The definition and promotion of shared standards is a necessary step to facilitate growth and fully exploit the potential of the most advanced quantum technologies in the EU single market.
These aspects are at the centre of the activity of the Focus Group on Quantum Technologies(FGQT) – set up in 2020 within the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CEL-CENELEC) – which recently presented the results of its work in an article published in the open access journal EPJ Quantum Technology.
Italy takes part in the FGQT technical and scientific community through scientists from research institutes and universities, such as the National Institute of Metrology Research (INRiM), the National Research Council (CNR), the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), the National Interuniversity Consortium for Informatics (CINI), the Universities of Bari and Parma, as well as through national industry representatives.
The article outlines the potential of the so-called second quantum revolution to facilitate the engineering of new classes of sensors, communication systems and computers with unprecedented capabilities. Specifically, it is emphasized that these technologies demonstrate superior performance compared to classical ones in terms of higher sensitivity and security, better automatic operation, reduced energy consumption, lower maintenance requirements and higher reliability for industrial facilities. In addition, QT applications pave the way to the development of advanced methods for earth surveys, in times of climate change, for the exploration of natural resources and, above all, for information transmission, storage and processing.
It is no wonder, then, that the European Union has paid specific attention to this sector with the launch, a few years ago, of Quantum Flagship: a large-scale and long-term research initiative aimed at promoting the continent’s scientific and industrial leadership in quantum technologies as a catalyst for innovation.
