IBM Quantum's third annual developer conference is heading to Chicago, with the company opening applications for the IBM Quantum Developer Conference (QDC 2026) on June 29, according to IBM Research. The three-day event runs November 11 to 13 at the Sheraton Grand Riverwalk and centers on demonstrating real computational advantage rather than theoretical progress.
IBM says QDC 2026 attendees will get first access to updates from the IBM Quantum Roadmap and hear the latest advantage claims from the community. The agenda spans Hamiltonian simulation, optimization techniques, new Qiskit tooling, an expanded functions catalog, a new benchmarking toolkit, and progress toward fault-tolerant quantum computing. Hands-on workshops, coding challenges, and direct office hours with IBM engineers round out the schedule. IBM will post recordings of all sessions to IBM Quantum Platform after the event for those who cannot attend in person.
QDC is IBM's highest-concentration technical quantum event and is application-only, with IBM's review team prioritizing active Qiskit users who have research or development experience in quantum fields. Quantum developers, engineers, researchers, computational scientists, students, and educators are all eligible to apply. The application window closes September 21; first-round acceptance letters go out August 10, with final invitations by October 12.
The roadmap-preview angle is the sharpest signal. IBM Quantum has used QDC as the venue where it has previously disclosed new hardware generations and software capability tiers ahead of broader announcement, positioning attending developers to hear those updates before they reach the general community.
