Swiss Quantum Commission formulates the «Swiss Quantum Strategy»
The Swiss Quantum Commission (SQC), as mandated by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, has formulated a Swiss strategy for quantum. To this end, over the past 2.5 years the SQC initiated and led several rounds of discussions with representatives from industry, academia, and policy. In addition, SQC calls for ideas and proposals across the entire Swiss quantum community were incorporated into the strategic direction and recommendations.
Building on decades of education, research and innovation, Switzerland offers a unique environment for quantum science and technologies; excellent research, strong deep tech and industrial expertise are all embedded in a reliable societal and political frame. Located at the heart of Europe and in close collaboration with its international partners, Switzerland is set to play a key role in shaping the future of quantum science and technology for years and decades to come. The Swiss Quantum Strategy lays out the pathway for Switzerland to further develop its ecosystem to an international hub for quantum science, education and innovation. As such, Switzerland offers a world-class environment where scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, investors and companies of all sizes build and harness quantum technologies.
To strengthen this position, the Swiss Quantum Commission has identified five strategic goals:
- Switzerland as an international hub for quantum
- Interdisciplinary fundamental and applied research
- Translational infrastructures, platforms and engineering services
- Scaling and commercialization
- Education and training
Concrete Recommendations: Deep Tech Fund, Funding of Fundamental Research, Culture of Early Adopters
Switzerland has a robust base and ambitious goals in quantum communication, quantum computation, quantum simulation as well as quantum sensing and metrology. The breadth of research and innovation topics pursued and the associated skill base is one of the key strengths of Switzerland. However, there is considerable room for enhancing the connections between academic excellence and emerging applications, entrepreneurship, as well as the scaling of technologies.
The SQC recommends significantly strengthening and accelerating Swiss efforts to scale and commercialize quantum technologies. To achieve this, the design and setup of a Swiss deep tech fund is strongly recommended. This will help start-ups and SMEs to better scale while protecting their value creation and intellectual property. Further, a culture of early adopters needs to be crafted and strongly promoted. For technologies which are not yet ready for common use cases and direct applications, funding for more fundamental research with a bottom-up approach including NCCR-type structures should be continued. As a basis for these efforts, the already strong education system in Switzerland continues to be a solid and incredibly valuable anchor point.
