OQI’s Educational Consortium builds global capacity throughout 2025

30th May 2025

On 19th May, members of OQI’s Educational Consortium gathered to exchange ideas and discuss OQI’s capacity building activities. 

 

With education as one of OQI’s main pillars, we are curating and supporting a host of educational activities to advance understanding and participation in the development of quantum computing applications for the SDGs, with a particular focus on underserved geographies. 

 

As part of this effort, the OQI Educational Consortium was developed—bringing together domain experts, quantum experts and diplomatic stakeholders to align and co-shape best practices in advancing capacity building—making educational tools and materials globally available and contributing towards building a global quantum ecosystem.

 

Led by OQI’s capacity building team—Audrey Himmer (OQI Capacity Building Project Manager), Martin Gastal (Capacity Building and Partnerships Lead) and Marianne Schoerling (Quantum Diplomacy Capacity Building)—the recent workshop provided key updates on OQI’s pipeline of educational activities.

 

Consortium members were first introduced to OQI’s new community platform—a place for members of OQI’s community to explore OQI’s activities, join discussions and connect with others in the community. OQI’s capacity building pipeline was also showcased—with the Quantum Diplomacy Game and hackathons taking place across five continents throughout 2025. 

 

Hackathons

OQI Hackathon in a Box is a practical guide to plan and resource hackathons in quantum underserved regions. Curated by the educational consortium, it aims to mitigate the quantum digital divide, combining theory with practice to learn how to develop quantum computing applications focusing on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 

The pipeline of OQI hackathons throughout 2025 includes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • 19-21 September: Quantum Computing Hackathon (NCSR Demokritos Greece)

 


16-17 October: Quantum Computing Hackathon (Swiss Quantum Week)

 

Quantum Diplomacy Game

The Quantum Diplomacy Game is an interactive role play game that immerses participants in a fictional future scenario, simulating the challenges and opportunities for common good. Designed to promote science diplomacy, the game aims to raise awareness and anticipation of the geopolitical implications of quantum computing as an emerging technology.

 

Educational Repository

Educational tools help to enable everyone around the world to contribute to the development of quantum computing and make the most of the technology. OQI’s educational repository invites institutions to submit their educational resources to be shared, leveraging existing content and contributing towards building a repository of OQI-vetted resources. 

 

Internship Programme

OQI is currently developing a future internship programme to connect institutions looking to host interns with young talent eager to gain work experience within the quantum computing ecosystem. One way OQI will facilitate this matchmaking is by identifying talent amongst hackathon participants and winners. 

Throughout the IYQ, OQI’s capacity building efforts will be expanded and tailored to strengthen regional activities across five continents throughout 2025.

 

Explore all our educational activities: https://open-quantum-institute.cern/education/

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Learn about engagement opportunities

OQI Partners are institutions that benefit from peer recognition for their scientific contributions or impact expertise.

Requirements:

  1. Either have served as OQI’s spearheading partners during its incubation phase or have consistently engaged resources to OQI’s work as OQI members for at least a year
  2. Commit to co-shape the OQI’s unique value propositions for the three years of the pilot throughout the 4A’s​
  3. Are vetted by the OQI Advisory Committee
  4. Abide to OQI’s values and openness principles

OQI Members are institutions that benefit from peer recognition for their scientific contributions or their impact expertise.

Requirements:

  1. Have disclosed their governance structure
  2. Commit to actively contribute on at least one of the 4A’s assiduously for at least one year​
  3. Have appointed at least one expert from their institution as focal point of contact for OQI and contributor to its working groups
  4. Abide to OQI’s values
  5. Have submitted a complete membership form with supporting documentation and are vetted by the OQI Management Team
  6. Qualify for partner level after having demonstrated their commitment for at least one year​

OQI Friends are individuals (such as experts from the private or public sector, countries, citizens) who are committed to open science, inclusivity and all values as set out in OQI’s charter and associate themselves with the OQI.

Friends socialise the OQI to their communities.

Downloadable PDF version of Charter

 

Description:

The Open Quantum Institute (OQI) is a multilateral governance initiative that promotes global and inclusive access to quantum computing and the development of applications for the benefit of humanity. As a novel science diplomacy instrument, it brings together research, diplomacy, private sector and philanthropy stakeholders. OQI is hosted by CERN during its pilot phase (2024-2026).

 

Mission:

Accelerating applications for humanity: Realising the full potential of quantum computing to have the widest possible societal impact by accelerating the development of use cases geared towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and succeeding framework , thanks to the combined forces of researchers, developers and entrepreneurs from academia and private sector as well as the United Nations, and large NGOs
Access for all: Providing global, inclusive and equitable access to a pool of public and private quantum computers and simulators available via the cloud
Advancing capacity building: Developing educational tools to enable everyone around the world to contribute to the development of quantum computing and make the most of the technology
Activating multilateral governance for the SDGs: Providing a neutral forum to help shape multilateral governance of quantum computing for the SDGs

 

Values:

Inclusivity, global scope
  • Enable people from all countries, regardless of whether they have any quantum computing capability of their own, to benefit from and to participate in the development of (i) quantum computing applications that address global challenges, in particular those that are closely related to their own specific challenges, and (ii) the multilateral governance of quantum computing for the SDGs
Openness
  • Share experiences, knowledge, and methods for the benefit of all, following Open Science best practice
  • Make openly available the results – outcomes of joint activities related to the OQI mission conducted by the OQI community – to society via open repositories and/or through the use of open licences
Focus on impact
  • Ensure that applications are developed for their quantum computing potential to tackle real-world problems that will benefit humanity
  • Consider and balance their ethical, legal, and societal implications
Independence
  • Enable everyone to participate free from individual, national, corporate or any other agendas
  • Develop applications with a technology neutral approach.
Collaboration
  • Foster a community of diverse expertise, backgrounds and geographies, enabled by international cooperation and diplomacy

 

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