The challenge: Governments face mounting pressure to do more with less — from optimizing emergency response to managing supply chain and logistics management — all while facing resource constraints. Classical computing can have difficulty keeping up with the scale or complexity of today's public-sector demands.

Quantum technology can offer a path forward — potentially enabling faster, smarter solutions to real-world problems. Countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and Italy are already engaging with annealing quantum computing to help drive progress in defense, infrastructure and economic security.

The solution: D-Wave quantum technology is ready now — enabling practical, cloud-based applications that can help governments and their partners solve high-stakes challenges in real time.

Fast Company just named D-Wave as a winner in Fast Company's 2025 Next Big Things in Tech Awards, recognized as a leader in foundational computing for its Advantage2™ system, a powerful and energy-efficient annealing quantum computer capable of solving problems beyond the reach of classical machines.

The background: Despite growing global momentum, some remain skeptical about quantum computing — suggesting its real impact is still decades away. To set the record straight, D-Wave CEO Dr. Alan Baratz published a letter in The Wall Street Journal challenging misconceptions and emphasizing the near-term commercial viability of quantum technology.

While skeptics speculate and other quantum companies are hoping to one day deliver real-world value, D-Wave quantum systems are already solving complex optimization problems in minutes, not hours or days — delivering real-time value for airlines, logistics firms and retailers alike.

What you need to know: Governments and supporting organizations can now apply quantum to improve public services in areas like:

• Complex staffing for organizations such as TSA and veterans' health care facilities.
• Energy grid resilience to optimize performance and electric vehicle routing.
• Telecommunications optimization and network efficiency to deliver cellular and broadband access.
• Emergency and law enforcement response, such as better wildfire management and expedited response times.

The results: Hundreds of early quantum and hybrid-quantum applications have been built with D-Wave's technology.

• A joint project with the North Wales Police (NWP) demonstrated that the hybrid-quantum application cut the average incident response time by nearly 50%, reducing the time needed to coordinate police vehicle placement from four months to four minutes. It also gave NWP the ability to attend 10% more calls within the target timeframe.
• The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) used quantum to identify optimal fuelbreak placements, barriers that can help slow or stop the spread of wildfires, with far greater speed and efficacy than traditional methods.
• Davidson Technologies installed a D-Wave quantum computer at its Huntsville, Alabama headquarters to support the Department of Defense and other federal agencies. In fact, they have already developed a quantum-hybrid application that solved a missile defense scenario — evaluating 67 million outcomes — in just 13 seconds.

• NTT DOCOMO, Japan's largest mobile carrier with over 90 million subscribers, faces increasing pressure to manage the growing volume of paging signals used to locate mobile devices across its vast network of 250,000+ base stations. Using D-Wave's constrained quadratic model (CQM) hybrid solver, DOCOMO reduced paging signal traffic by 15% and positioned DOCOMO to handle 20% more devices without sacrificing network reliability.
• A joint project with NEC Australia and D-Wave developed a quantum-powered last-mile resupply application to optimize autonomous vehicles that resupply forces for the Australian Department of Defense.

Why it's important: These real-world examples demonstrate that hybrid-quantum solutions are practical, scalable and already making an impact. Cloud access makes quantum computing more accessible for public-private collaborations — streamlining solutions in sectors from logistics to defense.

Looking ahead: As governments integrate more artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools, greater computational power will be required to achieve these objectives. Quantum computing could be key to meeting computational demands efficiently. Pairing quantum with AI may unlock scalable, energy-efficient solutions for complex data challenges — from smart infrastructure to mission-critical defense tech.

The takeaway: D-Wave is bringing quantum into the real world, helping the public sector tackle complex challenges like optimizing transportation, improving emergency response, strengthening supply chains and advancing national security.

Learn more about D-Wave quantum-powered solutions.