Spain's first 100% European technology quantum computer is now operational at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC). The new computer has been integrated into the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer at the Barcelona center, and its capabilities and power will be made available to researchers and companies by connecting it to the Spanish Supercomputing Network.
Driven within the framework of the Quantum Spain initiative promoted by the Government, the computer has been built entirely with European technology, with significant involvement from the Spanish business fabric linked to this field. The project, which has received eight million euros in state and EU funding, thus represents a step towards European strategic autonomy in the technological field.
In this way, having this computer allows for boosting "energy sovereignty and promoting open science," defended the Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López. In an event with Minister Diana Morant; the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, and the President of the BSC, Mateo Valero, López highlighted the role of Spanish companies in the development and installation of the computer.
To continue promoting innovation with quantum technology and bringing it closer to the business, industrial, and academic spheres, López announced that the Government is working on a national strategy for quantum technologies. Also with a view to this objective, the Government has contributed 170 million euros to the BSC in the last five years, as highlighted by Morant.
In this regard, Illa focused on the fact that BSC's supercomputing represents a technology "governed by public criteria." And, according to Illa, it must be focused on the common good, and not be at the service of a specific company or business, as it is a technology called to transform multiple sectors and fields. So much so that supercomputing and data are changing the way research is conducted, as stated by Valero, who applauded that the computer is built from European technology: "We are late, but together we can."
In addition, for the construction and operation of the computer, the same open-source chips have been used as will be used in the European Dare project, promoted to accelerate the development of high-performance chips from Europe. The initiative will be coordinated precisely by the BSC, which will play a prominent role in this field at a European level, just as it will in artificial intelligence after having been selected to lead one of the seven European centers for promoting AI.