Spain has the scientific and technological capabilities to play a relevant role in the new quantum economy, but it needs to accelerate the transfer of knowledge, develop specialized talent and mobilize investment to convert that potential into industrial activity and competitiveness. This has been the focus of the conference “Quantum Technologies: roadmap for Spain’s leadership in Europe”, organized today in Madrid by DigitalES, Spanish Association for Digitalization, and the Cotec Foundation, with the support of Red.es.
The meeting brought together representatives of public administrations, large technology companies, startups, universities and research centers to analyze the opportunities offered by these technologies and the challenges that Spain faces to position itself in an expanding international market.
The day served to present the White Paper on Quantum Technologies for the 2025-2030 Strategy, prepared by DigitalES, and the document Dynamization of the Quantum Technologies ecosystem in Spain, by Cotec. Both documents offer complementary perspectives on the capabilities of the Spanish ecosystem, its international positioning and the necessary conditions to promote a competitive quantum industry.
The institutional opening was attended by Miguel Sánchez Galindo, general director of DigitalES; Jorge Barrero, general director of Cotec, and Aleida Alcaide, general director of Artificial Intelligence. The scientific disseminator Pere Estupinyà served as master of ceremonies for the meeting.
Scale capabilities and encourage adoption
The Director General highlighted the strategic role of quantum technologies as the next great technological revolution and pointed to the experience acquired with the deployment of artificial intelligence to define the European strategy in quantum technologies. Aleida stressed that the current challenge lies in scaling these capabilities and promoting their business adoption through use case programs and software development for infrastructure hybridization.
Likewise, he reiterated the need to strengthen technological autonomy and sovereignty through public-private collaboration and the integration of national capabilities in upcoming community initiatives, such as the future European Quantum Act.
For Miguel Sanchez Galindo, general director of DigitalES, “Spain has a real opportunity to gain a foothold in the new quantum economy. We have a solid scientific base, technological companies with the capacity for innovation and experience in sectors where these technologies can provide great value. The challenge now is to connect all these capacities to convert knowledge into solutions and industrial activity. And to achieve this we need a public-private collaboration that goes beyond financing pilot projects and allows the development of a competitive ecosystem, capable of growing and positioning itself in Europe.”
From scientific capacity to market opportunities
The DigitalES White Paper analyzes the evolution of quantum computing, communications and sensing, three areas with different levels of maturity and application perspectives. The document identifies opportunities for Spain, and raises the need to direct investments towards those segments in which Spain can develop competitive advantages, reinforce technological transfer and favor the creation of industrial value chains.
These issues were the focus of the first table, “Quantum Radar: reports and perspectives”, in which Beatriz Arias, director of Digital Transformation at DigitalES, participated; Gorka Unamuno, head of Innovation and Strategic Alliances at Multiverse, and Luis Ignacio Vicente, strategic advisor at Pons IP, under the moderation of Ángel Sánchez, partner at Silo.
The conversation has addressed the positioning of the Spanish ecosystem, the evolution of industrial property and patents, as well as opportunities for specialization and the difficulties of transferring research to the market.
During the day, Beatriz Arias also presented the DigitalES Observatory of Applicability of Quantum Technologies, an initiative that already identifies 105 active actors in Spain, including companies, startups, universities, technology centers and research organizations.
The Observatory was created to offer an updated vision of existing capabilities, identify areas of specialization and facilitate connections between the agents that develop these technologies and the companies that can apply them. (Ndp Observatory)
Pilot projects bring quantum closer to companies
One of the central blocks of the day has been dedicated to applications that are already being explored in strategic sectors such as telecommunications, health, energy and industry.
Escolásico Sánchez (BBVA), Almudena Justo (Fujitsu), Estela Vilches (Moeve), Lluis Quiles (NTT DATA), Francisco García Vieira (Red.es) and Juan Cambeiro (Telefónica España) participated in the table “From real pilots to public policy: the quantum leap”.
The debate has allowed us to learn about the progress and challenges of different projects, including those developed within the framework of the agreement between Red.es and DigitalES, endowed with 7.5 million euros to promote applications of quantum technologies in strategic sectors.
Among the experiences analyzed are Telefónica’s solutions to develop secure communications against future quantum threats and optimize telecommunications networks; Fujitsu applications to improve healthcare resource planning, emergency logistics and medical information analysis; and the Moeve and NTT DATA projects to optimize industrial operations and detect asset anomalies using thermographic imaging and quantum algorithms. BBVA has provided, for its part, the perspective of the financial sector.
Beyond the specific cases, the panel has addressed what instruments are necessary so that these experiences can evolve towards larger scale applications, from financing and public procurement to regulation, demand creation and public-private collaboration.
Talent, infrastructure and cooperation for the 2030 horizon
The development of a competitive quantum industry also requires infrastructure, technological integration capabilities, and professionals prepared to translate scientific advances into commercial applications.
These challenges have been analyzed in the table “Quantum Spain 2030: talent, technology and quantum networks”, with the participation of Enrique Rohrer (Axencia Galega de Innovación, GAIN), Ismael Pacheco (Cellnex), Jaume Figueras (Nokia), Irene López de Vallejo (Tecnalia) and Luis Enrique García, vice-rector for Research at the Carlos III University of Madrid. The debate has been moderated by Hernán Rodríguez, from La Ecuación Digital.
Participants have addressed the challenges of developing scalable quantum networks and communications, their integration with existing infrastructures and the need to advance standards and interoperability. The formation of multidisciplinary profiles and coordination between the different territorial innovation hubs have also been examined, with the aim of generating industrial capabilities and achieving a greater competitive scale in Europe.
The European dimension has been present in the intervention of Óscar Díez, head of the Quantum Technologies Sector of the European Parliament, who has addressed the opportunities, challenges and priorities to strengthen Europe’s position in this new technological stage.
Quantum opportunities in Spain
The identification of industrial opportunities was the focus of another of the sessions of the day, “Where is Spain’s quantum opportunity?”, moderated by María Gregori, Director of Innovation at CaixaBank Tech, and in which Óscar Martín Moraleda (Deloitte), Mikel Díez (IBM Quantum), Eva Martín (Qilimanjaro) and Fernando de la Iglesia (Quside) participated.
The debate has focused on the areas of the quantum value chain in which Spain can develop a competitive position, from hardware and processors to software, algorithms, secure communications, sensors and specialized components.
The objective is for quantum technologies to become a new lever of competitiveness, security and prosperity for the Spanish economy.
The conversation has also addressed the difficulties in scaling and internationalizing technology companies and the need to direct efforts towards specific segments in which Spain can generate its own technology and participate in European value chains.
The business perspective has been completed with the intervention of Ibon Oñate, CEO of Global Data Quantum, on the development of the quantum ecosystem from the experience of a growing technology company.
Transform innovation into competitiveness
The day concluded with a dialogue between Miguel López-Valverde, Minister of Digitalization of the Community of Madrid, and Fernando Pescador del Oso, vice-rector for the Digital University of the Polytechnic University of Madrid. The closing was carried out by Jesús Herrero, general director of Red.es, who presented the conclusions of the meeting.
Herrero has highlighted public-private collaboration and has pointed out that “The private sector and the Administration share challenges in the development of quantum technologies and their integration in strategic sectors. Advancing this objective requires a shared vision and the willingness to work together to promote research, technological development and the training of specialized talent.”
The reports presented and the debates of the day put on the table a shared challenge: ensuring that Spain’s scientific and technological capabilities are translated into business solutions, investment, specialized employment and industrial activity.
