Transform 22/04/2026

Future8 Joins QEC4QEA: Connecting Quantum Research, Infrastructures and Industry

Driving novel technologies towards responsible application, societal value creation and impact-oriented innovation

Quantum computers have the potential to transform many areas of society, from secure communication and advanced medical diagnostics to new approaches in materials development. However, turning this potential into practical applications requires close interaction between scientific research, technological infrastructure, and industrial use cases from an early stage.

Future8 is partner in QEC4QEA, a project funded by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking that aims to establish a European Centre of Excellence for Quantum-Enhanced Applications. Coordinated by the Jülich Supercomputing Centre, the four-year project brings together 19 industrial and academic partners from Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Poland, Slovenia, Lithuania, and Turkey.

QEC4QEA is developing a European “one-stop shop” for quantum solutions, support services, and educational programmes. It addresses key challenges that currently limit the broader deployment of quantum technologies, including the lack of standardised tools, specialised training, shared access to infrastructure, and structured exchange between researchers, developers, infrastructure providers, and end-users.

QEC4QEA will provide:

• a hardware-independent application library
• benchmarking tools
• curated access to high-performance computing and quantum infrastructures across Europe
• tailored training programmes
• a dedicated help desk for users and developers

From quantum research to practical and responsible application

A central objective of the multi-partner consortium is to support the integration of quantum functionalities into classical high-performance computing applications and to advance quantum–classical algorithms. This includes fostering close collaboration between developers and users, supporting co-design processes, and helping translate research results into application-oriented solutions.

The project will focus on use cases in areas such as cryptography, quantum-enhanced machine learning, image analysis, and financial crash prediction. These examples are intended to demonstrate how quantum technologies can be developed and assessed in relation to concrete societal and industrial needs.

For Future8, the endeavour aligns closely with our mission to connect forward-looking research with societal value creation and impact-oriented innovation. Responsible for systematic stakeholder analysis and outreach, strategic communications and exploitation activities, Future8’s role in QEC4QEA contributes to the project’s wider goals: strengthening Europe’s quantum innovation ecosystem, supporting capacity building, connecting research, infrastructures and industry, thus, accelerating the responsible adoption of emerging technologies and practical quantum-enhanced applications.

Learn more about QEC4QEA: https://www.qec4qea.eu/