The Vision

The State of Florida should be a leader in the field of quantum computing, developing the workforce necessary to attract quantum-related industry and fostering new startups that will be leaders in quantum technology. By investing in a new Florida Quantum Initiative (FQI), the State of Florida can achieve this goal by integrating and building upon existing expertise and infrastructure from across FL universities. The FQI will create a unique and strong national hub that catalyzes and accelerates new job creation and industry growth in Florida. The time to invest is now, while quantum technologies are just beginning to reach commercialization and the research and educational infrastructure has already been established. A major investment now will pay out many times over as FL becomes a leader in the quantum economy.

The Rationale

Florida Should Lead in Quantum in the Southeast & in the Nation

The global growth of quantum R&D and industry activities, along with dynamic competitions in academia and national research labs worldwide, have been rapidly evolving and often breathtaking. For example, the global quantum computing market size is expected to be at $20.5B by 2034 from $2.1B last year, growing with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.6%. The US market will grow from $0.8B in 2025 to $5.5B by 2034.  

Countries and states that aspire to lead and play important roles in this new quantum revolution have all been actively growing their investments in quantum education and workforce, R&D infrastructure, and ecosystems. For instance, Maryland announced the $1B “Capital of Quantum” initiative to establish Maryland as a leading epicenter, with initial state fund of $200M including the construction of a new facility. Illinois has $500M state investment dedicated to quantum campus and additional $200M to support the Chicago Quantum Exchange. Colorado, New Mexico, South Carolina, South Dakota, and other states have also launched sizable quantum initiatives to integrate and reinforce their states’ quantum-related resources. 

Florida is uniquely positioned to become a national leader in quantum technologies, especially given that the state has been the #1 state in the nation in several important measures – university systems, talent development, high tech business growth, manufacturing, company HQ relations and entrepreneurship, etc. Florida is endowed with enabling physical infrastructure for the quantum industry: a reliable, resilient power grid; strong broadband connectivity; and excellent water resources. Florida also has strong institutional infrastructure: the Florida high tech corridor; many centers of excellence in research at Florida universities; and a strong defense and space industry. Florida is ready to lead nationally in quantum and to play increasingly important and critical roles for the USA in the global race for leadership in quantum technologies. 

Collective Strengths & Readiness of Florida Research Universities

Florida universities have diverse and complementary expertise on quantum science and technologies. The FQI will enable our universities to develop the highly skilled workers needed by this industry. We have Letters of Support from many of the FL universities that showcase their enthusiasm for the FQI and their unique strengths in the quantum field. The recent Florida Quantum Summit hosted at UF clearly showcased the breadth and depth of the quantum talent and expertise already actively working in all the major research universities in Florida. From UF’s internationally known Quantum Theory Project (QTP), which began in the 1960s, to FIU’s Quantum Science, Technology and Applied Research (Q-STAR) center, which started in 2024, FL universities are already conducting groundbreaking research on quantum and training students to work in this area. 

The FQI will also leverage unique infrastructure, such as UF’s microKelvin (µK) Research Laboratory – the largest ultralow temperature laboratory in the world and the only one of its kind in the USA – and the unique National High Magnetic Field Lab (MagLab) co-hosted by FSU and UF. The FQI will help coordinate the efforts of the major research universities in Florida and build strong collaborations with all who are strongly interested in advancing quantum in Florida. 

Partnership with Industry & Government Labs

Toward the FQI vision of developing quantum technologies, quantum education & workforce, technology start-ups, and growing quantum-related industry in Florida, the participating academic and industry researchers have been actively establishing long-term collaborations with government labs (including AFRL, NRL, ARL, ANL, NIST).  We have also attracted strong interests from leading industry partners such as NVIDIA (which has strongly invested in UF in AI, is highly interested in integrating quantum with AI at UF, and plans to grow in Florida), IBM, Amazon-Quantum, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, imec USA-Orlando, Plug&Play, and various start-up companies in Florida (e.g., Snowcap, etc.).