events for quantum enthusiasts and others to relish. One is a quantum strategy hackathon, where individuals or teams work to develop roadmaps that include quantum strategy implementation. “We’ve created a compelling case study to demonstrate the strategic skills of the candidates,” Lenahan elaborated. “Bright Futures is a South African automotive manufacturer considering its first steps into the quantum realm, much like many organizations globally tentatively first steps in the field. Five individuals or teams will compete for dedicated mentoring time with me.” The strategies developed by each team will then be presented to three judges, including Florian Neukart from Terra Quantum AG; Gabriela Cimpan from Quantinuum; and Bert Kaminski from Google Cloud.
“On the social media front, we’ll be sharing guidance on LinkedIn about how people can participate in IQSD,” added Danika Hannon, the Deputy Head, and IQSD Chair for the QSI. “Lais Cattassini, our Head of Marketing, created customizable graphics for IQSD so that everyone can see themselves in the role of quantum strategist.”
The idea for IQSD came from a conversation between Lenahan and Hannon. As Lenahan explained: “Danika and I were discussing the challenge of promoting a so-called ‘soft skill’ to the world without the impact of a global event to interest quantum enthusiasts in building their strategic skills and evangelizing the role of ‘quantum strategist.’ Thus IQSD was born.”
While this is just the first year that IQSD will be celebrated, both Lenahan and Hannon already are hopeful that the holiday will catch on in the following years. “For 2024 and beyond, I’d love to get more feedback from the community about which countries and industries they’d like us to focus on,” said Hannon. “For instance, aerospace and energy are two sectors that I expect will be impacted by quantum computing in the coming years. And while my instinct is to focus on those areas for IQSD, I want to create a LinkedIn poll about this where the community can vote for what they want to see.”
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry is a staff writer at Inside Quantum Technology and the Science Communicator at JILA (a partnership between the University of Colorado Boulder and NIST). Her writing beats include deep tech, the metaverse, and quantum technology.
