On June 1, 2023, the Bizkaia Quantum Industrial Hub was presented at the Auditorium of the BAT (B Accelerator Tower) in Bilbao, a unique ecosystem to connect the main industry players and establish new collaborations and business opportunities around quantum computing. The kickoff was organized by the Provincial Council of Biscay and Lantik.

Bizkaia Quantum Industrial Hub is a long-term project designed to promote research and development of quantum computing to facilitate the adoption of quantum technologies in industry.

The presentation of the Bizkaia Quantum Industrial Hub was attended by some of the organizations that make up the Hub: the universities with campuses in Bizkaia, the technology development and transfer center Tecnalia, Telefónica, Oesía and quantum startups from Bizkaia (aQuantum, Global Data Quantum, QCentroid, Quantum Mads and Quanvia). Also in attendance were BBVA and Aquadat (sensorics) representing the demand and the cluster of applied knowledge and technology industries GAIA.

Among the attendees were also people involved in scientific activity, members of the European Commission and attendees of the kickoff of the European project OpenSuperQPlus to be held on this date in Bilbao.

The activity was carried out through a wide and intense agenda:

  • Welcome and institutional opening
    • Bizkaiko Foru Aldundia / Provincial Council of Bizkaia – Ainara Basurko, Provincial Councillor for Economic Promotion
  • Welcome and institutional opening
    • Joseba Laka, Director of Digital at Tecnalia and host of the event
  • Applicability panel
    • Aquadat – Jorge García del Arco, Founder and CEO
    • BBVA – Escolástico Sánchez, executive director
    • GAIA – Joseba Laka, member of the Board of Directors
  • Start-up panel
    • aQuantum – José Luis Hevia, founder and CTO
    • Global Data Quantum – Iker Jauregibeitia, Chief Data Officer
    • QCentroid – Carlos Kuchkovsky, founder and CTO
    • Quantum Mads – Javier Gonzalez, founder and CEO
    • Quanvia – Enrique Solano, founder and CEO
  • Panel of transfer centers and integrators
    • Tecnalia – Iñigo Arizaga, director of the Quantum Technologies Team (QTech)
    • Fundación Telefónica – Belén Martínez, head of Talent of Urduliz42
    • Oesía – Carlos Founaud, director of Innovation
  • Universities panel
  • Conclusions and farewell
  • Dinner-networking

During the Star-Up Panel José Luis Hevia, aQuantum CTO, provided extensive information about aQuantum’s activity in research, development, consulting and services in the fields of quantum software engineering and development, the close collaboration with universities, and also about the most outstanding functionalities of the QuantumPath® multi-technology platform for the development of industry-ready quantum-classical software systems.

Among the main objectives of the Bizkaia Quantum Industrial Hub is the effective contribution to quantum literacy, the creation of a quantum network, the practical application of quantum computing in industry and the creation of an ecosystem based on quantum computing that generates employment, business, and sustainable wealth. This is a Hub conceived to foster collaboration between researchers, developers and industry and thus contribute to accelerating the adoption of quantum technologies in Europe.

For aQuantum, which has been working towards these objectives for years, it is an honor to be part of the Bizkaia Quantum Industrial Hub and to be able to contribute effectively to the growth of this relevant quantum ecosystem.