The Light of Co-Creation from Cambridge: Toshiba Innovation in Quantum and AI Technologies Accelerates in Europe

2025/01/23 Toshiba Clip Team

  • Refining quantum and AI technologies at Toshiba’s Cambridge Research Laboratory.
  • Using great timing and the “earthly advantage” of a U.K. location to create people-driven innovation.
  • Advancing Quantum and AI development through collaboration with researchers worldwide.
The Light of Co-Creation from Cambridge: Toshiba Innovation in Quantum and AI Technologies Accelerates in Europe

As a leading quantum technology company, Toshiba develops products and services that solve social issues, and its Cambridge Research Laboratory in the United Kingdom has won attention as a possible springboard to the next generation of quantum technology. Tatsuo Kozakaya, an AI researcher at the Corporate Research and Development Center in Japan, is the deputy director of the lab. What kind of innovation will the Cambridge lab achieve, not just with advanced quantum technologies, but with AI technologies as well? Here, we discuss the roadmap for how those technologies may be implemented in society—from Cambridge, a city dedicated to innovation.

“Heavenly Time,” “Earthly Advantage,” and “Man’s Harmony” at the Cambridge Research Laboratory

Cambridge, the county town of Cambridgeshire, is about 80 kilometers north of London as the crow flies, and has long been known as a university town. Often called “Silicon Fen,” the British version of Silicon Valley and a name taken from the local word for wetlands, the city boasts a considerable concentration of tech companies, and is one of the world’s leading hubs for start-ups. It is also home to Toshiba’s Cambridge Research Laboratory, which began fundamental research into quantum cryptography technology in the late 90s, and has since produced many world-firsts. In recent years, the lab has worked on projects sponsored by the Japanese and British governments, with the aim of bringing these technologies into society as soon as possible.

In September 2023, Toshiba took another step toward the commercialization of quantum technology with the opening of the Quantum Technology Centre at the Cambridge Science Park. Through this and other means, Toshiba aims to use Cambridge as a springboard for implementing quantum information technology, including quantum cryptography communication, in society.

Kozakaya, who became deputy director in October 2023, has a clear view of the road ahead: “Our goal is to be a world-leading industrial research laboratory, and our focus is on developing quantum and AI technologies. We want to continue moving forward with research and development in these two main areas, while also communicating with renowned European academics and companies in the pursuit of cutting-edge knowledge.”

Tatsuo Kozakaya, Deputy Managing Director, Cambridge Research Laboratory, Toshiba Research Europe Limited
Tatsuo Kozakaya, Deputy Managing Director, Cambridge Research Laboratory, Toshiba Research Europe Limited

That goal is made easier by the fact that the lab attracts highly motivated and capable researchers from around the world to research and develop quantum information technologies like quantum cryptography communications, and AI technologies such as computer vision and natural language dialogue and interactions.

Kozakaya joined Toshiba in 2001, where he honed his skills as an expert in facial recognition before going on to lead the Media AI Laboratory. Image recognition, not a widely known technology back then, is now a familiar part of our everyday lives due to advances in machine learning and computing power, and used in things like facial identity verification and advanced driving assistance in cars. AI technology is an incredibly lively field in terms of research and development, with the explosive popularization and evolution of deep learning sparked by the launch of AlexNet in 2012, and the emergence of generative AI in recent years. The result has been a field that is advancing and expanding ever more quickly. While Kozakaya said his assignment to his new post came out of left field, his determination as both a manager and AI researcher is firm. “What I want to do is steadily transform the output of the Cambridge Research Laboratory into value. This is a place where we can really engage with the research and development of cutting-edge technologies.” He went on to quote Mencius, the ancient Chinese philosopher, in describing the “blessed” research environment at the Cambridge Research Laboratory.

