October 2026
Building a World-Class Quantum Ecosystem
Once only a bold vision, quantum technologies are now shaping up to be as real as it gets. The European Union is moving to seize the opportunity by building on its world-class pool of talent and research. Yet only 5% of global private quantum funding currently comes from Europe. To bridge this gap, the European Commission is preparing to launch the quantum act. But past technological revolutions have seen no shortage of European strategies. How do we ensure that this time is different?
At the High-Level Roundtable on ‘Building a World-Class Ecosystem: How to Make the European Quantum Act a Market Success,’ convened by the Lisbon Council, Ester De Nicolas, head of developer relations, NVIDIA Quantum, reflected on the market developments to watch and on Europe’s strengths, opportunities and future prospects. She was joined by Kilian Gross, director, enabling and emerging technologies, directorate-general for communications networks, content and technology, European Commission, who offered an important snapshot of how new regulation can deliver in practice. Diving deeper into the realities facing those building and looking to scale in Europe, the Lisbon Council also gathered some of the leading founders in quantum technologies, including Alexander Glätzle, co-founder and CEO, planqc; Carlos Kuchkovsky, co-founder and CEO, QCentroid; Eva Martin, head of innovation, Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech; and Juha Vartiainen, co-founder and chief global affairs officer, IQM.
They were joined by other prominent voices in the debate such as Egita Aizsilniece-Ibema, head, Office for Innovation and Technology in Brussels, Permanent Representation of the Republic of Latvia to the European Union; Janine Ecker, European Union government affairs and public policy analyst, Google; Freeke Heijman-te Paske, vice president, European Quantum Industry Consortium; Pierre Jaeger, executive, Quantum Strategic Partnership for Europe and quantum leader for France, IBM Quantum; Lene Oddershede, chief scientific officer, planetary science and technology, Novo Nordisk Foundation; Roberta Ragaisyte, attaché for economic affairs, Permanent Representation of Lithuania to the European Union; and Enrique Sánchez Bautista, head of Brussels office, EU Quantum Flagship.
The roundtable also launched Quantum Leadership for European Competitiveness: Why Europe Needs a Combination of Strong Vision and Agile Choices and How to Deliver It, a new policy brief by the Lisbon Council offering a comprehensive framework for governance, resource allocation and strategic decision-making. A special presentation of the publication’s findings was delivered at the discussion by author Brian Paquelet Wütz, adjunct professor at ESADE Business School.