The gap between quantum computing theory and practical implementation is rapidly closing. Nowhere is this more evident than in Singapore, where the city-state has strategically positioned itself as a nexus for quantum innovation in Asia. Recently, a select group of industry leaders and researchers were granted unprecedented access to BDx’s cutting-edge Hybrid Quantum-AI Testbed—a facility that represents the tangible manifestation of quantum computing’s transition from laboratory to real-world applications.
This exclusive tour revealed how Singapore is creating an ecosystem where quantum computing and artificial intelligence converge to solve complex problems previously considered intractable. As quantum technologies move beyond theoretical discussions into practical implementations, facilities like BDx’s testbed are becoming critical infrastructure for organizations looking to gain early advantages in the quantum revolution.
This article provides an in-depth look at Singapore’s Hybrid Quantum-AI Testbed, examining its technical capabilities, the innovative work being conducted there, and why this facility represents a significant milestone in the global quantum computing landscape. Through this exploration, we’ll uncover how Singapore is cementing its position as a crucial bridge between Eastern and Western quantum development approaches.
Singapore’s emergence as a quantum computing powerhouse is no accident. The city-state has methodically built its quantum ecosystem through strategic government initiatives, university research programs, and private sector investments. The National Research Foundation’s Quantum Engineering Programme (QEP), launched in 2018 with an initial funding of S$25 million, laid the groundwork for what has become one of Asia’s most vibrant quantum communities.
The country’s unique position as a bridge between Eastern and Western technological approaches has made it an ideal location for quantum collaboration. Its strong intellectual property protections, highly educated workforce, and established technology infrastructure have attracted major quantum players from around the globe. Companies like IBM, Google, and Baidu have established quantum research presence in Singapore, complementing homegrown initiatives.
What distinguishes Singapore’s approach is its focus on practical applications rather than purely theoretical research. This pragmatic orientation aligns perfectly with the vision behind facilities like BDx’s Hybrid Quantum-AI Testbed, which was developed specifically to accelerate the commercialization of quantum technologies.
Singapore’s National Quantum Strategy, announced in 2023, further reinforces this direction with an additional S$110 million investment focused on developing quantum computing applications for finance, supply chain optimization, and cybersecurity—sectors where the country already holds strong competitive advantages.
Located in Singapore’s technology corridor, the BDx facility represents a new paradigm in quantum computing infrastructure. Unlike traditional data centers or research laboratories, this purpose-built environment was designed from the ground up to support the unique requirements of quantum systems while integrating seamlessly with classical computing resources.
The facility spans approximately 40,000 square feet and houses multiple quantum processing units alongside high-performance computing clusters, specialized cooling systems, and quantum-specific network infrastructure. What makes the BDx approach distinctive is its holistic design philosophy that addresses the entire quantum computing stack—from hardware to software to applications.
During the tour, visitors were particularly impressed by the facility’s advanced vibration isolation systems and electromagnetic shielding, critical for maintaining quantum coherence. The quantum systems operate in environmentally controlled chambers maintaining temperatures within fractions of a degree, while sophisticated power management systems ensure uninterrupted, clean power delivery.
Perhaps most notably, BDx has pioneered a novel approach to quantum-classical integration. Rather than treating quantum processors as isolated special-purpose devices, the facility’s architecture enables seamless workflows between quantum and classical resources. This approach recognizes that most practical quantum applications in the near term will be hybrid in nature, leveraging the strengths of both paradigms.
The BDx facility houses several quantum processing technologies, including:
This diverse array of quantum technologies allows researchers and commercial partners to evaluate different approaches for specific use cases, recognizing that various quantum architectures may excel at different types of problems.
The term “hybrid quantum-AI” refers to a computational architecture that integrates quantum processing with artificial intelligence algorithms. This combination is particularly powerful because it addresses two critical challenges: the current limitations of quantum hardware and the computational bottlenecks facing advanced AI.
At the BDx testbed, this hybrid approach manifests in several innovative ways. Quantum processors tackle specific subproblems where they demonstrate advantage—such as optimization, sampling, or simulation tasks—while AI systems handle data pre-processing, result interpretation, and workflow orchestration. This division of labor maximizes the benefits of both paradigms.