‘Heavenly time,’ ‘earthly advantage,’ and ‘man’s harmony.’ I think this is an important perspective to have when thinking about the creation of advanced technologies. Cambridge is a place where the trends of the era are born, where it is easier to keep abreast of the latest technologies. It attracts the world’s top academics, and makes it easier to co-create with them. And the researchers inspired by this environment, with their diverse perspectives, go on to interact closely and collaborate with those both inside and outside of their countries. Quantum and AI technologies are both highly competitive fields, but we’ll use the ‘heavenly time,’ ‘earthly advantage,’ and ‘man’s harmony’ afforded to us here at Cambridge to produce advanced technologies that are able to support society and businesses.”

“Heavenly time,” “earthly advantage,” and “man’s harmony” at the Cambridge Research Laboratory
“Heavenly time,” “earthly advantage,” and “man’s harmony” at the Cambridge Research Laboratory

Quantum and AI Technologies + Capable Personnel = The Co-Creation of a New Era

While the Cambridge Research Laboratory has developed a wide array of quantum cryptographic communication technologies, the nearest to commercialization is the innovative quantum secure network. This is a technology that protects data from interception and decryption through the malicious use of quantum computers. Realizing this kind of network technology, capable of enhancing security, also requires state-of-the-art AI. This is a perfect moment for the lab, one in which its long-time development of quantum technologies is being accelerated by AI technologies, themselves bolstered by the trend of the times. “Heavenly time” indeed.

When everything is connected to the Internet and there’s such a wide variety of data being exchanged, the challenge becomes how to transmit information as securely as possible. Quantum cryptography communications devices are themselves extremely high-precision, and AI has become an important part of their design and development process. AI is also used to process large volumes of data. We need both security and high-speed data processing, and combining the strengths of both quantum and AI technologies makes this easier to realize. Toshiba is responsible for many highly confidential infrastructure services, and we’re excited to see how quantum secure networks, which allow information to be transmitted securely, will play a role in these services.”

Quantum and AI technologies will enable high security, and both device development and high-speed data processing
Quantum and AI technologies will enable high security, and both device development and high-speed data processing

Part of Kozakaya’s mission is to deliver the technologies of the Cambridge Research Laboratory, which specializes in both quantum and AI technologies, to society. The world of the quantum Internet, it seems, is fast approaching. A world like that would be even more in need of the potential strengths of both quantum and AI.

Kozakaya continues from his perspective as an AI expert, “In quantum cryptography, we use the quantum properties of photons, where states are determined probabilistically. Ultimately, however, we need to achieve a machine that ordinary users can use without difficulty. State-of-the-art AI is a powerful tool when it comes to machine design and adjustment in these kinds of microscopic areas. It might even allow us to improve yield, set the right parameters, automatically improve quality, perhaps even realize quantum machine learning. These sorts of developments are underway all throughout the world, and there are no definitive answers as of yet. But it is in this sort of exploration that I believe Cambridge Research Laboratory can shine.”

At the lab, personnel with skills in quantum technology or AI technology engage in friendly competition, working with and learning from one another. Already, quantum and AI researchers communicate and work together on uncovering a new paradigm.

Of course, as a researcher I am also working on technology,” says Kozakaya. “Currently, my focus is on promoting and advancing Embodied AI that learns interactively from users at a site, adapts quickly, and continually expands its capabilities. Our customers are very interested in this area as well, and some very interesting ideas are beginning to emerge from our conversations with them. We want to continue our communication with them to try to explore this kind of new value.

Kozakaya being interviewed.
Kozakaya being interviewed.

“Earthly Advantage,” “Man’s Harmony” and Global Collaboration

Cambridge is home to a plethora of companies that are taking on advanced technologies, excellent universities and numerous research centers and institutes. The U.K., of course, was also the home of the mathematics, cryptanalysis, and computer science genius, Alan Turing. Kozakaya also commented on the “earthly advantage” of the Cambridge Research Laboratory.

The Cambridge Research Laboratory works closely with the University of Cambridge. Our director, Roberto Cipolla, is also a professor at the University of Cambridge. Physical proximity makes it easier to pursue joint research, and we are collaborating ever more closely in the fields of AI and quantum cryptography communication.

