Harald A. Summa explains the thinking behind the initiative: “Quantum computers will deliver a quantum leap in available computing power, making even today’s supercomputers look like toys by comparison. This almost unimaginable computing power will, in turn, propel applications such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality to levels of performance that are barely conceivable today. With this initiative, I want to help unleash that twofold momentum. We achieved it with the Internet, and we will achieve it with quantum computing too – if we join forces worldwide.”

The former head of eco bases his optimism on the fact that “Germany has a great many innovative high-tech companies that rank among the world leaders in quantum computing.” What matters now, he says, is to pool this expertise in a joint initiative and build a new quantum economy. “Now is the right time to move beyond research and development and lay the foundations of a quantum computing ecosystem,” Harald A. Summa is convinced. He adds: “Just as the Internet has left no industry untouched, the impact of quantum computing will be felt across the entire economy. Not every company will need to buy a quantum computer; instead, this enormous computing power and the applications built on it will be delivered via the cloud. As a result, this next generation of computers will profoundly transform a wide range of industries.”

Read the latest White Paper, presented by the Diplomatic Council Quantum Leap Initiative at the UN Science & Technology Conference 2025.

Harald A. Summa was a driving force behind the Internet economy from its earliest days. At a time when almost all Internet traffic still flowed through the USA, he set up DE-CIX in Frankfurt am Main, Germany’s first Internet exchange, and led it to its current position as the world’s largest Internet exchange. “I want to make a similarly strong mark in quantum computing,” says Harald A. Summa, confident that the new initiative within the Diplomatic Council will achieve a comparable quantum leap.

The initiative is open not only to companies working directly on quantum computers, but also to those in application areas that stand to benefit from this next generation of computing. Harald A. Summa cites examples such as artificial intelligence, visualisation, augmented and virtual reality, voice and text dialogue systems, cybersecurity and data centre operators. “We warmly invite all fields in which the immense power of quantum computers will play a decisive role to take part in the initiative,” he says.

Prof. Dr. Sebastian Thrun, who, like Harald A. Summa, is a member of the UN think tank Diplomatic Council, adds: “Computing power that is hard to imagine today will play a key role in further progress in many fields, from artificial intelligence and AR/VR smart glasses to the metaverse.” A German who emigrated to the United States, he became Chair of Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University at the age of 36. He founded and for many years led Google’s secretive research lab, Google X. The US magazine Foreign Policy ranks him among the five most influential thinkers in the world. In his authorised biography, published by the Diplomatic Council, he discusses quantum computers, among other topics:

Quantum computers are regarded as the gateway to an entirely new dimension of computing power, which is also expected to shape the future performance of AI. Unlike conventional digital computers, quantum computers do not operate according to the laws of classical physics or information theory, but on the basis of quantum-mechanical states.

In 2019, a Google research report that was inadvertently made public revealed what the company had meant by its long-standing promise to achieve “quantum supremacy” soon. The key lies in quantum computers, which work with quantum bits, or qubits. Unlike conventional bits, these can take not only the states zero and one, but many different values. Since 2019, the Google report has been regarded as the first experimental evidence that the quantum computers of the near future will make even today’s supercomputers look like long-extinct dinosaurs. According to the report, a Google-designed quantum computer with fifty-three qubits – the fifty-fourth had apparently failed – solved an extremely difficult task, designed specifically for the experiment, in three minutes and twenty seconds. The fastest conventional supercomputer of the day would have needed around ten thousand years for the same calculation. At the end of 2022, IBM unveiled Osprey, a quantum computer with 433 qubits and, at the time, the largest system of its kind in the world. In theory, the current architecture scales up to 5,000 qubits. In spring 2023, IBM announced its aim of building a quantum computer with 100,000 qubits within ten years, earmarking a research and development budget of 100 million dollars for the purpose. IBM and Google are regarded as the front-runners in developing ever more powerful quantum computers, and Amazon is reportedly building one as well. In Germany, the federal government has provided almost 2 billion euros in funding; the planned German quantum computer is to reach at least 100 qubits in 2026 – by which time IBM plans to deliver a system with 4,158 qubits – and to be expanded to 500 qubits “in the medium term”. The European Commission is funding quantum computing through its own programme (GU EuroHPC) with around 7 billion euros in order to safeguard the EU’s digital sovereignty. The global market for quantum technology is forecast to reach $1 trillion by 2035.

