An increasingly near future will lead us to use quantum computers in everyday life. The quantum technologies are those technologies whose operation is based on the active manipulation of the quantum states of matter, exploiting the principles of quantum mechanics. International industry players have identified quantum as a major emerging and disruptive technology.
In 2020, the European Union presented the Strategic Research Agenda for the Quantum Flagship, a document that aims to set a clear direction for the future development of quantum research and innovation in Europe. And not only that, because a real quantum revolution is underway among big tech companies like IBM, Google and Microsoft who are investing in their race for quantum supremacy.
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In 2021 they were invested overall in the quantum sector alone $2.5 billion, more than the total invested in the entire previous decade. To date, Europe has allocated over 7 billion euros for the development of the technology. In Italy in 2022 the National Center for High Performance Computing, Big Data and Quantum Computing was born but the resources allocated (320 million euros in 3 years) are reduced compared to other European countries, such as Germany which has allocated 2.65 billion euros between 2018 and 2028 or France with 1.8 billion euros for the period 2020-2026.
This demonstrates the importance of the initiative, also, of private actors towards the development of a strategically critical technology for the economic competitiveness of our country. The development of quantum technologies cannot ignore the creation of tables that aggregate different skills, financial, mathematical, physical and IT in primis. And of national and international alliances.
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ItalianTech interviewed Riccardo D’Alessandri, Managing Partner of Scientifica Venture Capitalwhich has recently created Quantum Italia, a vehicle that aims to invest in startup of quantum technologies, but with an eye that goes beyond national borders, to involve the many highly qualified Italians who live abroad. Not only that, D’Alessandri has formed an alliance with Unitary Funda real community of quantum experts, based in Berkeley, able to evaluate the potential of projects and their validity in terms of applications.
Why Quantum Italy?
“In the meantime, a premise is needed. Quantum technologies make use of two unique phenomena: superposition, in which the physical properties of a quantum entity remain undefined until measured, creating an entirely new mechanism for encoding information. And entanglement, in which quantum entities, once measured, exhibit correlations. Action on one entity instantly affects the outcome of future actions on its entangled twin, even when they are physically separated. The study of these phenomena opens up great challenges in various application fields, quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum imaging, quantum sensors and metrology, quantum simulators. That’s why Scientifica Venture decided to step into quantum technologies. We have immense and, to date, almost unexplored potential. As an investment vehicle, we are ready to invest significant resources in this sector”.
Could this be the right opportunity to stem the so-called brain drain problem?
“Bringing excellence back to Italy is one of our priorities, we talk to many Italians residing abroad and none of them exclude the possibility of returning, we want to create the right opportunity for them to return to Italy. And the right opportunity could just be to support Italy in this phase of the quantum revolution”.
Is this why you signed an agreement with an international fund?
“Yes. Unitary Fund has a real ecosystem of quantum technology that it has been able to grow around itself. A system formed by young minds of excellence on quantum technology. We are proud to have partnered with an international fund dedicated to studying these emerging technologies. We want to create an open quantum ecosystem, involving national and international players. Scientifica Venture is analyzing, among other things, various initiatives in the area of deal flow, we plan to close the first three investments by 2023″.
Upcoming initiatives?
“On April 12, Scientifica will launch Call4Ideas Super Sapiens Day Factory to select ideas and projects with a high technological intensity. The aim is to identify and finance innovative projects characterized by a strong scientific component and accompany them on a path of growth and market positioning that determines their transformation into successful companies”.
How did the idea come about?
“The idea was born from the belief that to feed the innovation process, in addition to transversal skills, working groups and knowledge sharing are needed. From the certainty that, in addition to coordination skills, it is necessary to have an overview, an essential condition for setting up a common research and development path. For this reason we have built a “chain of innovators” that connects several players with the aim of creating an ecosystem capable of promoting technology transfer. This has created the conditions for the launch of a Call with a totally new imprint which represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for candidate projects and teams of proposers”.