QWave – Making Europe the world’s Quantum heartland
The QWave webinar brought the European quantum community together to explore the future of quantum technologies. The session focused on the QuIC Position Paper on the European Quantum Strategy, presenting a inclusive roadmap to position Europe as a global quantum leader.
The webinar hosted leading voices from the quantum industry who helped shape the strategy: Cécile Perrault (Alice & Bob), Vice President of QuIC; Tanya Suarez (BluSpecs), QuIC Governing Board Member; Robert Harrison, QuIC Governing Board Member.
All three speakers played a central role in drafting the Position Paper and shared their unique insights on the vision, priorities, and actionable recommendations designed to strengthen Europe’s quantum ecosystem.
Why a strategy matter
Quantum is more than just another technology wave. It has the potential to reshape everything from communications and cybersecurity to materials science and medicine. But without coordination, Europe risks losing ground to global competitors and becoming dependent on others for critical technologies.
QuIC’s strategy is about changing that trajectory. It calls for unified governance, smarter funding, collaborative ecosystems, and global leadership, all anchored in Europe’s unique culture and strengths.
Centralised coordination
Right now, Europe’s quantum efforts are scattered. A proposed European Quantum Coordination Office would bring order and efficiency by:
- Aligning national strategies
- Facilitating collaboration across clusters
- Ensuring resources are used wisely
As Cecile Perrault puts it, this office is needed “to make sure that the national strategies are coordinated” and to be “smart with the resources we have.”
Smarter investment
Funding is the fuel of innovation, but Europe needs to get better at how it invests. QuIC recommends: transparent funding instruments that reward excellence, a dedicated European scale-up program to support revenue-generating companies and streamlined acquisition rules to avoid slow, bureaucratic processes.
As Tanya Suarez stresses, funding should focus on the “bests” continually support top talent.
Intellectual Property
Instead of relying on strict protectionism, Europe’s advantage lies in building open, collaborative ecosystems with trusted partners.
- Protect not just patents, but the entire knowledge base
- Strengthen legal frameworks for investment and IP
- Leverage Europe’s “quantum culture history” as a competitive edge
Winning the Talent Race
Quantum talent is in short supply worldwide. While salaries abroad may be higher, Europe offers something different: work-life balance, cultural flexibility and opportunities to grow through training and internships
To sustain this, the strategy calls for accessible resources, structured internship programs, and university outreach to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.
Europe’s Quantum opportunity
The Quantum Europe Strategy is not just about technology, it’s about Europe’s future role in a fast-changing world. By uniting governance, funding, talent, IP, and global partnerships, QuIC’s vision is clear: Europe has the chance to be the world’s quantum heartland. The time to act is now.