Europe’s billion-euro Quantum Flagship hands out first grants

The first phase of Europe’s decade-long, billion-euro program to turn its quantum technology research into commercial products has come into focus. At an event held in Vienna on October 29th, the European Union announced the first €132 million of its quantum flagship initiative will be split between 20 continent-wide consortia over the next 3 years to develop new kinds of quantum sensors, communications, and computers.

Backers hope the investment will keep Europe from being overtaken in a potent new area of technology. “It’s important to start an applications sector to allow industry to grow in Europe,” says Ian Walmsley, of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and a member of the steering group that formulated the flagship.