4th Global Quantum Strategies Overview Pre-Event Quantum World Congress 2026
Ambassador Schneebauer pictured (top center) with keynote speakers, Francesca Ferlaino (to her right) and Markus Aspelmeyer (to her left), as well as additional partners and speakers.
Together with the Science Diplomacy Grid, the Embassy of Austria was delighted to host the 4th Global Quantum Strategies Overview on September 22, 2026. As a pre-event to the Quantum World Congress 2026, the gathering brought together leading voices from academia, government, diplomacy, and industry to discuss the latest developments in Quantum Information Science and Technology and foster new international collaborations.
We were honored to welcome distinguished speakers from around the world, including leading Austrian scientists Professor Markus Aspelmeyer from University of Vienna/IQOQI Vienna - Austrian Academy of Sciences and Professor Francesca Ferlaino from Universität Innsbruck/Institut für Quantenoptik und Quanteninformation (IQOQI) in Innsbruck, alongside prominent businesses and industry experts. Their diverse perspectives and expertise highlighted the importance of global collaboration in shaping the future of quantum technology.
Both scientists are also on the Board of Directors of Quantum Science Austria, or quantA, Austria’s Cluster of Excellence in Quantum Science. Austria has long been at the forefront of quantum research and continues to gain international recognition as a leading hub for scientific discovery in this field.
Among the many noteworthy insights shared:
Future investments in Austria: The “Quantum Cube,” a high-tech lab infrastructure, is expected to be completed in 2027, followed by the Quantum Technology Center Vienna in 2033.
Strengthening transatlantic collaboration: ParityQC and IBM were represented at the pre-event, highlighting the growing momentum behind cross-Atlantic partnerships and efforts to make quantum computing more accessible.
A special thank you to our sponsors and partners, especially George Thomas from Quantum World Congress/Connected DMV and Ona Ambrozaite, Ph.D. Ambrozaite from Science Diplomacy Grid/Wisconsin Quantum Institute. It was a privilege to welcome so many inspiring leaders from the global quantum community to the Austrian Embassy. Additionally, OPEN AUSTRIA and Austrian Cultural Forum Washington DC were instrumental in creating such a memorable evening. Thank you especially to Verena Daughton and Alexander Mairginter for their dedicated efforts in making the event possible.
Thank you to all of our flash talk speakers:
Celia Merzbacher from QED-C®
Giullaume Ferlet from European Union Delegation to the United States
Fikriye Selen-Okatan from Consulate General of Finland in New York
Tom Scott from the UK Office for Quantum
Hannes Hübel from AIT Austrian Institute of Technology
Felix Tiefenbacher from zerothird and also presenting on qtlabs - Quantum Technology Laboratories GmbH
Stefan Schmid from ParityQC
Kate P. Weber from Google
Jeffrey Brown from IBM
Emily Violi Benjamin from Microsoft
Drew Ezrine from Nokia