We also have so many of the world’s top academics right in our vicinity, from top-ranked Oxford University to the prestigious Imperial College London in the field of science and engineering. This environment, where we can engage in high-level communication of technology and knowledge, is an incredible boon to our researchers, and will facilitate the growth of our staff.

Interaction and collaboration with academics greatly facilitate the growth of researchers
Interaction and collaboration with academics greatly facilitate the growth of researchers

However, the technology developed in the lab cannot immediately be implemented in society. Kozakaya calls this stage—the stage that is necessary before societal implementation—“the realization of value.”

In order to get customers to want to use the advanced technologies developed in the lab, you need a business perspective as well. It’s not enough to research and develop the technologies that you think society needs. It also has to be feasible and practical in terms of things like cost.”

Kozakaya, in fact, has a unique insight into this perspective, having studied Management of Technology (MOT) at the Tokyo University of Science. The management perspective he gained there, he says, has been incredibly useful in managing the lab.

The MOT program had people from all sorts of different backgrounds—employees from small and medium-sized enterprises and foreign companies, entrepreneurs, and more. The Cambridge Research Laboratory is also home to researchers from different backgrounds, and the broad diversity here reminds me of when I was in the MOT program. Studying the theories behind things like marketing and finance has also allowed me to see things from the perspective of technology management. Just because something is a good technology doesn’t mean it’ll sell. You need to proceed from a management perspective if you want to implement the technology in society.

Cambridge Research Laboratory has the world’s leading researchers in quantum and AI, and an incredibly sharp and incisive perspective when it comes to research. The cutting-edge research being done here has incredible value, and has the potential to serve as the raw material for supporting the future of Toshiba. This raw material only has true value, however, if we are able to refine it into a product that can be delivered to customers, and therefore contribute to society.

“MOT gives you a big-picture perspective on technology that allows you to turn it into a product. Without coordination with the relevant Japanese research labs and business units in Japan, we would not be able to implement our technologies in society. My role is to serve as a sort of hub between research labs and business units, and a bridge between Europe and Japan, to facilitate the conversion of quantum and AI technologies into concrete value.

Here, Kozakaya reiterates the importance of “man’s harmony.” The members of the Cambridge Research Laboratory share a common commitment and ambition to utilize its technologies and give back to society. It is this sense of unity that bolsters the culture of the lab.

The characteristics of engineers that drive innovation
The characteristics of engineers that drive innovation

I’m personally convinced that it is people who drive innovation. When I tell the members of the lab about specific examples of us working with business units, their eyes light up, and they’re eager to hear more. I feel that they resonate with these efforts, that there is a desire to commercialize the technology and deliver it broadly to customers, and implement it in society—instead of staying cooped up in the lab just doing research.

Curiosity-driven, self-motivated researchers like these are more likely to create innovation. Their voluntary actions give rise to new forms of co-creation, new changes, and allow them to lead these efforts as well. The effectiveness of this kind of resonance and these acts of co-creation is not limited to the lab itself, extending to co-creation efforts with business units and external partners as well. As a researcher myself, I enjoy working alongside our diverse array of researchers, engaging in friendly rivalry and learning from one another in order to create this network.

The lab is home to people from diverse backgrounds, who engage in lively discussions
The lab is home to people from diverse backgrounds, who engage in lively discussions

And so the people at Cambridge Research Laboratory work to bolster its ability to discover cutting-edge knowledge. But what is the future they envision? To close out the interview, we asked Kozakaya to share his thoughts on the future of technology.

I’m confident that our role in identifying and actively taking in advanced technologies, and promoting and implementing these both inside and outside of the company, will remain unchanged. What will be important in this process is a personal belief of mine—that technology should not make people unhappy.

“In recent years, there’s been discourse on AI taking people’s jobs. As a researcher, I think the opposite, that if human beings are able to work with AI, we will be able to realize a sustainable society. The future we envision is one in which our research and development of quantum and AI technologies here at Cambridge, and the synergy this creates, helps realize a world where technology can coexist and flourish alongside people and the planet.

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