FTQC Workshop: building the evidence for Europe’s Next Steps

As fault-tolerant quantum computing (FTQC) moves from scientific roadmaps towards integrated engineering, risk reduction and validation, initiatives such as the United States’ Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, the United Kingdom’s ProQure programme, France’s PROQCIMA and, most recently, Germany’s FTQC initiative illustrate different approaches to technical assessment, staged R&D support and procurement-oriented development. Europe is now shaping its own approach.

Rather than selecting a single technological platform at this stage, the approach aims to build the evidence needed to assess progress across different technologies and avoid premature technology selection.

The online workshop “FTQC Workshop: From Scientific Challenge to Industrial Implementation”, taking place on 2 October (14:00–17:30), will bring together the scientific, industrial and user perspectives needed to refine the design of the first FTQC action.

You can register for the event through Eventbrite, using the following link: https://www.eventbrite.es/e/ftqc-workshop-from-scientific-challenge-to-industrial-implementation-tickets-2001852762501

The workshop will address a central question: how should the European FTQC action be designed to support measurable progress on credible FTQC pathways, while preserving platform neutrality and avoiding premature technology selection? Policy makers from Member States and the European Commission, quantum industry representatives and scientists will discuss it from their respective perspectives.

The proposed approach could be structured in two steps. The first would support research and engineering activities focusing on the most important technical bottlenecks that European quantum computing platforms are facing.

As of 2028, this could be followed by a second step based on pre-commercial procurement (PCP), leading to the development of a fully operational quantum computing system that could reach the target of 1 000 logical qubits by 2031/32. The workshop will focus on the first of these steps.

What the workshop will address

The workshop will aim to:

1. Discuss the main European orientations on FTQC: the type of projects to launch and the stakeholders to engage with, in order to bring the right actors together across the quantum supply and value chain and across quantum computing platforms.
2. Identify the main technological, engineering and industrial bottlenecks that the first FTQC action should address.

The programme is organised in two sessions:

Session 1, 14:00–15:25 – Scientific, engineering and industrial challenges. Understanding what the first FTQC action should support

Session 2, 15:25–17:45 – Translating the evidence into the first FTQC action

The workshop is expected to help identify the scientific, engineering and industrial FTQC bottlenecks most suitable for the first action, while developing preliminary recommendations on issues requiring further technical, legal or programme-level work by the European Commission and EuroHPC JU.