This white paper provides European small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with a practical introduction to quantum computing opportunities through the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) ecosystem. Written for business executives, including CEOs, CTOs, and startup founders, the document explains how quantum computing works, where the technology stands today, and how European businesses can begin exploring its potential. The paper covers the ten EuroHPC JU quantum computers deployed across eight European countries, representing six different qubit technologies: superconducting, neutral atom, photonic, trapped ion, quantum annealing, and semiconductor spin qubits. These quantum systems are integrated with powerful classical supercomputers, enabling hybrid workflows that combine classical and quantum computing strengths. Key topics include: the current state of quantum hardware (the NISQ era), criteria for evaluating quantum use cases, business applications across seven industry sectors (pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, telecommunications, manufacturing, logistics, and finance), and the role of National Competence Centres (NCCs) and the European Quantum Excellence Centre (QEX) in supporting SME engagement. The document provides a step by step pathway for SMEs to build quantum readiness, from foundational training through pilot projects, without requiring major upfront investment. It serves as a 2025 reference for European businesses seeking to understand and access the growing European quantum computing infrastructure.
This white paper provides European small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with a practical introduction to quantum computing opportunities through the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) ecosystem. Written for business executives, including CEOs, CTOs, and startup founders, the document explains how quantum computing works, where the technology stands today, and how European businesses can begin exploring its potential. The paper covers the ten EuroHPC JU quantum computers deployed across eight European countries, representing six different qubit technologies: superconducting, neutral atom, photonic, trapped ion, quantum annealing, and semiconductor spin qubits. These quantum systems are integrated with powerful classical supercomputers, enabling hybrid workflows that combine classical and quantum computing strengths. Key topics include: the current state of quantum hardware (the NISQ era), criteria for evaluating quantum use cases, business applications across seven industry sectors (pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, telecommunications, manufacturing, logistics, and finance), and the role of National Competence Centres (NCCs) and the European Quantum Excellence Centre (QEX) in supporting SME engagement. The document provides a step by step pathway for SMEs to build quantum readiness, from foundational training through pilot projects, without requiring major upfront investment. It serves as a 2025 reference for European businesses seeking to understand and access the growing European quantum computing infrastructure.
Quantum computing holds the potential to deliver great economic prosperity to the European Union (EU). However, the creation of successful business in the field is challenging owing to the required extensive investments into postdoctoral-level workforce and sophisticated infrastructure without an existing market that can financially support these operations. This commentary paper reviews the recent efforts taken in the EU to foster the quantum-computing ecosystem together with its current status. Importantly, we propose concrete actions for the EU to take to enable future growth of this field towards the desired goals. In particular, we suggest ways to enable the creation of EU-based quantum-computing unicorns which may act as key crystallization points of quantum technology and its commercialization. These unicorns may provide stability to the otherwise scattered ecosystem, thus pushing forward global policies enabling the global spread of EU innovations and technologies. The unicorns may act as a conduit, through which the EU-based quantum ecosystem can stand out from similar ecosystems based in Asia and the United States. Such strong companies are required because of the level of investment currently required in the marketplace. This paper suggests methodologies and best practices that can enhance the probability of the creation of the unicorns. Furthermore, we explore future scenarios, in which the unicorns can operate from the EU and to support the EU quantum ecosystem. This exploration is conducted focusing on the steps to be taken and on the impact the companies may have in our opinion.
Quantum computing has moved from a theoretical curiosity to a strategic technological priority for governments, hyperscale technology companies, and a fast-growing ecosystem of specialized start-ups. This survey provides a comprehensive, self-contained overview of the field as it stands in 2026. We first lay out the physical and mathematical foundations of quantum computation, superposition, entanglement, interference, and measurement, and contrast them systematically with classical computing. We then survey the competing hardware modalities (superconducting, trapped-ion, photonic, neutral-atom, topological, and spin qubits) and the logic gates and circuit model that operate on them, before reviewing the canonical quantum algorithms that motivate the field. We classify the major computing paradigms (gate-based, annealing, adiabatic, measurement-based, and topological), and examine the current state of the market, the national strategies of leading countries, and the roles played by IBM, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, NVIDIA, and a cohort of pure-play companies. Dedicated sections map undergraduate and graduate education pathways, including specific universities offering quantum-focused degrees, the domains in which quantum computers are expected to create value, and the career paths now opening in the field. We close with an explicit three-phase roadmap \qtoday{}, \qtomorrow{}, and the \qfuture{} and a candid discussion of the open scientific and engineering problems that stand between the present noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era and a fault-tolerant, utility-scale quantum computing industry.
