Austria joins European Declaration on Quantum Technologies

Vienna, July 24, 2024 – Austria recently officially signed the European Declaration on Quantum Technologies, which establishes strategic cooperation between EU member states to promote quantum technologies. The declaration was signed by all three research departments BMBWF, BMK and BMAW, which underlines its great importance for the entire research and innovation system.

The declaration was originally drawn up at the end of 2023 on the initiative of the EC during the Spanish Council Presidency. Initially only 11 states signed the document, but 18 EU member states, including Germany, France and the Netherlands, have now joined.

Austrian research in the field of quantum technologies has, undoubtedly, an internationally recognized excellence – something that was highlighted to the general public by Anton Zeilinger’s Nobel Prize in 2022. High-quality international connections are crucial for the transfer of findings from fundamental research into innovative products and services. Austria’s signing of the declaration underlines Austria’s long-standing successful commitment to this sector.

In terms of scientific publications in quantum research, Austria ranks second among EU countries with around 27 publications per million inhabitants. But Austria is also strong in other output indicators: with 1.7 patent applications per 10,000 R&D employees, Austria ranks third in the EU in 2021. The declaration expresses a duty for member states to cooperate in developing a European “world-class quantum technology ecosystem”. The goals include strengthening Europe’s position in the further development of quantum technologies, securing European sovereignty and security, and promoting innovation and job creation.

“Quantum technologies are an important topic for the future. Innovations in this area must therefore be increasingly integrated into practice and economic use. Numerous leading companies as well as start-ups and scale-ups in Austria are already working on quantum technologies. The European Declaration on Quantum Technologies is expressly aimed at application in companies. It is an important step towards European technological leadership in this area,” said Labor and Economics Minister Martin Kocher.

“The signing of the European Declaration on Quantum Technologies marks an important step for Austria’s continued commitment to promoting quantum technologies – a research field in which Austria is playing a pioneering role in global competition. This is not a short-term success, but the result of decades of investment in basic research. By participating in this European project, we are not only strengthening our position as a leading research nation, but are also contributing to the creation of an innovative and competitive Europe,” said Federal Minister of Education, Science and Research Martin Polaschek.

Federal Minister Leonore Gewessler says: “The European Declaration on Quantum Technologies is a strong commitment by the EU member states to the outstanding geopolitical importance of quantum technologies for the prosperity, sustainability and competitiveness of the continent. Thanks to its outstanding scientific and applied expertise, Austria can play an important role in a future European Quantum Valley. Quantum technologies also have considerable potential for a sustainable generation of technology, from high-precision climate modeling and weather forecasting thanks to improved quantum sensors, to the discovery and development of new materials for storing and converting energy through quantum simulation, to quantum high-performance computers that will use a fraction of energy resources.”

Gregor Weihs, Head of the Cluster of Excellence “Quantum Science Austria” adds: “The signing of the declaration shows Austria’s strong will to consolidate and expand its own leading position in quantum sciences. Technology development needs basic research as a basis, such as that carried out at the highest level in the Cluster of Excellence Quantum Science Austria. Conversely, the latest technologies enable breakthroughs at the limits of our knowledge. In the Quantum Pact, the states commit themselves to promoting both areas to the best of their ability.”

Cooperation is also indispensable in corporate quantum applications, as Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lechner & Magdalena Hauser, Co-CEOs of ParityQC, conclude:

In order to keep Europe at the forefront of quantum computing, collaborations between all member states are essential. By signing the European Declaration on Quantum Technologies, Austria is now also promising to take the necessary next steps to strengthen research and the economy in this area. As a quantum architecture company, we operate worldwide, which means that cooperation is part of our core business and we are very pleased that Austria supports this.

Quantum to Market – Initiative for the industrial implementation and commercial exploitation of quantum technologies in Austria

In addition, the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development has decided, at the suggestion of the federal government, to provide funds from the Future Austria Fund for a quantum initiative by Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH (aws) and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). A total of eight million euros will pave the way for the commercial exploitation and commercialization of quantum technologies in Austria. The aim is also to create stronger networking between players and awareness of the topic by setting up a “virtual quantum hub”.

The program will be finalized by aws and FFG in the next few weeks and is scheduled to open for submissions in autumn 2024.