QED-C Hosts 2026 Quantum Technology Showcase on Capitol Hill After Landmark U.S. Policy Advances

The Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C) convened bipartisan congressional leaders, senior Administration officials, federal agency executives, and quantum industry participants on July 14, 2026, for the 2026 Quantum Technology Showcase on the Hill in Washington, D.C. Held weeks after President Donald Trump signed Executive Orders advancing U.S. quantum innovation and days after the White House Summit on American Quantum Innovation, the event provided hands-on demonstrations of technologies spanning quantum computing, communications, sensing, and enabling hardware as the industry advances from research toward practical applications.

Hands-On Quantum Technology Demonstrations

The Showcase enabled members of Congress and staff to examine working systems and speak with developers from more than twenty companies, including AdvR, Alice & Bob, Bluefors, Brightlight Photonics, D-Wave Quantum, FieldLine Industries, Frequency Electronics, Google Quantum AI, IBM Research, Infleqtion, IQM, Maybell Quantum Industries, NVIDIA, Phasecraft, Quantinuum, Quantum Computing Inc., Quantum Optics Jena, Rigetti, SRI, Sumitomo (SHI) Cryogenics, and Toshiba. Speakers included U.S. Sen. Steve Daines; U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, ranking member of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee; Chris Pilkerton, assistant secretary for investment security at the U.S. Department of the Treasury; Dr. Erwin Gianchandani, assistant director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships at the U.S. National Science Foundation; Dr. Brad Blakestad, director of the National Quantum Coordination Office at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Heather Goethert, Director of the Office of Emerging and Critical Technology Policy at the U.S. Department of State; Michael A. Massetti, section chief at the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Dr. Celia Merzbacher, executive director of QED-C. 

“The technologies demonstrated on Capitol Hill show that the quantum industry is real and growing,” Merzbacher stated. “Companies are building the capabilities that will power the next technology revolution, one that is advancing every day.”

The demonstrations highlighted systems moving into real-world use cases and the supporting infrastructure required for broader deployment.

Commercialization Pathways and Policy Alignment

Discussions centered on practical barriers and policy steps needed to translate U.S. scientific leadership into economic growth and national-security advantages, including supply-chain resilience, assured access to critical components, workforce development, acquisition pathways, and expanded developer access to quantum computing resources. The event punctuates quantum technologies’ growing relevance to U.S. competitiveness as Congress considers reauthorization of the National Quantum Initiative Act and agencies implement recent policy directives. QED-C, managed by SRI and established under the National Quantum Initiative as the primary industry consortium, continues to coordinate public-private collaboration across the ecosystem. The Showcase reinforced the commercial maturity of participating firms and the coordinated federal-industry efforts required to scale production, integrate systems, and secure domestic manufacturing capacity.

Bottom Line

The Showcase demonstrated tangible progress in quantum commercialization while aligning industry capabilities with emerging U.S. policy priorities.

Find out more here.

—

Further articles, reports, and the latest quantum computing news may be found at The Qubit Report.