One of the most promising aspects of this hybrid architecture is how it addresses the current limitations of quantum systems. Today’s quantum computers are still in the NISQ (Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum) era, characterized by limited qubit counts and susceptibility to errors. The hybrid approach uses classical AI algorithms to mitigate these limitations through error correction, noise compensation, and optimal problem decomposition.
During the tour, BDx engineers demonstrated how their system dynamically allocates computational tasks between quantum and classical resources based on real-time performance metrics. This adaptive approach ensures optimal resource utilization and maximizes the practical benefits derived from quantum processing even at current technology maturity levels.
A distinguishing feature of the BDx testbed is its sophisticated middleware layer that facilitates communication between quantum and classical systems. This proprietary software stack abstracts away much of the complexity involved in programming hybrid systems, allowing developers to focus on algorithms and applications rather than the intricacies of quantum-classical integration.
The middleware provides standardized APIs for quantum resource allocation, job scheduling, and result processing. It also includes tools for automatically partitioning problems between quantum and classical processors based on heuristic models of expected performance. This level of integration dramatically reduces the barriers to entry for organizations looking to explore quantum applications.
The BDx Hybrid Quantum-AI Testbed offers a comprehensive suite of capabilities designed to support both research and commercial application development. These capabilities extend far beyond simple quantum processing, encompassing the entire workflow from problem formulation to solution implementation.
One of the testbed’s most valuable features is its quantum algorithm simulation environment. This allows developers to prototype and validate quantum algorithms on classical hardware before deploying them on actual quantum processors. The simulation environment supports multiple programming frameworks including Qiskit, Cirq, and PennyLane, making it accessible to researchers with different backgrounds and preferences.
For organizations focused on specific industry applications, the testbed provides domain-specific toolkits for finance, logistics, materials science, and pharmaceutical research. These toolkits include pre-built quantum algorithms, data connectors, and visualization tools tailored to the unique requirements of each domain.
The facility also features a sophisticated benchmarking infrastructure that allows objective comparison between different quantum approaches and classical alternatives. This capability is particularly valuable for organizations trying to assess the potential quantum advantage for their specific use cases, providing evidence-based decision support for quantum investment strategies.
While the physical tour provided valuable insights into the infrastructure, BDx has designed the testbed to be primarily accessed remotely. The secure cloud interface allows authorized users from around the world to submit jobs, access results, and collaborate on quantum application development without requiring physical presence at the facility.
This remote access capability has proven especially valuable for international collaborations, enabling researchers across different time zones to work with the same quantum resources. It also democratizes access to quantum computing, allowing smaller organizations and academic institutions to benefit from cutting-edge quantum hardware without major capital investments.
The BDx tour highlighted several promising applications currently being developed using the Hybrid Quantum-AI Testbed. These real-world use cases demonstrate how quantum computing is moving beyond proof-of-concept demonstrations to address genuine business and scientific challenges.
In the financial services sector, a consortium of Singapore-based banks is utilizing the testbed to develop quantum algorithms for portfolio optimization and risk assessment. Early results suggest potential improvements of 15-20% in portfolio performance compared to classical approaches, particularly for complex multi-asset portfolios with numerous constraints. This application leverages quantum optimization techniques combined with machine learning for parameter tuning and feature selection.
The logistics and supply chain domain is another area seeing significant activity. PSA Singapore, which operates one of the world’s busiest container ports, is exploring quantum approaches to container scheduling and route optimization. The complex combinatorial nature of these problems makes them natural candidates for quantum advantage. Preliminary simulations indicate potential efficiency improvements of 8-12% for certain scheduling scenarios, which would translate to substantial operational savings.
Perhaps the most advanced application showcased during the tour involves pharmaceutical research. A collaboration between Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and several global pharmaceutical companies is using the quantum testbed for molecular simulation and drug discovery. The project focuses on simulating protein folding and drug-target interactions—computationally intensive tasks where quantum approaches show particular promise.
The integration of quantum computing with artificial intelligence is yielding particularly interesting results in the field of quantum machine learning (QML). Researchers at the testbed are developing novel quantum neural network architectures that can process high-dimensional data more efficiently than classical approaches for certain problem classes.
One demonstration involved a quantum-enhanced image recognition system that achieved comparable accuracy to state-of-the-art classical models while using significantly fewer parameters. This parameter efficiency could translate to faster training times and reduced computational requirements as the technology matures. Another promising direction involves quantum generative models for creating synthetic data in scenarios where real data is limited or sensitive.
