How Europe Can Become a Leader in Quantum Technology

Depending on who you ask, quantum computers are going to solve almost all of mankind’s problems. Everything, from the financial markets to medicine, is going to be flipped on its head –  because quantum computers will be to classical computers what the Falcon 9 is to a bicycle. The field is moving fast, and Quantum Supremacy – the stage where a quantum device can solve a problem that no classical computer can solve in any feasible amount of time – is almost in the rear-view mirror.

Once they’ll get there, quantum computers will transform everything. But for now, there aren’t just that many people who know how to build them. These chandelier-looking machines are quasi-hand-built by PhDs in physics. And at the moment, the industry roadmap has at least one glaring pothole: a lack of trained people. 

In deep learning, fewer than 25,000 people can be considered world experts. The labor pool in quantum computing is significantly smaller. By some accounts, fewer than a thousand people in the world are doing leading research in the field. Scientists who build these systems specialize in quantum physics, which focuses on the unique behavior of matter and energy at their most fundamental level—atomic and subatomic scales. This involves studying the very small, very isolated, or very cold, which is nothing like the physics we experience in our day-to-day lives.

The crux of the matter extends beyond the industry shortage of quantum skills. There are also academic obstacles. While you might not need to be a quantum physicist to get hired by a quantum tech startup, the theory behind quantum computing is so deeply intertwined with elements of quantum physics, advanced math, and a wealth of interdisciplinary skills, a Ph.D.-level knowledge is almost necessary. Today, there are simply not enough profiles who understand what goes on “under the hood” of a quantum computer. 

Europe’s rich history in mathematics and physics has laid the foundation for today’s quantum computing industry. At the dawn of the 20th century, Newton’s laws of motion and Maxwell’s laws of light and electromagnetism could explain the entire physical. Einstein, who used Planck’s theory to explain the photoelectric effect, and Schrödinger, with his fundamental wave equation, revolutionized the field. Bohr contributed the particle-wave concept, while Heisenberg introduced the uncertainty principle. A legacy of scientific trailblazers laid the foundations for the next technological paradigm. 

This robust academic fabric allowed Europe to accumulate a wealth of publications. While the US has produced more impactful articles, Europe takes the lead in the volume of quantum-related publications and outperforms American institutions (McKinsey Quantum Technology Monitor, April 2023, page 46). This comes as no surprise, given that the quantum tech talent pool in Europe is not only more than twice the size of that in the US but also nearly three times denser (McKinsey Quantum Technology Monitor, April 2023, page 48). 

Dr. Jan Goetz, CEO and co-founder of IQM Quantum Computers, identifies Europe’s strong research sector as a magnet for investors. According to Goetz, Europe’s strengths lie in its scientific research, which is integral to quantum breakthroughs. “This is a very big chance for Europe because the money typically goes to where the good people are,” Goetz said. “And as this field is now emerging from the academic sector into the commercial sector, the money goes to the best research teams in the world. And Europe really has the world’s leading research teams.”

But Europe’s advantage in quantum tech is not only limited to highly specialized talent. The European Union has made billions of euros available for developing quantum technologies, especially for quantum computing. Germany alone has committed €2.2 billion, while the EU has committed more than €145 billion over the next two to three years to develop next-generation processors, with some of that investment dedicated to quantum. 

Europe also dominates in the key industry verticals that will benefit the most from the exponentially faster computation that quantum computers will enable – especially in material science, chemistry, and pharmaceuticals. In a way, the key industry verticals that would benefit the most from the quantum revolution are already well-established in Europe. The customer ecosystem is already there. 

Of course, this analysis should include lots of caveats. Building a regional industrial ecosystem is not just a matter of talent pool It requires substantial public sector involvement, efficient capital markets, and attractive salaries, just to begin with. But all of these elements are not interchangeable. Highly skilled human capital is orders of magnitude more valuable than financial capital. And its value only increases over time, as we get closer to the quantum revolution. 

That kind of specialized, ultra-rare talent is the fuel of all transformative technological revolutions. The history of technological progress is predicated on the ability of geographical ecosystems to play the right game with a large enough number of shots on goal. More quantum technologists, more shots on goal. 

What the top 1% of most talented and ambitious people choose to do with their one and precious life has a dramatic impact on their environment. In medieval Europe, literacy was the great “technology of ambition” – if you could write down instructions and there were people who could read them, you could administrate at scale. By the late 18th century, armies were professionalizing and the modern state was emerging. The military command was the new ‘technology of ambition’. Skip another couple of generations and finance emerges as the dominant ‘technology of ambition’. Cheques and memos written in London reverberate around the world. 

Ambitious people have gone from writing cheques to writing software – and, in the future, quantum software. By the numbers, Europe has more shots on goal to capitalize on the next “technology of ambition” and transform everything from warfare cybersecurity to drug discovery – and a thousand other things in between that we now take for granted. Europe’s quantum legacy is a crescendo a century in the making.