From sensing to networking to ecosystem development, SRI’s work in quantum innovation reaches beyond quantum computing.
Today’s applied quantum industry is doing more than building quantum computers.
Scientists and engineers are also advancing quantum sensing and communications. And as quantum computing, sensing, and networking cohere into a commercial industry, there is still important work to do to mature the quantum supply chain.
From managing the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C®) to building new sensors to exploring the possibilities of networking through quantum entanglement, SRI’s own quantum work is drawing on 20 years of quantum experience to bring solutions out of the lab and into real-world deployment where they can make an impact.
Quantum sensors moving from lab to fab
Quantum sensing has established a strong commercial foothold: QED-C’s 2026 State of the Global Quantum Industry report notes that quantum sensing is generating nearly $500M in annual global revenue.
Quantum advances are poised to improve sensing capabilities in areas as diverse as biological imaging, GPS-denied navigation, mineral exploration, security, and anomaly detection for defense and law enforcement.
SRI’s work on quantum sensing can be traced all the way back to the DARPA CSAC program in the early 2000s, which dramatically reduced the size and power requirements of quantum-based atomic clocks. Recently, SRI has advanced new approaches to quantum sensor manufacturing and worked with collaborators to make quantum-based biomagnetic sensors practical and portable.
Advancing new methods of networking through entanglement
The financial sector and other data-heavy industries are already pursuing quantum key distribution (QKD) as a way to more securely transmit information. But QKD is only the beginning when it comes to the possibilities of quantum networking.
“When it comes to bridging the gap between cutting-edge quantum research and practical deployment, SRI has an 80 year track record, the partnerships, and the expertise to make it happen.” — Nicole Heidel
Future quantum networks will take advantage of behaviors like entanglement to provide position verification, link quantum sensors for unmatched sensitivity, and ultimately create a quantum Internet for tomorrow’s quantum computers.
SRI’s work on quantum entanglement and networking is part of a larger research trajectory that is reimagining how we share and secure information.
Closing the quantum assurance gap
Quantum information systems — computing, sensing, and networking/communications — require new methods to ensure reliability and performance.
Today, software engineers have numerous system assurance tools to prove that a software program will function properly under all possible input conditions.
But the advanced math behind those tools won’t work on tomorrow’s quantum information systems. That’s why a new internally funded SRI research project is confronting the quantum assurance gap head-on, exploring ways to adapt classical symbolic analysis for tomorrow’s quantum systems.
“A big part of the work will be to extend our existing tools and get a jump on this question, so we can handle both the quantum side and the classical side of system assurance,” says senior principal computer scientist Chris Connolly.
Advancing the quantum ecosystem and supply chain
In 2019, SRI worked with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to launch QED-C. Now with more than 300 members — including leading commercial quantum companies, academic institutions, and federal government entities — QED-C fosters collaboration and advocates for the quantum industry.
“I understood how powerful it could be for a community of stakeholders from government, academia, and industry to come together to solve problems at the leading edge of an emerging technology,” notes QED-C executive director Celia Merzbacher.
This year, QED-C has completed an ambitious effort to mature quantum control and readout systems, hosted an influential Quantum Summit in Washington, D.C., released its much-anticipated annual report on the state of the quantum industry, and published a new Quantum Networking Applications Roadmap.
The next phase of quantum innovation
In a recent interview, Nicole Heidel, director of SRI’s Advanced Sciences Lab, emphasized that the quantum industry is at a key inflection point. Scaling new solutions will require accelerated interdisciplinary collaboration.
“I think of it as fundamentally a materials problem,” she says. “You need photonics, electronics, and quantum or atomic experts sitting down together. And they need to realize that what one person thinks is trivial is actually very difficult.”
Important conversations are happening at SRI and throughout the ecosystem we’re continually pulling together, she observes, which positions SRI to make key contributions to our shared quantum future: “When it comes to bridging the gap between cutting-edge quantum research and practical deployment, SRI has an 80 year track record, the partnerships, and the expertise to make it happen.”
Learn more about how SRI is advancing the future of quantum.
