Nordic quantum cooperation is not optional — it's essential

Two pilot projects

The Resilient Critical Infrastructures for the Nordics Project (ReCIN) was presented by Kristine Helen Falgren from the Danish Quantum Community, who is the project lead.

The ReCIN project will focus on identifying early use cases for quantum technologies that enhance the resilience of critical infrastructure—such as water, energy, telecommunications, and navigation systems—amid rising hybrid threats

She was clear that the most important success factor for the project is to get more end users in the industry to engage with the project and really see the benefits of quantum technology. When asked what the most important mistake is to avoid, she replied "I think working with quantum technology is very much about managing expectations. And starting this journey as a first step open minded, because this is a long haul. You will need to explore different use cases before you find a potential business case and quantum economic advantage."

The other quantum project is called the “Nordic Quantum Technology Pre-Incubation Program Project” and was presented by Anne Gladbo Platz from the BioInnovation Institute. This is a Nordic incubation program designed to bridge the gap between research and entrepreneurship. The goal is to create the Nordics' first dedicated cross-border pipeline for commercializing quantum technologies.

Anne Gladbo Platz explains she is eager to learn more about the Nordic Quantum network and the project partners, as this is a new situation for all the institutions involved. She is convinced that the key to success lies in building a quantum community with a network of like-minded people who can eventually create commercial players. When asked what mistakes we should avoid, she quickly replies: "That's actually pretty easy, because I think the biggest mistake is that we have this habit of thinking in terms of our own countries. We think we need to create startups for Denmark and the same in Norway, and in Finland, but we all need to start thinking across the Nordics, how do we actually build something that's good across the Nordics?"

Both are very clear that this is the beginning of a long journey with a steep learning curve and that Nordic cooperation is essential for success.

Green Grill Session

At the green stage Nordic Innovation had a so-called Green Grill Session with a highly competent panel discussing our Nordic-Baltic Quantum Ecosystem report. The panel consisted of Morten Bache, Novo Nordisk Foundation, Louise Lund Henneberg, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Denmark  and Lauri Sainiemi, Fabrication at Microsoft Quantum.

Here too, Nordic cooperation quickly became the focus of attention. The development of quantum technology is so demanding at all levels that it is completely unrealistic for individual Nordic countries to manage this on their own. If the Nordic region is to keep up with quantum developments, cooperation is the solution.
The importance of quickly following up on the policy recommendations was also highlighted, as was the essential need to appoint a leader to take responsibility for ensuring that this happens. A strong warning was also issued to avoid repeating the mistakes the Nordic countries made in the AI race, since the process is clearly similar.