Insider Brief
- The Quantum Datacenter Alliance will hold its second international forum Oct. 1 in London, bringing quantum and data center leaders together to address the challenges of building utility-scale distributed quantum computers.
- The forum will focus on system-level issues including quantum processors, networking, error correction, interoperability, middleware, software, algorithms and integration with classical computing infrastructure.
- Speakers will include executives and technical leaders from Atom Computing, QuEra, NVIDIA, IBM, Q-CTRL, Nu Quantum, Quantinuum and other organizations across the quantum computing ecosystem.
PRESS RELEASE — The second international Quantum Datacenter Alliance (QDA) Forum will be held on October 1, 2026 at Battersea Power Station in London. This exclusive-access event brings together technical and business leaders from across the quantum and classical networking industries with a shared mission: accelerating the timelines to reach utility-scale distributed quantum computing.
Nu Quantum, Cisco, NTT Data, OQC (Oxford Quantum Circuits), QphoX, Quantinuum and QuEra established the QDA in 2025 with the mission of bringing together leading voices from the quantum computing and data center communities to address one of the field’s most pressing bottlenecks: how to integrate emerging quantum hardware into existing and future data center infrastructure. As quantum systems move from lab-scale demonstrations toward commercial deployment, questions about system-level architecture, control, error correction, interoperability and power consumption have become as critical as the qubits themselves.
“Cross-industry collaboration is essential to delivering utility-scale quantum computers,” said Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, CEO of Nu Quantum. “The QDA provides a vital space for the leading companies in our ecosystem to exchange ideas and accelerate the progress needed to make this technology a reality.”
The one-day event will focus on a single question: how to build datacenter-scale quantum computers and accelerate the timeline to fault-tolerance. Sessions will cover the full computing stack (quantum processors, interconnects, entanglement networks, middleware, system integration, software, algorithms, and applications), reflecting the QDA’s premise that no single organization can solve this alone. The day’s speakers include:
- Dame Wendy Hall, Regius Professor at the University of Southampton and the inventor of Microcosm, the precursor to the World Wide Web
- Dr. Ben Bloom, CEO of Atom Computing
- Dr. Alexei Bylinskii, VP of Quantum Computing Services, QuEra Computing
- Dr. Anna Tatarczak, Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at Coherent Inc., specializing in next-generation data center interconnects
- Andy Grant, EMEA Director, Supercomputing, Higher Education, and AI at NVIDIA
- Jim Sexton, Fellow at IBM
- Michael Hush, Chief Scientist at Q-CTRL
- Dr. Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, CEO of Nu Quantum
- Dr. Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, journalist covering physics, materials science and quantum technology at New Scientist
- Seyon Sivarajah, Chief Architect for Developer Tools at Quantinuum
Registration for the Forum is open, but capacity at the venue is limited. The QDA is curating the attendee list to facilitate the kind of close, cross-disciplinary exchange that a smaller room makes possible: prioritizing depth of expertise and diversity of perspective across the quantum networking stack.
Robert Stockill, CTO at QphoX, said: “With so many pioneers in quantum data centre design and implementation gathered at the QDA Forum, we have a unique chance to understand the very edge of technological advancement in scalable quantum computing, and stimulate the next round of innovation in these powerful and rapidly evolving systems.”
“Realizing the full potential of quantum technology and its role in the future of compute involves deploying it directly into AI data centers to operate in hybrid capacities alongside classical HPC environments,” said Dr. Jennifer Strabley, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of the Compute Platform Group at Quantinuum. “This global alliance provides the collaborative foundation necessary to address the system-level challenges required to accelerate scalable interoperability in alignment with the public and private sector leaders across the ecosystem.”
To register your interest, explore membership opportunities or stay up to date with the QDA’s latest activities, visit qda.global.
Facts Only
* The second international Quantum Datacenter Alliance (QDA) Forum is scheduled for October 1, 2026, in London.
* The forum addresses challenges in building utility-scale distributed quantum computers.
* Focus areas include quantum processors, networking, error correction, interoperability, middleware, software, algorithms, and integration with classical computing infrastructure.
* QDA was established in 2025 by Nu Quantum, Cisco, NTT Data, OQC (Oxford Quantum Circuits), QphoX, Quantinuum, and QuEra.
* The event seeks to address how to build datacenter-scale quantum computers and accelerate the timeline to fault-tolerance.
* Speakers include Dame Wendy Hall, Dr. Ben Bloom (Atom Computing), Dr. Alexei Bylinskii (QuEra Computing), Dr. Anna Tatarczak (Coherent Inc.), Andy Grant (NVIDIA), Jim Sexton (IBM), Michael Hush (Q-CTRL), Dr. Carmen Palacios-Berraquero (Nu Quantum), and Dr. Karmela Padavic-Callaghan (New Scientist).
* The event will cover the full computing stack: quantum processors, interconnects, entanglement networks, middleware, system integration, software, algorithms, and applications.
Executive Summary
The Quantum Datacenter Alliance (QDA) will host its second international forum on October 1, 2026, in London, focusing on the challenges of building utility-scale distributed quantum computers. The event brings together leaders from the quantum and classical networking industries to discuss system-level issues such as quantum processors, networking, error correction, middleware, software, algorithms, and integration with classical computing infrastructure. The forum aims to accelerate the timeline toward fault-tolerant quantum computing by focusing on how to architect datacenter-scale quantum systems.
The initiative was established in 2025 by organizations including Nu Quantum, Cisco, NTT Data, OQC, QphoX, Quantinuum, and QuEra. This foundation stems from the challenge of integrating emerging quantum hardware into existing data center infrastructure, where system-level concerns like architecture, control, error correction, and power consumption are deemed critical alongside qubit development. Speakers will include prominent figures such as Dr. Ben Bloom from Atom Computing, Andy Grant from NVIDIA, Jim Sexton from IBM, and executives from companies like Q-CTRL and Quantinuum.
Full Take
The narrative positions system-level architectural challenges—spanning hardware, networking, software, and classical integration—as the primary bottleneck to achieving utility-scale quantum computing. The structure of the QDA reflects a necessary recognition that innovation cannot occur in silos; it requires cross-industry collaboration across the entire computational stack. This emphasis shifts the focus from incremental qubit improvements to holistic system design.
The inclusion of diverse leaders, spanning hardware developers (Atom Computing, QuEra), infrastructure providers (NVIDIA, IBM), control systems experts (Q-CTRL), and data center architects (Nu Quantum, NTT Data), suggests an underlying pattern of systemic interdependence. The implication is that success is contingent not just on solving physics problems but on mastering the operationalization and scalability within existing classical computing frameworks.
The deliberate curation of attendees to prioritize "depth of expertise and diversity of perspective across the quantum networking stack" signals a resistance to superficial discourse, suggesting an awareness that fragmented solutions lead to stagnation. The underlying assumption is that decoupling hardware from its surrounding infrastructure renders large-scale deployment impossible. The missing element in this framing, which invites deeper inquiry, is the comparative cost or time advantage associated with different integration strategies across these specialized domains. What metrics guide the prioritization of system integration over pure component optimization?
Sentinel — Human
This text reads like a standard, well-structured press announcement synthesizing information from specific industry players, suggesting a human journalistic origin focused on event promotion.