In 2025, Connected DMV hosted the inaugural Global Industry Challenge (GIC) as the centerpiece of our International Year of Quantum celebrations. Working within the International Year of Quantum framework, the Challenge helped amplify quantum awareness and increase talent pipelines over the course of the program. The Challenge helped accelerate the practical implementation of quantum technologies.
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THE 2026 GLOBAL INDUSTRY CHALLENGE WILL AGAIN PROVIDE A PLATFORM FOR INNOVATORS, ENTREPRENEURS, AND INDUSTRY LEADERS TO COLLABORATE ON SOLVING PRACTICAL USE CASES USING QUANTUM COMPUTING AND ADJACENT TECHNOLOGIES LIKE AI.
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The program is a practical proving ground where innovators form globally connected teams, creating innovative solutions to tackle industry-sponsored use cases. In 2026, the Challenge returns with expanded sectors, deeper industry integration, and greater global reach.
What's New in 2026
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Expanded Industry Tracks: Beyond financial services, insurance, infrastructure, and life sciences, new focus areas could include energy, defense and security, space, and more.
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Deepened Technical Engagement: Enhanced collaboration with quantum hardware and software providers to allow for more complex simulations, benchmarking, and algorithmic testing.
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Increased Global Collaboration: Engagement with additional international quantum hubs and innovation agencies to expand geographic diversity and participation.
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Showcase at Quantum World Congress 2026: Industry partners and winners will be featured in sessions and gain global media coverage.
Join Us for the 2026 Challenge
The 2026 Global Industry Challenge represents a unique opportunity to drive innovation where it matters most, at the intersection of emerging technology and global industry need. Join us and be part of a journey to create impactful solutions. This Challenge integrates industry leaders, investment partners, and quantum ecosystems around the world to help scale discovery and enable new solutions that accelerate the commercialization of quantum computing. The Challenge will help accelerate the practical implementation of quantum technologies.
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Hosted virtually and open to participants worldwide, the event will exclude only those from countries under active export control restrictions, ensuring broad and diverse collaboration.
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As a Challenge Provider: By contributing a use case, you help shape the research agenda, engage with global talent, and accelerate pathways from quantum discovery to real-world deployment. [LINK]
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As a Participant: Participants will have the unique opportunity to access quantum computers and simulators from leading quantum companies. Participate in teams formed globally, receive industry-defined use cases, and collaborate and compete to develop real-world solutions. [LINK]
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As a Sponsor & Partner: Align your brand to a far-reaching global program that attracted over 600 applicants from 60+ countries. Whether you are a platform provider or a supporting partner, your organization will be at the center of what is next. [LINK]
Challenge Structure & Process
A Three-Stage Challenge
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Participants accessed platforms via Aqora (collaboration/submission hub) and qBraid (compute access).
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Global Kickoff – Streamed globally to partnering hubs, Quantum Accord Members (QDNL, Warterloo Canada, & Quantum Australia) and publicly on World Quantum Day. Connected DMV set the stage for the program, with industry challenge providers presenting their use-cases. Teams were then formed virtually and in-person across the world. Those teams began by submitting a conceptual approach to one or more of the 5 Challenges.
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Conceptual Design – After selecting their Challenge, teams developed the conceptual approach into a more detailed paper, citing their proposed solution. This includes the technical approach of how they would utilize Quantum Computing to develop their solution, and the expected industry impact of the solution.
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Applied Execution – The finalists transitioned to full execution and validation, running their models on the selected platforms and analyzing outcomes in depth. Using qBraid’s compute access platform teams had availability across leading stacks including IBM (Eagle/Heron), IonQ (Aria/Forte), QuEra (Aquila), and more. Deliverables included performance benchmarks, simulation accuracy metrics, and comparisons to classical baselines. Teams demonstrated how their quantum-inspired solutions uncover higher-order patterns, accelerate computation, or provide insights that are difficult to achieve classically. The phased approach tested each team’s ability to combine quantum innovation with domain-specific impact, setting the stage for scalable solutions with practical relevance.
Challenge Focus Areas
The Challenge targets developing solutions for key sectors that drive the quantum industry. Industry leaders have established a set of prioritized use cases for the Challenge. We will be announcing the 2026 Global Industry Challenge Industry Providers at the ‘Quantum Means Business’ Track on January 6, at CES 2026 in Las Vegas.
The 2025 Use Cases & Industry Partners included:
Financial Services
Performance improvement of QOKit for portfolio optimization (e.g., QAOA scaling, initial states, mixers, CPU/GPU performance).
Quantum evolution with measurement & reset for modeling partially observable, stochastic processes (e.g., limit order book dynamics).
Risk Management & Insurance
Quantum-driven climate risk insurance model (assessment & prediction, risk diversification, dynamic pricing, inclusion).
Infrastructure
Quantum simulations for durable asphalt binders (oxidation, charge transfers, binding energies; model Hamiltonians and quantum algorithms).
Life Sciences
NISQ-based spike analysis to decode neural circuits from calcium-signal datasets.
Challenge Timeline
(Subject to Change)
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Partners & Challenges Announcement
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CES 2026, Las Vegas, NV (January 9, 2026)
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The Challenge
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First Phase - Team Formation & Submission of Application | All Teams (January - February 2026)
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Form Team​, Select Use-Case(s), and Propose Solutions Outline
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Second Phase - Conceptual Design | Down-Selected Teams (March 2026)
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Iterate and Submit Solutions ​
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Final Phase – Applied Execution | Finalists (April - June, 2026)
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Access Challenge Platforms, Run Simulations, Collect Results, and Submit Final Solutions
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Award Ceremony
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Quantum World Congress 2026 (September 22-24, 2026)
Challenge Platform & Access
​The Global Industry Challenge will be powered by Aqora and qBraid. Aqora serves as the central hub for the challenge, where participants can explore technical specifications, join teams, network with peers, and submit solutions. qBraid provides seamless access to the entire quantum software and hardware stack through simple interfaces.
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Challenge finalists will gain computing & simulation access to the following:
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Amazon Braket SV1, DM1 TN1
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Fire Opal error mitigation software + IBM hardware
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IBM Eagle r3, Heron r1, Heron r2
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IonQ, Aria-1 Forte-1
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IQM Garnett
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NVIDIA GPUs with Qiskit GPU / Cirq GPU / Pennylane Lightning / Cu Quantum available out of the box.
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qBraid QIR simulator
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QuEra Aquila
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Rigetti Ankaa-2, Aspen M3
Challenge Goals
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Bring together industry leaders, investors, and quantum ecosystems worldwide
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Help to accelerate the commercialization of quantum computing solutions
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Raise quantum awareness and expand talent pipelines
Challenge Questions?
For questions regarding the Global Industry Challenge, please contact us at quantum@connecteddmv.org.
