Quantum News Briefs November 28: Finnish MEP & New EU Technology Chief Henna Virkkunen Prioritizes Quantum for Europe’s Sovereignty • Telefonica Germany Tests Quantum Technologies in Pilot with AWS • GPS Without Space? DOD Looks to Quantum for an Answer • France to Buy Atos Supercomputing, Quantum Business for €1.1bn
Finnish MEP & New EU Technology Chief Henna Virkkunen Prioritizes Quantum for Europe’s Sovereignty
Finnish MEP and new EU technology chief Henna Virkkunen made an emphatic case for Europe’s leadership in quantum technologies during her EU parliamentary confirmation hearing according to the Quantum Flagship news.
Virkkunen will be Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy of the European Commission for the next five years.
In her opening remarks November 12 for the new Commission at the European Parliament , Virkkunen outlined an ambitious vision for Europe, promising to launch a long-term EU Quantum Chips Plan aimed at boosting Europe’s quantum capabilities.
Virkkunen also spoke of introducing a Quantum Act.
Her words echoed the Quantum Flagship Strategic Research and Industry Agenda SRIA 2030 roadmap, which calls to end reliance on outside nations for developing essential components and hardware and position Europe as the world’s first ‘Quantum Valley’.
See: IQT Nordics May 20-22, 2o25
The Executive Vice President-designate highlighted the critical importance of quantum technologies, declaring them central to her mission, alongside AI, cloud, and space technologies.
In Other News: CNA Reports “Telefonica Germany Tests Quantum Technologies in Pilot with AWS”
Telefonica Germany and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are working on a pilot to test quantum technologies in the telecom operator’s mobile network, executives from the two companies said according to November 28 reporting from CNA,
AWS and Telefonica will look to calculate the optimal placement of mobile towers, find ways to secure the network with quantum encryption, and use the insights to develop 6G networks.
“We are creating the necessary conditions today to leverage quantum technologies and their possibilities in our network,” said Mallik Rao, Chief Technology & Information Officer at O2 Telefonica, which is also known as Telefonica Germany.
Earlier this year, Telefonica Germany announced plans to move one million of its 5G customers to the AWS cloud.
In Other News: Air & Space Forces Reports “GPS Without Space? DOD Looks to Quantum for an Answer”
The Department of Defense is eyeing localized quantum sensors as a radical alternative to space-based Global Positioning System satellites in the face of increasing threats to GPS signals needed for precision navigation and timing according to Shaun Waterman in November 27 Air and Space Forces.
The military depends on GPS for navigation, timing, and targeting, and industries from transportation to agriculture to banking rely on its precision for a host of purposes. But the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have exposed how signal jamming and spoofing can deny access to signals from space, forcing users to seek alternatives.
DIU solicited industry seeking quantum sensing technology that could augment or back up GPS satellites for military applications within a couple of years. The “project will focus on demonstrating the military utility of quantum sensors to address strategic Joint Force competencies,” DIU said at the time.
The solicitation was designed to encourage a variety of approaches and solutions, Estep said. “There won’t be one quantum sensor to rule them all, that that the Air Force will use, that the Navy would want to use, that the Army [would want to] … There’s no panacea—quantum or classical—to address all of the joint force PNT needs.”
In Other News: EE News Europe Reports “France to Buy Atos Supercomputing, Quantum Business for €1.1bn”
The French government has made a €1.125bn offer for the supercomputing and quantum computing business of Atos as reported by EE News Europe.
The debt-laden business is undergoing a strategic restructuring and the French government tis offering €500m for the supercomputing unit with another €625m for earn out condition.
Exclusivity for the non-binding offer has been granted until May 31, 2025, depending on customary commercial, employee and administrative authorizations. The Atos restructuring is expected to be completed by the end of 2024 or early in 2025, and an initial payment of €150m million is to be made available upon signing of the Share Purchase Agreement.
