The Philippines Quantum Readiness Workshop, held in Manila this week, marked an important step in preparing the Philippines for the next era of computing and cybersecurity shaped by quantum technologies.
Warmest congratulations to the Quantum Computing Society of the Philippines | OneQuantum Philippines for leading this effort together with partner agencies. Months of effort, organized in collaboration with the Development Academy of the Philippines (Official) (DAP), the workshop brought together government leaders, regulators, industry executives, educators, and technical experts aligned around a shared goal: building the Philippine quantum ecosystem. Bringing all stakeholders into the same forum is extremely important towards building a national consensus.
IBM Quantum had the opportunity to share the fundamentals of Quantum technologies with a highly engaged audience, followed by a hands‑on Qiskit workshop supported by 5 of Philippine’s own Qiskit advocates. Bringing quantum from theory to practice by running workloads on real IBM’s quantum computers helped the audience understand the importance of pairing policy and strategy that is tied to the state of quantum technologies.
The 2 day workshop focused on three interrelated pillars:
1) Quantum Computing & National Capability – developing foundational understanding and long‑term institutional readiness
2) Workforce & Skills Readiness – shaping education pathways and training frameworks for quantum‑enabled roles
3) Quantum‑Safe Security & Policy Implications – addressing the urgent transition to post‑quantum cryptography to protect critical systems and sensitive data
What stood out was not only the depth of the discussions, but the spirit of contributing to the initiative during the day 2 working group discussions. I saw 1st hand how individuals willingly contribute their expertise, time, and open collaboration in service of national capability building.
Bringing government, industry, and academia into one space requires trust, coordination, and a shared vision—and QCSP is helping make that possible. In emerging fields like quantum computing, progress will come not from isolated excellence, but from connected ecosystems, where collaboration drives capability and collective action translates into national readiness.
Big thank you to Bobby Corpus, Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, Dylan Josh Lopez and the entire team for the invitation and warm welcome extended to IBM. It was also a pleasure collaborating with IBM colleagues from the Philippines. The momentum building in the Philippines is encouraging and meaningful indeed. The work has just begun, but this represents a strong and promising foundation for Quantum PH.
Full credits too to Team IBM: Rizwan Hussain, Dr. Jan-Rainer Lahmann, Efstathia Katsigianni and Umut Cikla
Next stop…. Thailand!! 💪
