Italy is at the forefront of the imminent ‘quantum revolution’, ready to consolidate its network of structures and experts to be at the forefront of future technologies, from super-fast communications to hacker-proof encryption. “Italy already has an extraordinary treasure trove of skills in this field,” Tommaso Calarco, one of the leading experts in quantum technologies at European and international level, who returned to Italy at the University of Bologna after 15 years, told ANSA. spent abroad.
Born in Rovereto 54 years ago, Calarco left Italy in 2007 to work in Germany, first in Ulm and then at the University of Cologne, where he still holds the chair, and in Jülich, where he directed the German Institute for quantum. He was the author of the Quantum Manifesto which in 2018 inspired the Quantum Flagship of the European Commission, financed with over 7.5 billion euros.
“The Physics department has decided to invest in quantum sciences and technologies, in line with the University of Bologna, in a far-reaching operation”, observed the director of the department, Andrea Cimatti, referring to the “Bologna fabric” which is developing around these skills and which also includes Cineca, which houses the Italian center for supercomputing. It’s an operation that starts in Bologna and extends from Emilia Romagna to all of Italy, he added. In our country “there is an ecosystem for this to happen”, observed Calarco.
The return of the Italian researcher is also “essential for developing a training course on the subject of quantum technologies”, added Civatti, referring to the possibility of preparing a generation of experts in the sector in Italy. Quantum technologies are also one of the chapters of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Pnrr) and according to Calarco “the possibility of stabilizing the objectives achieved thanks to the infrastructures present in the country is very evident, of creating a strong voice for Italy. It is a unique opportunity”. In fact, Bologna is expected to install one of the seven quantum computers envisaged in October 2022 by the European program EuroHPC JU (European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking). Italy will thus become one of the “seven quantum sisters”, as the supercomputing centers in Europe that already have a quantum computer or are preparing to have one are called. In addition to Germany with the centers in Jülich and Munich, Spain, France, Poland and the Czech Republic are part of it. Once installed, the seven quantum computers will form the first European network. At the moment those in Paris and Jülich are active.
The next step will be “to integrate all the local and national actors”, said Calarco referring to the University of Bologna, Cineca, the National Research Council (Cnr) and the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (Infn); at national level “an extended partnership is being worked on and an Italian Society of Quantum Technology is being born. The dream – he added – is to create a national institute of quantum technologies, as happened in France and Germany”.
Source: Ansa
I am a journalist with over 6 years of experience working in the news industry. I currently work as an author for Global Happenings, and my coverage focuses on Technology news. I have written for various publications, including Reuters, The New York Times and The Guardian.
