A decade of quantum flagships, how far has Europe come

The European Commission has published a report on the initial three-year phase of the Quantum Technologies Flagship (QTF) [1]. The report reviews the successful results and specific achievements of the Flagship's quantum research projects and summarizes the main lessons learned at the beginning of the next phase of the Flagship.

Flagship Program on Quantum Technologies

The Quantum Technologies Flagship Program [2] supports the work of hundreds of quantum researchers over a 10-year period with an expected EU budget of €1 billion. Launched in 2018 following the 2016 Quantum Manifesto, the flagship brings together research institutions, industry and public funders to consolidate and expand Europe's scientific leadership and excellence in quantum technologies. The ultimate goal is to support the translation of European research into commercial applications that take full advantage of the disruptive potential of quantum.

An overview of the Quantum Technologies Flagship Program's ramp-up phase and the areas of the 21 scientific projects it funds.

During the Flagship's start-up phase (October 2018 to September 2021), it has a total budget of €152 million for 24 projects. It funds projects in four core application areas.

Quantum computing

quantum simulation

Quantum communication

Quantum metrology and sensing

It also funds the fundamental scientific research behind quantum technologies, as well as educational and international collaborative activities in quantum technologies.

The flagship's research goals are determined by its strategic research agenda for quantum technologies, to which more than 2,000 European quantum experts contribute. Its long-term vision is to develop a quantum Internet in Europe, where quantum computers, simulators and sensors are interconnected through quantum communication networks.

Achievements of the start-up phase

During its start-up phase (2018-2022), the Flagship Program supported 24 projects in quantum communication, quantum computing, quantum simulation, quantum sensing and metrology (the four main areas of quantum research), and fundamental quantum science. In funding the flagship programs and QuantERA (which supports quantum research in 31 European countries), the EU has provided more than 175 million euros for European quantum research since 2016.

All these achievements (and many more) are the result of the collaborative efforts of 1654 scientists and 236 organizations involved in the flagship projects, who have published 1313 scientific papers (with 223 more under review). This is a clear indication of the collective achievements that the Flagship Project has made in the scientific community.

A visual summary of the synergies between the quantum flagship programs

During the acceleration phase, the Flagship Program's main goal is to take quantum research from the lab to commercial applications, and significant progress has been made: 25 startups have been formed and 105 patents have been filed, 64 of which have been approved.

Some of the key achievements of the flagship program focus areas covered in the report include

Quantum computing: globally competitive quantum computer systems. The Ürich Research Center (Germany) aims to deliver a 100-quantum-bit quantum computer based on the results of one project, and another project realizes a first-of-its-kind 50-quantum-bit trapped ion system requiring no more energy than boiling a kettle; startups include AQT (Austria) and PASQAL (France), both of which are already offering commercial quantum computing solutions.

Quantum communications: connecting two quantum processors via an intermediate node and creating shared entanglement between multiple independent quantum processors to form a quantum network; publishing the roadmap for the European Quantum Communications Centre (EQCC) and deploying a testbed for quantum key distribution (QKD), the first service offered by EQCC; and certification-ready devices such as quantum random number generators.

Quantum simulations: practical quantum advantages have been reached in certain scientific problems involving the study of new materials and phases of matter, for the first time in the world; two 100-qubit simulated quantum simulators are being installed at the Ullrich Research Center and at the GENCI's Supercomputing and Data Center in France, the first step in the deployment of a pan-European hybrid high-performance computing and quantum simulation infrastructure.

Quantum sensing: some of the world's most advanced quantum sensors have been developed using ultra-pure diamonds; demonstration of hyperpolarized MRI, which could lead to medical scans up to 100,000 times more accurate, allowing real-time detection of metabolic processes at the molecular level; in November 2022, the startup Nvision received the Commission's Innovation Radar Award for its advances in medical imaging.

Basic Quantum Science: significant progress in the development of several alternative computing platforms, including photonics-based quantum computing.

List of startups and spin-off companies

Paving the way for the EU's quantum frontier

In the future, this flagship project will be key to achieving the goals set out in the European Commission's Communiqué "Digital Compass 2030: A European approach to the Digital Decade": by 2025, the EU should have its first computer with quantum acceleration, paving the way to be at the forefront of quantum capabilities by 2030.

The first of these goals is already in sight: in October 2022, six sites were announced that will house Europe's first quantum computers, which will be integrated into the supercomputers of the European Joint Project on High Performance Computing.

Under the European Horizon project, the European Commission will continue to support this flagship project for the period 2021-2027, providing at least 500 million euros in funding. An update of the Strategic Research and Industrial Agenda (SRIA) has been published, setting out enhanced goals for each of the initiative's four key pillars and a roadmap to achieve them. Several new projects are already underway to achieve these goals: for example, the maturation of quantum computing and simulation platforms developed during the first three years of activity of the flagship program, as they work to achieve practical quantum advantages for real-world problems. The project also lays the foundation for a pan-European quantum communication network, which is essential for the development of the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) [3], which will span the entire EU.

The renewed SRIA also includes a focus on future industrial developments, as well as strengthening links with other EU initiatives involving quantum technologies: namely EuroQCI, the European High Performance Computing Joint Project (EuroHPC JU), and the European Chip Act. This will ensure that the innovative applications developed on the basis of the flagship projects' research will form the basis of the European quantum ecosystem and help Europe to maintain its leading position in this globally competitive field.

Reference link:

[1]https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/quantum-tech-flagship-ramp-phase-report

[2]https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/quantum-technologies-flagship

[3]https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/european-quantum-communication-infrastructure-euroqci