Technopolis and UKRI: leveraging Glass.AI to research the 'impossible' quantum sector.
• Public Sector Organisations
Government and Economics Consultancy Map Hidden Quantum Tech Sector
Technopolis and UKRI gained a complete view of the UK’s quantum technology sector, discovering previously unclassified firms and enabling accurate country benchmarking.
↗ Key Impact
£195,000+ in research savings
600+ additional companies uncovered beyond traditional sources
3–6 month manual process reduced to weeks
Background
Technopolis, a leading research and innovation consultancy, was tasked by UKRI with mapping the UK’s quantum technology (QT) sector and benchmarking it against international peers. Traditional methods like SIC codes and databases proved inadequate, missing many companies and obscuring the supply chain positions of the companies. The previous coverage was incomplete, and manual research would have been slow, costly, and error-prone.
The challenge was clear: identify hidden players, enrich and validate previous research with reliable identifiers, and create a foundation for cross-country comparison, all within tight timelines.
Solution
Technopolis partnered with Glass.AI to leverage its AI-driven web intelligence platform. Glass.AI scanned millions of online sources from company websites to job postings and media mentions, detecting QT-related signals that traditional tools missed.
Key elements of the solution included:
AI + human-in-the-loop validation
Automated discovery of firms, refined through expert review to reduce false positives, and fine-tune the discovery model.Supply chain categorisation
Deep research of products and contextual keyword matching to place companies within the QT ecosystem.Data connectivity
Company Registration Numbers (CRNs) and structured metadata enabled integration with secondary datasets.Agile collaboration
Weekly reviews and iterative search refinement ensured accuracy and alignment with project goals.
“We knew there were more companies in the sector that weren’t captured by traditional methods. Glass.AI helped us identify what we didn’t know existed.”
Impact
By using Glass.AI, Technopolis achieved deeper sector visibility and faster insights at a fraction of the cost of manual research.
Results delivered:
Discovery of quantum firms invisible to traditional company databases or standard classifications.
Accurate supply chain mapping, supporting government funding strategies.
Robust benchmarking across six countries.
Clean, structured data outputsthat could be reused for policy, investment, and future tenders.
Business value:
£195,000 in estimated financial benefit (savings from reduced manual research, avoided delays, and improved data accuracy).
Insights that informed UK government decisions and gave Technopolis a competitive edge in winning future projects.
“Web reading of social media and company websites gave us a layer of visibility we never had before.”
Want Insights No One Else Can See?
Discover how Glass.AI can transform your research process and unlock intelligence hidden across the web. Let's discuss your specific needs.