Hartmut Neven, the German-born head of Google’s Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab, postulates that quantum computing is developing at a double exponential rate. In a nod to Moore’s Law, people are already speaking of “Neven’s Law”. Decades ago, Gordon Moore, the former head of the chip maker Intel, observed that the complexity of integrated circuits doubles roughly every twenty-four months. That sounds impressive, but it is nothing compared with double exponential growth, in which the exponent itself grows exponentially – for example, ten to the power of two. Such explosive growth is extremely rare even in the natural world as we know it; in computing it was previously unknown – indeed, unthinkable.

DC Quantum Leap offers its participants:

Regular, mainly online meetings exclusively for participants, offering an exchange of experience and keynote speeches by leading industry figures. The results of an annual survey and report on developments in the quantum computing market (for participants only). An annual publication on quantum computing (in print and as an e-book, available through bookshops) featuring all participants. A PR campaign for quantum computing aimed at the UN, policymakers and leading publications. Support for participating companies and individuals in connecting with key decision-makers in the industry. An official Diplomatic Council “Member Quantum Leap Initiative” seal for use in marketing and sales (website, brochures, etc.).

Those who join now will become founding members and will enjoy special benefits in future.

The Diplomatic Council (DC) uniquely combines a global think tank, a worldwide business network and a charitable foundation in a single non-governmental organisation (NGO). It is a non-profit organisation under German law pursuant to Section 52 of the German Fiscal Code. The United Nations (UN) has admitted the Diplomatic Council to its closest circle of advisers with UN Consultative Status, the highest status an NGO can attain. The DC is one of the few organisations in this circle whose focus lies not primarily on social issues, but above all on the economy, science and technology as the foundations of prosperity and peace. In this sense, the DC serves as the voice of economic reason at the UN.

International Economic Diplomacy

The Diplomatic Council was founded in 2012 by a group of ambassadors seeking to overcome the territorial limits of state diplomacy and bring together their best business contacts worldwide. The background: diplomats are generally posted to a new country every three to four years and may no longer work in their previous host country. By establishing the Diplomatic Council as a non-governmental organisation, diplomats are able to maintain their network of business contacts, which grows with each posting. In 2015, the UN officially recognised the DC as part of international economic diplomacy. Since then, it has grown through ambassadors who take up new postings and expand the network there, through new contacts within the United Nations community, through recommendations from members within their own networks, and through its missions – the Diplomatic Council’s representative offices in cities such as Paris, Madrid, Warsaw, Singapore and Silicon Valley. As a result of this growing business network, the majority of members today are not diplomats but entrepreneurs and business leaders.

Independence from state influence To preserve its independence from individual countries, the Diplomatic Council has been funded exclusively by its members’ contributions from the outset; it draws on no EU funding or other public resources. Both individuals and companies may apply for membership, which requires a recommendation from an existing member. All memberships are valid internationally and are not tied to any regional chapter or similar body. The Diplomatic Council’s work is shaped both by the framework of the United Nations, such as the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and by the wide range of initiatives launched by its members, such as DC Quantum Leap.

UN Consultative Status

Following the “2015 Resumed Session of the ECOSOC NGO Committee” (E/C.2/2015/R.2Add.26/4), the United Nations admitted the Diplomatic Council on 26/27 May 2015 to the group of non-governmental organisations accredited to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), in accordance with Article 71 of the UN Charter. The associated requirements, rights and obligations are set out in ECOSOC Resolution 1996/61. Admission to the UN’s circle of NGOs requires, among other things, relevance to the work of the United Nations, a transparent structure and the regular submission of audited reports to ECOSOC. Every four years, the Diplomatic Council undergoes a rigorous review by the UN Economic and Social Council, which then confirms the organisation’s legitimacy and the compliance of its activities with ECOSOC guidelines.

Its UN Consultative Status entitles the Diplomatic Council to take part in UN sessions with the right to speak and to present its positions in written statements. DC members can apply to attend UN sessions around the world (or online) as delegates. The Diplomatic Council may also organise its own sessions at UN conferences, and has already done so on several occasions with events in New York, Geneva and Vienna – the three main UN headquarters.

The Diplomatic Council will leverage its global reach through the United Nations to play a key role in building a quantum computing ecosystem. This includes active participation, with its own side events, in the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) – the ECOSOC commission that coordinates UN activities in science and technology – and in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), as well as a wide range of other activities, from press campaigns and events to book publications. The content is developed in working groups that meet both online and in person.