From the Potomac to the World: Greater Washington’s Role as a Global Quantum Hub
“The quantum revolution is here to stay… we not only want to participate in that revolution, we want to lead it.”
At Quantum World Congress 2025, leaders from across Greater Washington made a clear case: the region isn’t just participating in the quantum revolution—it’s positioned to lead it. Moderated by Pallabi Saboo (Harmonia Holdings Group, Connected DMV Board of Trustees), the plenary session gathered county economic development leaders to discuss how shared assets, policy proximity, and cross-jurisdictional collaboration are accelerating commercialization and workforce development.
Why Greater Washington
From the stage, Saboo framed the region’s advantage as unique and compounding: 12 federally funded R&D labs, 100+ labs overall, world-class universities, and the federal policymaking apparatus that sets national—and often global—rules for quantum. The throughline: companies can site in any county and still tap a cohesive, region-wide platform of infrastructure, talent, and policy access.
Montgomery County (Elana Fine)
Home to NIST, NIH, and the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, Montgomery anchors standards, testing, and translational research. Proximity to the University of Maryland and the Universities at Shady Grove supplies a deep talent bench—from K–12 through graduate pipelines. Fine also flagged the imperative to grow regional venture capital so university breakthroughs can scale locally, not elsewhere.
Loudoun County (Dave Diaz)
Loudoun leveraged two decades of planning to become the world’s data center capital—25M+ sq ft (and ~5M more underway). That digital backbone, coupled with fast-track permitting (projects to operation in ~180 days), positions the county to support quantum-ready networks and time-to-market needs. Beyond incentives, Loudoun emphasized a business-friendly culture as a real cost and speed advantage.
Prince George’s County (Sam Braden)
Anchored by University of Maryland, Bowie State University, and Prince George’s Community College, the county is translating academic strength into workforce development and startup acceleration. Braden underscored accessibility and diversity as strategic assets—and the urgency that “the opportunity is now,” not in some distant future.
Fairfax County (James Quigley)
As a hub for national security, aerospace, and federal contracting, Fairfax sits at the intersection of demand and deployment: the federal government will be both a major investor and customer for quantum. Quigley noted a shift from “DC as a lobbyist outpost” to full-stack company presence (engineering, product, marketing) that will only intensify as quantum and AI converge.
Howard County (Jennifer Jones)
Mid-corridor between UMD and NSA, Howard offers proximity to customers, standards bodies, and policymakers with a pro-innovation, founder-friendly culture. A new Workforce Trades Center at Howard Community College will expand alternative pathways (not just PhD tracks) into quantum-adjacent roles—demystifying the field and widening the talent funnel.
Competing as One Region
Panelists pointed to HQ2 as a watershed in cross-border execution and to ongoing structures like Connected DMV and the Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance. The strategy is “coopetition”: manage lead flow and healthy competition where it makes sense, but market and build as one when it drives global advantage. The group also called out infrastructure and mobility (yes, including the American Legion Bridge) as urgent enablers of talent fluidity across the Beltway-to-Baltimore corridor.
The 10-Year Vision
Top-three global quantum hub: set a shared target and hold the region accountable with a Quantum Performance Index tracking talent, capital, testbeds, and deployments.
Full-spectrum workforce: expand K–12 STEM/STEAM, community-college pathways, and graduate programs to meet near-term industry needs.
Scale capital: deepen local VC and growth equity so IP spins out and scales here.
Integrated testbeds & networks: connect county assets into interoperable quantum networking, labs, and pilot sites.
Frictionless talent mobility: invest in transportation and housing so specialists move seamlessly to where they’re needed.