QIT–Quantum Information Technologies promises are very serious, greatly exceeding only technical and market levels. Development of QIT in Europe, treated as building a new infrastructural civilization level, requires a broader view of coordination, funding and priority-setting policy. Simple measures used in the case of the development of new technologies, but not creating a significant ecosystem, are insufficient in this case. Quantum technologies are poised to create a new information layer of knowledge-based society. In this essay, the author subjectively addresses some of the issues such as: what we already know and what we don't know, and what efforts are being made in Europe. Polish version of this paper was published in Przegl.Telekom.2.23.
QIT–Quantum Information Technologies promises are very serious, greatly exceeding only technical and market levels. Development of QIT in Europe, treated as building a new infrastructural civilization level, requires a broader view of coordination, funding and priority-setting policy. Simple measures used in the case of the development of new technologies, but not creating a significant ecosystem, are insufficient in this case. Quantum technologies are poised to create a new information layer of knowledge-based society. In this essay, the author subjectively addresses some of the issues such as: what we already know and what we don't know, and what efforts are being made in Europe. Polish version of this paper was published in Przegl.Telekom.2.23.
Quantum information technologies QIT have two separate but entangled layers – material and ideological. Material layer embraces algorithms, physical devices and systems. Cognitive layer is related to the boundaries and structure of our knowledge, including the magic of nonlocal interactions and subtleties of contextuality. The paradox is that QIT should use quantum magic as a resource to turn into functional utility. The International Year of Quantum Science and Technology is celebrated in Europe, Poland and elsewhere. Opening conference at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris was attended by representatives of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and some quantum science groups. Several scientific conferences organized in Poland were announced to the IYQ25 calendar, including: May Symposia of Information and Quantum Horizons in Gdańsk, August Max Born Optical Symposium in Wrocław, September Congress of the Polish Physicists in Katowice. Quantum research projects are realized in Poland, QuantERA, tasks included in the European Quantum Flagship EQF, construction of quantum equipment by university consortia MIKOK, quantum networks and others.
Europe has to face strong competitive challenges in the field of QIT from other regions of the world. The tools for the effective implementation of the challenges related to the start, we hope, of building a quantum civilization are both common and individual in particular European countries. Joint projects in the field of QIT, usually narrowly focused, are announced by large European Agencies and are related to their activities. Large-scale collaborative projects are of course the domain of the EC. National projects depend heavily on the capabilities of individual countries and vary greatly in size. The most technologically advanced European countries invest hundreds of millions of Euros in national QIT projects annually. The largest European FET class project currently being implemented is the Quantum Flagship. Although the EQF is basically just one of the elements of a large and complicated European scene of development of quantum technologies, it becomes the most important element and, in a sense, a dominant one, also supported from the political level. There are complex connections and feedbacks between the elements of this quantum scene. National projects try to link to the EQF. Here we are interested in such connections and their impact on the effectiveness of QIT development in Europe, and especially in Poland.
The article is part of a course on Quantum Information Technologies QIT conducted at the Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology of the Warsaw University of Technology. The subject includes a publishing workshop exercised by engineering students. How do ICT engineers see QIT from their point of view? How can they implement quantum technologies in their future work? M.Sc. students usually have strictly declared topics for their master’s theses. The implementation of some works is at an advanced stage. The potential areas of application of QIT are defined and narrow if they are to intellectually expand the area of the completed theses. This is the idea of incorporating QIT components or interfaces into classic ICT solutions at the software and hardware level. It is possible to propose a solution in the form of a functional hybrid system. QIT systems should be functionally incorporated into the existing ICT environment, generating measurable added value. Such a task is quite demanding, but practice shows that it interests students. Solutions don’t have to be mature or even feasible. They can be dreams of young engineers. The exercise is a publication workshop related to the fast development of QIT. The article is a continuation of publication exercises conducted with previous groups of students participating in QIT lectures.
As the first applications leap out of research laboratories toward commercialization, the global race for dominance in the maturing field of quantum technologies is becoming ever fiercer. To retain its historical lead and kick-start a continent-wide quantum-driven industry and accelerate market take-up, Europe has launched the Quantum Flagship, an ambitious €1 billion, 10 year endeavor. This article provides an overview of the underlying considerations and the current state of the initiative. Furthermore, it briefly presents the 20 projects selected to be at the core of the ramp-up phase of the initiative, which will address core applications of quantum technologies such as communications, computing, simulation, as well as sensing and metrology, all of which are supported by basic science. Finally, we present the broader ecosystem of European funding instruments and institutions which aim to create the next generation of disruptive technologies within quantum sciences, placing Europe as a worldwide knowledge-based industrial and technological leader in this innovative field.
The aim of the paper is to show how graduated engineering students in classical ICT view practically the advent of the QIT. The students do their theses in El.Eng. and ICT and were asked how to implement now or in the future the QIT in their current or future work. Most of them have strictly defined research topics and in some cases the realization stage is advanced. Thus, most of the potential QIT application areas are defined and quite narrow. In such a case, the issue to be considered is the incorporation of QIT components and interfaces into the existing ICT infrastructure, software and hardware alike, and propose a solution as a reasonable functional hybrid system. The QIT components or circuits are not standalone in most cases, they should be somehow incorporated into existing environment, with a measurable added value. Not an easy task indeed. We have to excuse the students if the proposed solutions are not ripe enough. The exercise was proposed as an on-purpose publication workshop, related strictly to the fast and fascinating development of the QIT. The paper is a continuation of publishing exercises with previous groups of students participating in QIT lectures.
Quantum information science and technology is a vast field that includes computing, telecommunications, detection and sensors, with a wide range of applications. Taken together, these technologies promise to revolutionise our information systems. The significant advances in quantum technologies in recent years, and their implications for security and the economy in particular, have created a real momentum of interest among governments, including in Europe. Despite the impressive advances made by the two giants, China and the United States, and unlike most other digital technologies, Europe (in the geographical sense) is well placed in the global race for quantum technologies. On this promising basis, can Europe hope to achieve technological sovereignty in quantum technology? There are two main challenges: firstly, reconciling the objective of sovereignty with international cooperation, and secondly, ensuring that any quantum strategy is rooted in a holistic, long-term perspective.