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:
- 8-10 July: AIMS Quantathon, (Ghana)
- 3-5 August: SEA Quantathon (Thailand)
- 3-5 September: Alexandria Quantum Hackathon (Egypt)
- 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/