The success of Singapore’s quantum ecosystem stems from its collaborative approach involving government, academia, and industry. The BDx testbed exemplifies this philosophy, operating as a shared resource that brings together diverse stakeholders around common goals.
The facility maintains active partnerships with Singapore’s major research institutions, including the Centre for Quantum Technologies at the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, and A*STAR. These academic collaborations ensure the testbed remains at the cutting edge of quantum research while providing valuable training opportunities for the next generation of quantum scientists and engineers.
On the industry side, BDx has established a Quantum Industry Consortium that includes multinational corporations, local enterprises, and startups. Consortium members gain prioritized access to the testbed facilities and participate in collaborative projects addressing shared challenges. This model accelerates progress by pooling resources and expertise while spreading the risks associated with quantum technology development.
The testbed also serves as a focal point for Singapore’s quantum startup ecosystem. Through an incubator program, quantum startups receive mentorship, technical support, and subsidized access to the quantum resources. Several successful quantum software and application companies have already emerged from this program, addressing specialized market needs in quantum algorithm development, quantum security, and industry-specific applications.
The tour concluded with a discussion of the future roadmap for Singapore’s quantum ecosystem and the BDx testbed specifically. This forward-looking perspective highlighted several key initiatives planned for the coming years.
In terms of hardware capabilities, BDx plans to expand the testbed with next-generation quantum processors featuring improved coherence times and reduced error rates. The facility has secured agreements with multiple quantum hardware providers to ensure early access to these advanced systems as they become available. This hardware diversification strategy ensures the testbed remains relevant regardless of which quantum technologies ultimately prove most scalable.
On the software and applications front, the roadmap emphasizes the development of more sophisticated quantum-classical integration tools. These will include automated problem decomposition frameworks, enhanced error mitigation techniques, and more accessible programming interfaces designed for domain experts rather than quantum specialists.
Singapore’s government has committed to expanding quantum talent development programs, with plans to train over 5,000 quantum-ready professionals by 2030. The BDx testbed will play a central role in this initiative, hosting training workshops, certification programs, and hands-on learning experiences. This talent pipeline is considered essential for translating quantum technological capabilities into practical business and societal benefits.
International collaboration remains a cornerstone of Singapore’s quantum strategy. The country is establishing formal quantum cooperation agreements with other leading quantum nations, creating a global network of interconnected testbeds and research initiatives. The goal is to position Singapore as an essential node in the emerging global quantum ecosystem, leveraging its unique geographical and cultural position between East and West.
The tour of Singapore’s Hybrid Quantum-AI Testbed at BDx offered compelling evidence that quantum computing has moved beyond theoretical potential to practical implementation. The facility represents a significant milestone in quantum computing’s evolution—a physical manifestation of how quantum technologies can be integrated into existing computational infrastructures to deliver tangible benefits.
What distinguishes Singapore’s approach is its holistic ecosystem that addresses the entire quantum value chain from hardware and software to applications and talent development. By fostering close collaboration between government, academia, and industry, Singapore has created an environment where quantum innovation can flourish.
The BDx testbed, with its hybrid quantum-AI architecture, exemplifies the pragmatic approach that will likely characterize the next phase of quantum computing’s development. Rather than waiting for fault-tolerant quantum computers to arrive, this approach leverages current NISQ-era capabilities in combination with classical AI to deliver practical advantages for specific use cases.
As quantum technologies continue to mature, facilities like the BDx testbed will play an increasingly important role in translating quantum potential into real-world impact. For organizations looking to understand and prepare for the quantum future, Singapore offers not just a glimpse of what’s possible, but a concrete pathway to quantum readiness.
Join us at the World Quantum Summit 2025 in Singapore on September 23-25, 2025 to experience quantum computing’s real-world impact firsthand. Explore live demonstrations, case studies, and practical applications that are transforming industries today. Whether you’re a quantum expert or just beginning your quantum journey, WQS2025 offers insights and connections that will position you at the forefront of global quantum innovation.
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World Quantum Summit 2025
Sheraton Towers Singapore
39 Scotts Road, Singapore 228230
23rd - 25th September 2025
