Quantum Technologies, the European Commission plan to a loan of 1 billion euros

The European Commission has announced a project financing of 1 billion euros in order to stimulate the development of a series of quantum technologies, going beyond even the simple computation. The initiative, which will start in 2018, has not yet been detailed with precision. The funding will come from a range of sources, including the Commission itself and other lenders European and national.

The Commission will have a substantial role, with the aim to help Europe keep pace with what is happening in the rest of the world. Some US companies are already investing in quantum computing technologies, while some Chinese researchers are close to completion of a quantum communication connection of 2,000 km, the longest in the world, to send secure information between Beijing and Shanghai.

The Commission's formal announcement was made last April 19, in the context of the presentation of the plans for the creation of a cloud-computing portal called the European Open Science Cloud, although the scope of the project will extend beyond quantum computing (the Commission declared its intention to allocate EUR 2 billion for the cloud computing initiative by 2020).

The initiative provides support for the design and development of systems relatively ready for the market, such as quantum telecommunication networks, high-sensitivity cameras, quantum simulators that can help to design new materials. The long-term vision is to create all-purpose quantum systems and high-precision sensors.

Currently the Union are already active some national research projects, such as the UK Quantum Technologies Programme and the Netherland's QuTech Initiative. Achieving the level of trade in the short term implies a pan-European effort, since the productive sector of the Old Continent is involved only marginally.

Further details will be announced at the Quantum Europe Conference in Amsterdam, scheduled on 17 and 18 May, when it will be officially presented the manifesto of the initiative.