Switzerland’s flagship research initiative for fast, compact, scalable quantum computing based on spin qubits in silicon and germanium was presented by its Managing Director, Dr. Maria Longobardi. NCCR SPIN is a national center of excellence bringing together leading Swiss and European institutions, including EPFL, ETH Zurich, TU Delft, the University of Konstanz and the University of Basel (host institution). In close collaboration with industrial partners such as IBM Research and Roche, its objective is to build a vibrant innovation landscape for quantum technologies in Switzerland and beyond. She emphasized the center’s holistic approach focusing not only on hardware but also architecture. With more than half of the SPIN members being young researchers, the center places strong emphasis on supporting talent development. Dr. Longobardi highlighted the center’s mobility grants to boost young talent exchange which sparked interest from the Japanese industry representatives. The center also has initiatives aimed at supporting startups and promoting women in quantum.

CEO a.i. of Swissnex Boston and New York, Dr. Brendan Karch highlighted Switzerland’s position as a hub for quantum by presenting its research institutes, companies, and ecosystem. He pointed to the country’s curiosity-driven bottom-up research culture, national initiatives like the Swiss Quantum Initiative (SQI), and partnerships both domestically and abroad. He followed by introducing the Swissnex Project Quantum. Launched under the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), this initiative aims to connect Switzerland and the world in quantum science and technology through talent exchange, joint programming, and strategic policy dialogue. Notable efforts from SERI in Japan also include the Memorandum of Cooperation signed with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to enhance Swiss-Japanese cooperation in science, technology and innovation, and events such as the Swiss-Japanese Quantum Symposium and gathering for ecosystem building celebrating QAI Ventures’ establishment in Japan.

Sharing his perspective from the Japanese industry angle, Mr. Shunsuke Okada, Executive Committee Chairman of Q-STAR and Corporate Senior Vice President of Toshiba Corporation took the stage to present Q-STAR. As Japan’s only industry-led consortium dedicated to quantum technology, Q-STAR promotes the creation of new industries and businesses using quantum technology. He stressed that ecosystem building requires international standardization, raised public awareness, and coordinated policy to unlock scalable and secure quantum applications. Mr. Okada also noted that international partnerships are critical to achieving quantum advantage in both computing and communication, highlighting the relevance of this event.  He concluded by inviting the guests to visit “entangle moment”,  a program aiming to stimulate public curiosity about the ways quantum technology can impact and transform our world. The talk session “Exploring the Quantum World Through Games” is scheduled on August 16 at the Expo 2025.

A lively Q&A session ensued, showing the keen interest from the audience for discussions centered around international collaboration and industry-academia partnership. The program concluded with a tour of the Swiss Pavilion’s recently inaugurated “LIFE” exhibition featuring NCCR SPIN’s “Qubits on the Bloch” installation. This art x science exhibit highlights the central challenge of quantum computing – making qubits. The art piece assembles discarded data from qubit experiments into representations of Bloch spheres, illustrating how trial, error, and collaboration contribute to the future of quantum technology and its impact on society.

Lastly, the networking apero was initiated with a toast by Prof. Yoshiro Hirayama, Director of the Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) Research Promotion Center and Professor at Tohoku University who raised his glass with “Prost, Santé, and Kanpai” to continued good collaboration.

This event fostered informal exchanges among researchers, policymakers, and business leaders and reaffirmed Switzerland’s commitment to shaping a globally connected quantum future, one that is inclusive, collaborative, and built on scientific excellence and mutual trust.

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