Over 20,000 deep tech leaders, startups, corporates, and investors attended the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) held 28-30 October – and for the first time in 2024, this major event featured a quantum track.

The National Quantum Computing Hub (NQCH) and Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) in Singapore partnered the event’s organsisers to plan quantum programming for the event’s Beyond stage, which puts a spotlight on emergent and deep tech domains. NQCH also had an exhibition booth to engage attendees.

“One of the key trends that I’ve observed is the role of emerging technologies that we feel have the potential to actually disrupt industry and catalyse growth,” said Cindy Ngiam, Director, Startup Ecosystem and Community at Enterprise Singapore, in SWITCH’s video highlights from the event.

Quantum kicked off the Main stage on day one, with the panel discussion “Quest for Quantum Supremacy” featuring senior leaders, founders and investment perspectives. Ilyas Khan from Quantinuum, Christophe Jurczak from Quantonation Ventures, Georges-Olivier Reymond from PASQAL, and Andrew Dzurak from Diraq debated the quantum future in a discussion moderated by Ling Keok Tong, Executive Director of the National Quantum Office.

The dedicated quantum track on the Beyond stage on day two opened with a two-hour Masterclass led by Patrick Rebentrost, an Assistant Professor in the National University of Singapore who participates in NQCH. The afternoon featured a keynote by Ilyas Khan “Prepare for Quantum Disruption” and panel discussions on the applications of quantum computing in finance and biology, hybrid computing and the changing international landscape for quantum startups.