Quantum Industry Consortium kicks-off work
The European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC) announced its successful kick-off with its General Assembly event held online on April 14. The event gathered more than 100 members from all sectors of the quantum technologies industry in Europe, representing SMEs, large corporations, venture capitalists as well as research organizations, academic institutions and other industrial associations from all over the continent.
The work towards establishing a quantum industry consortium started in early 2020 when the Quantum Community Network, one of the three governing bodies of the Quantum Flagship initiative, expressed the need of a “privately owned body with the mission to advocate, promote, and foster the common interests of the European Quantum Industry towards all Quantum Technologies stakeholders”.
The European quantum community, led by Tommaso Calarco from the Forschungszentrum Jülich and Thomas Strohm from Bosch, laid the foundation of what today has been launched as the reference consortium officially recognised by the European Commission which represents the interests of the quantum technologies industry in Europe.
“The Quantum Community Network and Jülich Forschungszentrum are especially happy to have witnessed today, after almost two years of hard work, the birth of the European Quantum Industry Consortium. By coherently bringing forward the voice of industrial stakeholders of quantum technology, QuIC will join forces with all other European quantum initiatives to overcome any possible quantum winter and make the European digital decade into a quantum decade.” said Tommaso Calarco, Chair of the Quantum Community Network and Head of the Quantum Control division of the Peter Grünberg Institute at Forschungszentrum Jülich.
At the General Assembly, the QuIC officially appointed its governing board, electing Laure Le Bars (SAP) as president, Benno Broer (Qu&Co) and Thomas Strohm (Bosch) as vice presidents, and Enrique Lizaso (Multiverse Computing) as its treasurer. Furthermore, all chairs of the nine working groups presented their objectives, milestones and deliverables, with an outlook on the future tasks.
“The second quantum revolution will bring transformative advances to science, industry and society. I am convinced that Europe can lead in research, innovation and development of quantum technologies. Establishing the QuIC as a collaborative hub throughout Europe and building a strong, vibrant ecosystem between SMEs, large companies, investors, and leadingedge researchers can only boost Europe’s competitiveness. Together, we are developing strategic roadmaps, engaging in pre-standardisation activities, developing IP strategies, and determining needs in education and skills. We are also looking forward to collaborating with the European Commission and other stakeholders.” said Laure Le Bars, Research Project Director at SAP Technology & Innovation.
During the event, representatives of the European Commission, namely Thomas Skordas and Gustav
Kalbe from the Directorate‑General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT), presented their views and shared their expectations on the newly established QuIC. “The establishment of the QUIC consortium comes at a time when Union has ambitious plans for quantum research and technology deployment in Europe, in order to make the digital decade a reality. The association will be a precious partner in contributing to these aims and in developing a thriving quantum industrial ecosystem in Europe.” said Thomas Skordas, Director of Digital Excellence and Science Infrastructure at DG Connect.
To learn more about the QuIC, please visit http://quantumindustry.eu or reach out to [email protected].
Source: QuIC. QuIC, Quantum Industry Consortium kicks-off work…
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