The opening of Simula’s two new national quantum technology centres

Partners, stakeholders, and members of the quantum research community gathered at Simula to mark the launch of the Norwegian Quantum Software Centre (NorQSoft) and the Centre for Quantum Communication Networks and Applications (QCNA). Both are funded by the Research Council of Norway as part of the Norwegian government's  investment in quantum technology.

The event was opened by Sigrun Aasland, Minister of Research and Higher Education and Lillian Røstad, Simula CEO.

"I am deeply impressed by the drive, the commitment, and the ambitions gathered in these two centres and in this room. You are building partnerships with major players in industry and the public sector, as well as with leading research institutions in Norway and abroad,” Aasland said.

Quantum communication networks, protocols and applications

Professor Carlos Cid was first to present his new centre, hosted at Simula UiB. The objective of QCNA is to build knowledge, competence and expertise in Norway for the design, implementation and evaluation of quantum communication networks, protocols and applications. 

The centre draws its inspiration from one of the most cited works in the field, Quantum internet: A vision for the road ahead (science.org). 

“The paper presents six phases of possible future applications. Assuming that these functionalities are in place, what can we do with that? That’s what we want to look into,” Carlos said. 

As part of its research, QCNA will develop and deploy Norway's first quantum communication testbed, in collaboration with Telenor and Toshiba, and other validated solutions. The aim is to provide secure, reliable and useful functionalities in the emerging era of quantum communications. 

The quantum software bottleneck

Chief Research Scientist Shaukat Ali will lead the new NorQSoft centre at Simula Research Laboratory in Oslo. Ali is one of the pioneers in quantum software engineering, and has been researching the ideas underpinning the centre over the last seven years. 

The centre's research will focus on developing the software tools and methods needed to realise the practical potential of quantum computers — addressing what Ali describes as a critical bottleneck. 

"A huge amount of effort is being put into building quantum computing hardware. But without a software revolution, advanced hardware will remain inaccessible," he said. 

NorQSoft's research spans the full software stack, and includes real-world use cases in partnership with the Cancer Registry of Norway, Sygens, ORCA Computing and DNV. 

“We need to show that we can make quantum computing applications that are useful and accessible, because software development is always based on open source,” said Ali.

Perspectives from UK 

To mark the occasion, Simula welcomed two leading international voices from the quantum research community. Professor Erika Andersson from Heriot-Watt University, who plays a leading role in the UK's Integrated Quantum Networks Hub, spoke on quantum communication and its implications for secure networks. 

Professor Chris Heunen from the University of Edinburgh presented work from the university's Quantum Software Lab and introduced the newly launched Quantum Software Alliance — a global initiative that Simula, through NorQSoft, is in the process of joining.

Norway in the Nordic quantum landscape

Simula's Division Director Are Magnus Bruaset closed the formal programme by situating the two new centres within a broader Nordic and international context.

"No single Nordic country can play a substantial role on the global stage alone. But together, we can put the Nordic region on the map — and collaboration is central to every national strategy in the region," he said. 

Global investment in quantum technology has grown by 27 percent over the past twelve months alone, he noted, and Norway's new national centres mark a milestone in the national ambitions.

Facts

Norwegian Quantum Software Centre (NorQSoft)

• Centre Director: Shaukat Ali, Chief Research Scientist
• Host institution: Simula Research Laboratory, Oslo
• Partners: OsloMet, Sintef, Chalmers University of Technology, University of Southern Denmark (SDU), National Institute of Informatics (NII), Orca Computing, Cancer Registry of Norway, DNV, Syngens 
• Funded by the Research Council of Norway

Centre for Quantum Communication Networks and Applications (QCNA)

• Centre Director: Carlos Cid, Professor
• Host institution: Simula UiB, Bergen
• Partners: Sintef, SimulaMet, NTNU, Classique at Aalborg University, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Toshiba, Telenor 
• Funded by the Research Council of Norway