Topic: EU - on June 22, 2016 at 6:18:00 PM CEST
Europe Will Spend €1 Billion to Turn Quantum Physics Into Quantum Technology
A 10-year-long megaproject will go beyond quantum computing and cryptography to advance other emerging technologies. European quantum physicists have done some amazing things over the past few decades: sent single photons to Earth orbit and back, created quantum bits that will be at the heart of computers that can crack today’s encryption, and “teleported” the quantum states of photons, electrons, and atoms. But they’ve had less success at turning the science into technology. At least that’s the feeling of some 3,400 scientists who signed the “Quantum Manifesto,” which calls for a big European project to support and coordinate quantum-tech R&D. The European Commission heard them, and answered in May with a €1 billion, 10-year-long megaproject called the Quantum Technology Flagship, to begin in 2018. “Europe had two choices: either band together and compete, or forget the whole thing and let others capitalize on research done in Europe,” says Anton Zeilinger, a physicist at the University of Vienna who did breakthrough work in quantum teleportation, which would be key to a future Internet secured by quantum physics.
... Comment
