Germany to Create Its First Quantum Computing Business Cloud

Germany's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) has contracted software company QMWare and cloud specialist IONOS, together with the University of Stuttgart and the Fraunhofer FOKUS research institute, to construct a platform for quantum computing applications for German industry. The cloud will be the first of its kind in the country.

The project, called SeQenC, will run for three years and is part of the ministry's "Digital Technologies for Business" support program. The ministry will be investing tens of millions of euros, although no exact figure was named.

During the project's three-year span, selected partner companies from industry and the wider economy will be invited to test out applications in sectors such as telecommunications, logistics, finance, automotive and energy.

The project is the latest in a series of quantum computing initiating to come from the BMWK. In late September, the ministry announced that it would put EUR 14 million into a quantum processer prototype developed on the basis of photonic systems. The BMWK has pledged to invest EUR 740 million in quantum computing as a whole.

"The German government's investment indicate how serious it is about quantum computing in Germany," says Asha-Maria Sharma, computing industry expert at the German government agency Germany Trade & Invest. "Such initiatives not only create superior conditions for businesses active in Germany. They also show that niches are arising for international quantum computing businesses to come to Europe's largest economy and profit from this exciting transformation."