In the world of money-swallowing tech, AI has been the golden goose that most countries around the world have been pumping cash into. Thanks to the likes of Nvidia, Microsoft, OpenAI, and many others, America is the undisputed leader in this sector, and with China following closely behind. Perhaps feeling that it has somewhat missed the boat, Europe has decided that it too wants to be a tech leader and has set its sights on besting everyone in quantum computing by 2030.
To achieve this lofty goal, the European Commission has commenced its snappily-titled Quantum Europe Strategy that focuses on five areas: research and development; quantum infrastructures; a stronger quantum ecosystem; space and dual-use quantum technologies; and quantum skills. If you want a more visual breakdown as to what any of that actually means, the EC has created a PDF factsheet you can download.
If you're thinking that this all sounds like it will cost a lot of money, the European Commission says the strategy aims "to boost the share of global private funding that European quantum companies receive, currently at around 5%, to stimulate the growth of European startups and scaleups and promote the uptake of European quantum solutions by European industries."
It also estimates that, by 2040, the quantum technology sector (especially anything related to defence and security) will be worth in excess of €155 billion globally. That does seem like a lot of money, though compared to how much cash is spent on AI, it's a small drop in the ocean.
Despite many decades of research into quantum computing, it's still not at the point where it can be fully utilised on the same scale as traditional computing. A more cynical view would be to say that quantum computing hasn't really left the laboratory, despite claims to the contrary. However, that's to be expected given that the sector really hasn't received anything like the same level of funding that AI has in the past few years.
Hopefully, that's precisely what the EC's new strategy will help to change, and all those hard years of work carried out by academic institutions and independent companies will finally bear fruit in the form of functional quantum computers that perform calculations vital to progressing medicine and space science, as well as defence and security.
The European Commission aims to follow the strategy with a Quantum Act proposal next year, which would incentivise "Member States and companies, investors and researchers to invest in (pilot) production facilities, under the umbrella of large-scale EU-wide national or regional initiatives."
Whether any of this will achieve the goal of making Europe the world leader in quantum computing within five years is anyone's guess, but one has to start somewhere, and it's a positive sign that Europe's policy makers are at least setting things in stone. I dare say that none of us will probably see a quantum computer make us a cup of Earl Grey tea at home in our lifetimes, but I hope to one day see a genuine QC doing its thing in a genuine use case, rather than a research laboratory.
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