Dutch and French Cooperation in Quantum Innovation

The second route is to actively stimulate spin-off and start-up companies. We already have 5 quantum start-up companies in Delft alone. And many more will follow, in Amsterdam, Paris, and Grenoble. This shall lead to a new industrial sector, and hopefully a small portion of these companies will turn out to be the unicorns of the future. From this point of view, I see quite some similarities between our two countries, but also many other European Member States.

Florian Carrière:

Both countries are among the most advanced in the quantum field. The Netherlands has recently announced the allocation of €615 million to the advancement of quantum technology and plans to complement the sum with a public-private investment of €3.6 billion by 2027. This public-private funding, led by the Quantum Delta NL program, is at the heart of the collaboration between research and industry. The goal is to scale up to 100 quantum startups and 2,000 PhD students and engineers over the funding period. The collaboration between research and industry is also present in the national R&D hubs that unite actors working in numerous key areas, from computing and communications to enabling technologies and quantum chip development. 

Finally, as is the case in the Netherlands, three geographic clusters have developed in the French ecosystem: Paris-Saclay, Paris and Grenoble.

The aim of this MoU is to connect the academic and industrial worlds on a European scale and not to limit ourselves to national partnerships. The European quantum ecosystem is still nascent. The number of skills and players available on the market is too low compared to the required needs. Closer collaboration would therefore make it possible to better distribute skills according to the needs of each country, while more quickly building up the necessary critical mass. If a French startup specializing in hardware cannot find a French partner to move forward on the software front, for example, it must go and find this partnership in the Netherlands. It seems unlikely that a single nation will excel in every aspect: France has solid foundations in the silicon sector, enabling technologies and software, while the Netherlands already has strong skills in quantum networks and cryptography. 

Both countries consider investing in ecosystem development through "quantum houses" to increase the amount of venture capital available. Is this a step in the right direction?

Rogier Verberk:

As previously noted, this emerging field is not yet solely dominated by a few large industrial players that define the way forward and organize the supply chain (at least not in Europe). Instead, we have multiple small start-ups, and fortunately also various interested companies, as well as highly trained scientists. This means that we have to work harder than in more established markets to bring these people together. Every now and then, you will see that the right set of people spark a breakthrough or launch a start-up. The same applies for venture capital. The amount of venture capital in Europe is finite, which has its downfalls. But it is also positive, since it forces us to focus on how to fully use the capital that we do have available. That is why the House of Quantum and La Maison du Quantique have an important role in France and the Netherlands’ respective national strategies. We hope that venture capital and human capital from different places and backgrounds may come together and create new start-ups or inventions. Such communities shall be supported by shared facilities and organizations like CEA, TNO and universities. If start-ups could make use of such resources, they could develop and progress faster, without having to invest as many funds on their privately owned equipment. I believe that building such communities around the House of Quantum / La Maison du Quantique is the right strategy for now. 

Finally, I’d like to emphasize that building a quantum technology industry as such is not the only objective. I truly believe that the technologies developed here will have a positive impact on, or synergy with, existing strong industries in Europe. Quantum computing power, quantum sensors and secure communication will all be incorporated or adopted by other industries. And the (applied) engineers working on the most current challenging tasks will also partly find a job there. This will hopefully help other industries become more sustainable from an economic, geo-political and environmental point of view.

Florian Carrière:

The development of these hubs should enable the development of training programs by strengthening collaborations and opportunities for researchers and engineers from both nations. A common platform listing job offers from players across the quantum industry will also be set up. For both the Netherlands and France, the ambition is clear: reduce the risk of a skills shortage in a market that is already understaffed, to avoid jeopardizing the expected future growth.

On the scale of a country such as France or the Netherlands, the envelopes are smaller and do not always allow for the same leverage effects. However, when put together, European budgets have nothing to be ashamed of. They make the old continent one of the leading investors in the field of quantum research. 

Despite the level of investment at the global level, funds tend to be scattered, which slows down the growth of these new clusters. Numerous entities and projects receive investments that do not allow them to overcome the financial barriers required to enter the quantum market. Investors will therefore have a key role to play in priming and scaling up future gems in the ecosystem.

The French-Dutch MoU is a positive development, as it enables the countries to overcome a number of obstacles inherent in the current European model. In parallel with the European Quantum Flagship initiative, such bilateral agreements should become the driving force behind European quantum independence, with the aim of creating a model for strong and effective cooperation between the field’s main players.

Copyright: THOMAS KIENZLE / AFP