The future will be quantum, or it will not be, and Catalonia is called to play a role in this future. The Catalan ecosystem linked to quantum technologies is strengthening, with the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) and its quantum communications ring at the center, and with startups and initiatives emerging from this ecosystem that are gaining international relevance, such as LuxQuanta, Qilimanjaro, and Quside.
But, what is quantum and how can it affect our daily lives? Innovations in this field are outlining benefits such as improved disease detection; ultra-secure communications through quantum cryptography; the design of molecules for the synthesis of new drugs; extremely sensitive quantum sensors, and an endless number of applications that are even yet to be discovered.
"When people hear about quantum, most people think it's science fiction. However, it is one of the technologies that will most impact our lives in the future," highlights Vanesa Diaz, CEO of LuxQuanta, an ICFO spin-off that is a world leader in the development of quantum cryptography systems.
"What's more, along with AI, quantum is one of the technologies that is receiving the most attention globally at all levels," Diaz remarks. So much so that it is estimated that its economic impact worldwide will multiply tenfold over the next decade, reaching at least 100 billion euros by 2030.
The Catalan quantum technologies ecosystem, in its development phase, is made up of research centers, telecommunications companies, and startups like LuxQuanta. "There is a lot of quantum capacity in Catalonia, with very powerful entities that are working very hard and that will make it a benchmark, I am convinced," guarantees the CEO of the startup, which operates from the Mediterranean Technology Park in Castelldefels, where ICFO is also located.
One of the projects emerging in this field in Catalonia is the Barcelona Quantum Ring: a quantum communication ring for the metropolitan area. The project, which involves the ICFO, the Generalitat, and companies in the sector, will deploy terrestrial communication links with security protected by quantum keys using the existing fiber optic infrastructure in the Barcelona area, also connecting the ICFO, the Centre de Telecomunicacions i Tecnologies de la Informació (CTTI) of the Generalitat, and the Collserola Tower.
This communication ring is being built to prepare the metropolitan area for the gradual development of the pan-European quantum Internet network, the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure, which will be launched in the coming years. "This project brings us closer to what will be a paradigm shift at a technological level, and positions us as a pioneering territory in Europe, which will be fundamental for reputation and also for attracting business and talent," defends Diaz.
"The Barcelona Quantum Ring will be a shared-use network that will serve as a testbed in the field of quantum technologies. All communication networks are heading there: the future of networks is communicating with qubits." These qubits will replace the classic bits of zeros and ones, and will give rise to new logical possibilities and more complex calculations that will represent a revolution.
The Catalan ecosystem of quantum technologies, in development, is made up of research centers, telecommunications companies, and startupsThis revolution will lead to sensors of extraordinary sensitivity and computers of great power, as the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, which integrates quantum computing. The power and capacity of these computers generate multiple opportunities, but also entail risks, such as guaranteeing the security of digital communications.
And it is that, as quantum computing advances, current cybersecurity systems will be insufficient, since the new capabilities of computers will be able to overcome them. LuxQuanta was born in 2021 precisely to face this risk: "It is fighting fire with fire: quantum with more quantum."
Thus, this spin-off of ICFO focuses on guaranteeing ultra-secure communications through a quantum encryption system that integrates into existing optical networks, by installing LuxQuanta machines at both ends of the communication. The startup, which has been selected this year by the European Innovation Council Accelerator funding program, thus works to "protect communications worldwide with extremely cutting-edge technology," as its CEO describes.
The European commitment of this actor in the Catalan quantum ecosystem joins that obtained by another of the main companies in this field in Catalonia, Qilimanjaro, which was awarded as the best startup of 4YFN within the framework of this year's Mobile World Congress. In addition, another spin-off of ICFO, Quside, was one of the projects selected by the same European program that this year has opted for LuxQuanta. These international recognitions of Catalan initiatives contribute to strengthening the positioning of the Catalan quantum ecosystem, and certify that Catalonia is prepared and determined to be part of a future that will be marked by the quantum revolution.