About the Award

The National Science and Technology Forum’s (NSTF’s) theme for 2025 is Quantum Science and Technology. This is in alignment of the United Nations (UN) proclamation of 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.

Quantum Science and Technology in South Africa (SA)

Quantum science is a theory that has been in existence for almost a century and has given birth to disruptive technologies such as the laser (now the basis for modern manufacturing and communication), and the transistor (the essential element of computers and electronics), touching our daily lives. Recent advances in the science and technology of quantum entanglement have given rise to a “second quantum revolution”, with the promise of new disruptive technologies that cut across all disciplines – acknowledged by the awarding of the 2022 Nobel Prize for Physics. The reason is that quantum science and technology has enormous potential to impact on critical societal challenges such as climate, energy, food production, healthcare, and clean water as reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN Agenda 2030. Applications foreseen in the next decades will see transformative advances in medical imaging (health), efficient light-harvesting materials, better batteries and more efficient solar cells (clean energy), ultra-security in data (communications), exponentially faster computers that can solve complex problems such as climate and extreme weather (quantum computers), and more precise measurement systems (metrology). Underpinning this second quantum revolution is the notion of quantum entanglement, a core element of the original quantum science but only harnessed experimentally in the past couple of decades.

SA, like many of its international peers, has been an active player in this space, launching the South African Quantum Technology Initiative (SA QuTI ) in 2021.  The strategic plan is to turn high-level quantum science into practical quantum technologies, to train a quantum workforce, and make a difference to ordinary South Africans.