Colorado has been picked to join a global IBM program aimed at building AI and quantum readiness across the state, with the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade set to work directly with the tech giant on new data tools for talent and industry planning. The announcement places Colorado alongside a small group of organizations worldwide selected for IBM's latest Impact Accelerator cohort.
According to IBM Newsroom, the company announced on November 10 that four organizations were selected for its new education and workforce development cohort. The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, known as OEDIT, will work with IBM to advance AI and quantum readiness across the state, with IBM experts helping develop AI-enabled analytics and decision-support capabilities to inform talent and economic development strategies.
Per the same IBM announcement, the project will also expand access to quantum tools and resources, including IBM's Qiskit platform, while supporting broader AI and quantum education and talent development initiatives. Gov. Jared Polis framed the partnership as a way to position Colorado ahead of a fast-moving industry. “Colorado leads the nation in quantum innovation and advanced technologies,” Polis said. “By joining the IBM Impact Accelerator, we are leading by example and utilizing new technologies to drive long-term economic growth in Colorado, supporting jobs, and innovative businesses. We are thrilled to partner with IBM on this transformative effort.”
Who Else Is in the Cohort
Colorado's selection was not an isolated grant. As Forbes reports, the cohort gives four organizations two years of IBM technology and expertise, chosen from 306 proposals submitted globally, 107 of them from the United States. The other three selected organizations work on different pieces of the same broader problem: one nonprofit preparing U.S. teachers for AI, one protecting Latin American job seekers from fraudulent postings, and an education nonprofit operating within India's government schools.
Forbes notes that OEDIT is the cohort's only government entity, and will build data tools to guide its investments in talent and industry while expanding quantum education and training. The accelerator itself, described in the same report as a pro bono program, was created by someone identified only as Nixon-Santill and aims to rebuild parts of the path between school and a first job — a mission Forbes ties to an International Labour Organization figure showing one in five young people worldwide was neither working nor in school or training as of 2023.
Elevate Quantum and K-12 Classrooms Join the Effort
Two other Colorado-based partners round out the state's piece of the project. Elevate Quantum will help map and forecast the state's quantum ecosystem, according to Forbes, while the Colorado BOCES Association — which represents regional agencies that share services among school districts — will focus on quantum education for K-12 students. ColoradoBiz reports that the BOCES Association's work will emphasize reaching rural schools and introducing students to careers in the field.
ColoradoBiz also reports that IBM will provide its technology and expertise at no charge through the accelerator, and IBM's own announcement states the broader Impact Accelerator program has committed up to $75 million in cash and in-kind technology and services through 2028. Misti Ruthven, division director of talent innovation at OEDIT, described the scale of the challenge ahead. “Building a new and emerging industry is something that none of us have done in quite this way before,” Ruthven said.
A Growing Industry, and an Acknowledged Risk
Colorado officials have been building momentum in quantum technology for some time. ColoradoBiz reports the state already has more than 3,000 quantum professionals. Separately, a quantum workforce roadmap led by CU Boulder says the number of quantum company employees could rise to 10,000 within the next decade and aims to train, prepare and inspire the next generation of quantum workers and the general public across Colorado and the Mountain West.
Elevate Quantum, the nonprofit tapped to map the state's quantum ecosystem under the new IBM partnership, has its own track record in the space. The group previously partnered with IBM to roll out the company's curriculum to local colleges and universities and set a goal to train 3,500 workers in quantum-related careers by 2030, as reported by The Colorado Sun. That followed a $40.5 million federal grant the Sun reported Elevate Quantum received, and builds on the group's 2023 designation by the U.S. Economic Development Administration as one of 31 regional Tech Hubs, according to Elevate Quantum.
The cohort comprises four organizations.
