Collaboration, community & commercialization
Quantum technologies are complex – so complex that no single research group or organization can realize, on its own, the promise of quantum computing or quantum internet. Collaboration is essential for innovation. Leaders from academia, engineering and industry are looking to work together to exploit quantum technology’s potential. QuTech brings these leaders together in strategic collaborations, to build better prototypes itself and to enable our partners to develop and commercialize successfully.
Partnerships to accelerate development
QuTech is continuously building collaborations with industrial players and fellow research institutes. The following new collaborations were initiated in 2021:
- On 29 September, QuTech and SURF (the collaborative organization for ICT in Dutch education and research) signed an agreement to collaborate on quantum technology. The collaboration recognizes current activities and commits to future activities, like supporting the backend of QuTech’s demonstrators with the SURF supercomputer, jointly developing and enabling hybrid quantum computations, developing an orchestrator for quantum networks and partnering in various projects.
- On 14 December, QuTech and the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft signed a collaboration agreement to jointly strengthen European innovation in quantum communication and quantum information networks. To champion the future of the quantum internet, they will initiate and promote a wider scientific collaboration, roll out new prototypes and testbeds, and make better joint use of know-how in application-oriented research and transfer to industry.
QuTech entrepreneurs: spin-offs, spinouts and patents
QuTech’s mission includes economic impact, with a focus on The Netherlands and EU. 2021 was a year of further expanding the ecosystem around us, and of collaborating with a growing number of partners.
The following events indicate our fast development curve:
- In 2020, a joint IP board and an IP process were introduced between QuTech and its mother organizations TU Delft and TNO, with the goal of managing the entire IP portfolio relevant to QuTech’s mission. We attracted an IP coordinator to accelerate awareness, and to support individual scientists and engineers in 2020. This led to a sharp increase in relevant IP production in 2020 and 2021 of 13 applications per year, compared to an average of 3 in the years before.
- The IP board identified a number of target areas, where an active search for vesting relevant IP was initiated. These target areas are chosen on the basis of their promise for future economic impact. They underpin QuTech’s position in the field and form the basis of potential spinouts or strategic collaborations.
- Spinout QuantWare (link naar: www.quantware.eu) was founded with the ambition to accelerate the usefulness of the quantum computer, while democratizing hardware and expanding the field. QuantWare works on the quickest path to useful quantum computation, based on a foundation of world-class expertise in scaling up superconducting Quantum Processor Units (QPUs).
- As described above, several new partnerships were set up.
Demonstrators
Realizing economic impact is a core element in QuTech’s mission. We do that through our partnerships and technology transfer, by building a smart IP portfolio, and by doing world-leading research and engineering. Our demonstrators are an essential element in our approach. They enable us to focus on our best scalable technologies and at the system engineering that is needed to integrate these. They also allow us to connect to users, thus creating feedback for our further development. Finally, they function as platforms for companies to connect to or to be launched from. In other words: they are a launchpad for a future supply chain.
Highlights:
- We launched the Quantum Network Explorer, and realized a proof of concept of measurement-device independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) between Delft and The Hague.
Building a thriving ecosystem
Key to our approach are the strategic partners we work with. Much of our ecosystem is physically close to us: companies like QBlox, Quantware, Orange Quantum Systems, Delft Circuits, Single Quantum, QPhox and Bluefors are based in our Quantum Delft innovation campus.
QuTech is host to the Quantum Delft organization. The development of Quantum Delft is guided and supported by these partners. Here, Quantum Delta NL has a special position as it drives a number of key elements for the ecosystem: international visibility, venture capital and the national House of Quantum, based at Quantum Delft. In this collaboration, the partners of Quantum Delft jointly create the best possible environment for our companies to grow and to attract new talent, customers and investments. Quantum Delft also attracts new companies to the ecosystem and promotes its success internationally.