Switching on

The Open Quantum Institute

At OQI, we have a growing community of over 500 individuals, all working towards contributing to the reflection around those developments whilst co-shaping the future of quantum computing and its impact. Read more about what we have been working on in our 2024 Progress Report!

Pilot Phase

The OQI was launched in March 2024 for an initial pilot phase of 3 years. As the OQI grows, the partners are looking forward to a future where the SDGs are in reach and believe that the OQI and its extended network will play a crucial role in realising this vision.

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Incubation Phase

The OQI incubation effectively consisted in prototyping the OQI’s activities by GESDA and its community. The incubation brought our 4A’s to life, and also served to confirm the funding and a sustainable governance for the OQI, paving the way for its effective launch in 2024.

Incubation Advisory Board

The OQI’s incubation phase has proven it to be an invaluable organisation for the future of quantum computing and science diplomacy.

It benefited from advice and guidance of leading research, diplomacy, industry and impact experts. 

The incubation Advisory Board led to the formation of the official OQI Advisory Committee, formed during the pilot phase in 2024.

Public Announcement

The OQI proposal unveiled at GESDA Summit in 2022 benefitted from significant traction in the quantum community and with diplomacy stakeholders. The Summit enabled gathering comments from all GESDA communities: academic, diplomatic, impact and citizens on the solution idea, feeding the final positive evaluation by GESDA’s board and its decision to incubate the OQI.

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Design Phase

From the 42 emerging scientific topics covered by GESDA, Quantum Computing was identified as a technology with great transformative capability requiring a science and diplomacy mobilisation to ensure global access and benefits. A task force involving scientists, diplomats, industry leaders and philanthropists was set up to devise a solution to ensure the positive impact of the technology is maximized, whilst its risks are mitigated. This collective effort led to the idea of the Open Quantum Institute (OQI).

Thinking meets action

The OQI’s vision is to create a market of quantum use cases for the Sustainable Development Goals by 2026. These use cases demonstrate the tangible action we are taking to help accelerate our progress towards the SDGs.

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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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