EQTC 2023: Europe’s Quantum Sector to Showcase Research & Business Successes and Its Roadmap to Global Leadership

European Quantum Technologies Conference will gather ecosystem together for a 360-degree update on research breakthroughs, business-opportunity insights and connecting with key stakeholders

HANNOVER, Germany – 12 October 2023 – Energised by the growing momentum in Europe’s quantum technology sector, stakeholders from across the quantum ecosystem will converge in Hannover on 16-20 October to hear the latest about research breakthroughs, funding, business launches and opportunities, and the pathway to Europe’s leadership in the global quantum industry.

Organised by the EC’s Quantum Flagship and Quantum Valley Lower Saxony (QVLS), the European Quantum Technologies Conference (EQTC) will feature more than two-dozen plenary presentations and panel discussions, and more than 140 speakers on the successes and challenges for the EU’s quantum sector. Sessions will showcase developments in the four scientific pillars of the European quantum ecosystem - communications, computation, simulation and sensing & metrology – and the basic science upon which they are founded.

“Not only is basic research booming in quantum technologies but the first approaches and prototypes for applications are already being tested worldwide,” said Michèle Heurs, co-chair of the EQTC Organising Committee and head of the Quantum Control research group at Leibniz University Hannover. “This field is already of vast relevance to our everyday life – and this influence may exponentially grow in the future.”

Other presentations will highlight examples of quantum applications already transferred to European industry, updates on some of the EU’s most promising quantum start-ups and the outlook for the sector.

“Quantum is a game-changer for Europe,” said Dr. Gustav Kalbe, acting director, digital excellence & scientific infrastructures at the EC’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology. “EQTC 2023 is the platform to showcase Europe's expertise and leadership in the quantum field and the increasing interrelation and coordination among the multiple components of this promising, fast-growing sector.”

Building Momentum

Several areas of success highlight the momentum generated in the short time since the 2021 EQTC gathering, during which goals in many critical categories were agreed. For example, a Quantum Flagship key-performance indicator review, which measured 2022 progress towards meeting 2030 goals, found noteworthy performance in various categories:

• Quantum ecosystem venture-capital, seed funding and EU public investment increased 18.6 percent to €408 million from €344 million in 2021, to reach 40.8 percent of the 2030 goal of €1 billion.
• The ramp-up of quantum start-ups, spinoffs, incubators and accelerators, as well as public/private joint ventures in Europe, increased 20.25 percent to 95 in 2022 from 79 in 2021, reaching 38 percent of the 2030 goal of 250.
• The number of complementary subsystems that advance the state of the art and are necessary for quantum communications networks or to build a quantum internet increased from two to five – one-quarter of the 2030 goal.
• Connected European metropolitan areas and secure quantum key distribution (QKD) nodes that are integrated with a commercial telecom infrastructure increased from one metro area with eight nodes to 15 areas with 10 nodes each.
• In a measure of growing market readiness, five different (publicly known) product or service classes or use cases based on quantum sensors were developed by European companies and sold to European companies in 2022, up from three the previous year and reaching one-quarter of the 2030 target.

“These results, and more that will be made public in the coming months when our survey’s reach expands, show Europe’s quantum sector is vital, vibrant and focused on realistic goals established by the Quantum Flagship,” said Philippe Grangier, coordinator of the Quantum Flagship CSA ‘QUCATS’.  “They also confirm progress in structuration throughout the sector that is required for it to grow holistically, as it supplements research with applications and solutions for industry.”

Conference Sessions

The conference will feature policy-making sessions along with almost 40 exhibits by companies, Quantum Flagship initiatives and European research centres. A blend of high-level and research-rich presentations plus multiple panel discussions on crucial quantum issues and challenges will include Quantum Flagship presentations on progress since the previous EQTC in 2021.

For example, sessions on Tuesday, 17 October, will include a select panel on “European Leadership in Quantum Technologies” and presentations on successes featuring quantum computing & simulation and quantum communication.

A panel on Wednesday, 18 October, “Presentation and Discussion of the Quantum Flagship’s Strategic Research and Industry Agenda (SRIA)”, will preview some of the changes, challenges and thinking behind the upcoming edition of the SRIA. Managed by the Flagship, the report’s goal is the coordination and alignment of strategies and roadmaps of the EU’s main stakeholders in quantum technologies.

“This eagerly awaited report is the result of the hard work by a large number of Europe’s basic research and industry experts,” said panel moderator Salvatore Cinà of QUCATS. “Our panel will include insights into the main challenges that the SRIA report addresses and how it will impact the future strategy of the EU in quantum technologies.”

The updated SRIA report is expected to be released by year-end.

Organisers at EQTC, Europe’s official quantum gathering, are expecting approximately 700 participants at the event.

“This edition of the EQTC is designed to let Europe and the global quantum sector see and hear why Europe is a world leader in quantum,” said Grangier. “The Quantum Flagship is now embedded within many other EU actions to develop quantum science and technology, create quantum systems units (QSU), industry transfers and quantum infrastructures, while boosting applications and adoption by industry.”

Keynotes, Plenaries and Panel Discussions

Note: Each of the three parallel sessions on 18-20 October will cover the four pillars and quantum fundamentals, with a fifth track on a different topic.

About Quantum Flagship

The Quantum Flagship is a European Commission 10-year initiative launched in October 2018 to accelerate the development of quantum technologies and their transition to the market. The Flagship projects bring together academic and industrial partners from across Europe to collaborate on the future of quantum technology. The goal is to consolidate and increase European scientific leadership and excellence in quantum technologies and to position Europe as a dynamic and innovative region for breakthrough R&D, and promising business opportunities & investments in this sector. The Quantum Flagship is an affirmation of EU member states’ commitment to collective effort beyond national programs.

Press Contact                                                                                                                              

Agency
Sarah-Lyle Dampoux
sldampoux@mahoneylyle.com
+33 6 74 93 23 47

Quantum Flagship Communications Office
Chaymae Senhaji
chaymae.senhaji@cea.fr