Over the past two years, a comprehensive strategy for quantum technology in Europe has been created by the joint effort of academia and the business sector with community support from all over the continent.By building on that, Europe is making the next big leap with the first wave of pioneering projects launched in October 2018, sending a clear global signal that we will do our very best to retain the historic lead in quantum sciences.Building on Europe's rich scientific heritage and the strong quantum community, the Quantum Technology Flagship was launched by the European Commission with a €1 billion budget.The ambitious initiative will support over 5,000 of Europe's leading researchers over the next ten years.As announced during the official kick-off in October 2018, 20 projects worth €132 million will be funded in the initial 3-year phase via the European Commission's Horizon 2020 programme.A solid indicator of success is the staggering number of proposals submitted for the first Flagship call: 140 consortia have requested almost five times the available budget.Over the decade-long course of the Flagship, over 150 projects are expected to be realised.The total €1 billion funding will foster the entire quantum value chain from basic research to industrialisation, thus bringing together researchers and the business sector.Four research and innovation domains will simultaneously be the focus of the European efforts: Communication, Computation, Simulation, as well as Sensing and Metrology represent the major applied areas in the field, which will also be advanced by breakthrough discoveries in the fifth, underlying domain of Basic Science.The Communication domain will foster the development of cheap, compact, faster and more secure random number generators, as well as components and systems for continuous variable quantum communication.Parallel to these, a blueprint for the pan-European Quantum Internet shall be created by developing all essential subsystems and giving the first experimental demonstration.Within Computing, two projects aim to develop quantum computers that are competitive with today's state-of-the-art supercomputers, either by realising a fully-automated ion-trap quantum computer or by building a machine with up to 100 superconducting qubits.The Simulation domain will push the already well-advanced neutral atom and ion-based quantum simulation platforms and address quantum annealing or optimization problems through full programmability.Parallel to that a quantum simulator platform made of ultracold atoms will be created, engineering a new generation of quantum cascade laser frequency combs characterized by non-classical emission and entanglement among the comb nodes.The Sensing domain will see the development of novel and compact atomic clocks, as well as the exploitation of atom-like defects in diamond to develop a variety of sensors and in magnetic resonance imaging to improve the detection of cardiovascular diseases.Furthermore, it will support combining state-of-the-art quantum sensor physics with MEMS atomic vapor cells, allowing for high-volume, high-reliability, low-cost deployment.Finally, within the domain of Basic Science, seven projects will investigate a variety of topics and technologies, with a focus on microfabricated devices and photonic systems.Enhancing capabilities in quantum technologies will help create a lucrative knowledge-based industry, leading to long-term economic, scientific and societal benefits, while delivering novel ideas, tools, components, materials, methods and processes.By funding ground-breaking projects, the Flagship will enable "quantum leaps" in technology development over the next decade, which in turn will lead to establishing markets within and wealth creation even beyond the European quantum ecosystem.Currently Europe is still at the leading edge of quantum technologies worldwide.However, this might rapidly change, as the demand for technology and talent is increasing at an unprecedented pace around the globe due to the promising future of quantum applications.Governments of industry powerhouse nations like the USA or China, as well as corporations such as Google, IBM, Microsoft, Alibaba, and Tencent are already investing substantial amounts to unleash quantum technologies' potential.
The maturation of quantum computing from theoretical physics to engineering reality presents a complex landscape for stakeholders navigating the transition from Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices toward Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computation (FTQC). This report provides a comprehensive, technically rigorous analysis of the current quantum ecosystem, examining the hardware mosaic of leading qubit modalities—superconducting circuits, trapped ions, neutral atoms, and silicon spin qubits—and evaluating them against operational metrics, including coherence times, gate fidelities, and cryogenic infrastructure requirements. We dissect the full software stack, differentiating the near-term utility of error mitigation techniques such as Zero-Noise Extrapolation (ZNE) from the long-term necessity of Quantum Error Correction (QEC) and the milestone of logical qubit break-even. The analysis benchmarks hybrid algorithms (VQE, QAOA) and circuit knitting strategies against current cloud-accessible hardware performance, while also addressing the imminent non-computational impact of PostQuantum Cryptography (PQC) migration. Experimental data synthesised from leading vendor roadmaps and pre-print literature indicate that superconducting platforms currently lead in gate speed (nanosecond regime) but face crosstalk scaling challenges beyond 1,000 qubits. In contrast, trapped-ion and neutral-atom architectures demonstrate superior connectivity and coherence. The report concludes with a grounded, evidence-based five-year projection, identifying high-value vertical use cases in pharmaceuticals and finance, and providing a strategic framework for enterprises to separate quantum hype from tangible commercial opportunity. Future research directions include the realisation of low-overhead Quantum LDPC codes and the development of modular photonic interconnects to scale beyond single-chip architectures.
This white paper presents an overview of the current state of the art in high-performance computing (HPC) and its convergence with cloud technologies, with a strategic focus on innovation management and exploitation. It outlines recent advances in cloud-based HPC services, hybrid architectures, and federated systems that integrate edge, cloud, and HPC resources. Emerging paradigms such as federated learning, AIdriven optimization, and sustainable computing are analyzed for their transformative potential. Special emphasis is placed on the NOUS project, which exemplifies a holistic approach to federated HPC-cloud services, combining technical innovation with robust exploitation strategies. NOUS goes one step beyond and explores the integration of quantum computing in handling data existing in the cloud. As of late 2025, the synergy between Cloud Computing and Quantum Computing (QC) has matured into a functional "Quantum-as-a-Service" (QaaS) model. While physical quantum hardware remains too fragile for on-premise deployment, cloud providers have democratized access to the "Quantum Stack." This report highlights this progress, the issues and real future applications. NOUS addresses European priorities for digital sovereignty and data interoperability, supporting scalable, privacy-preserving, and AI-enabled HPC workflows. The paper concludes with a roadmap that positions NOUS as a reference architecture and innovation catalyst for Europe's distributed computing ecosystem.
Quantum computing represents a fundamentally different computational paradigm that harnesses quantum mechanical phenomena to process information in ways that classical computers cannot efficiently replicate. This paper provides an accessible introduction to quantum computing for IT professionals and developers seeking to understand the technology's principles, current state, and practical implications. The paper covers the foundational concepts of qubits, superposition, entanglement, and quantum gates, followed by an examination of prominent quantum algorithms and their applications. A comparative analysis of current quantum hardware approaches, including superconducting circuits, trapped ions, and photonic systems, contextualizes the engineering challenges that remain. The paper also addresses the implications of quantum computing for cryptography and outlines the emerging field of post-quantum cryptography. Market analysis and industry investment patterns suggest that while general-purpose quantum advantage remains years away, specific domain applications in chemistry, optimization, and financial modeling are approaching practical viability.