King Willem-Alexander and President Macron take quantum to the agenda during state visit to the Netherlands
Yesterday, His Majesty the King Willem-Alexander and President Emmanuel Macron paid an official visit to the Amsterdam hub for a tour of the Quantum Gases & Quantum Information Lab and a round table on the significance of quantum for European open strategic autonomy. The visit, as part of the three days state visit of President Macron to the Netherlands, reflects the intensive cooperation between the Netherlands and France in quantum.
As an opportunity to showcase the facilities where pioneering research in the field of matter waves is conducted, Prof. Florian Schreck and Prof. Philippe Bouyer led an exclusive tour of the Quantum Gases & Quantum Information Lab with the King and President Macron: our team presented the pioneering research in the field of matter waves and how this technology can improve future quantum sensors.
The lab’s ambition is to build a European shared metrology network that uses quantum sensors for various applications related to climate change, such as floods, dikes, and changes in the oceans.
Discussing quantum’s significance for EU strategic autonomy
Following the lab tour, the King, President Macron, Minister Adriaansens, and Ministers Lescure and Retailleau joined a round table discussion on the future of Deeptech in Europe. During this session, which was moderated by Freeke Heijman, the delegation spoke with a diverse group of French and Dutch CEOs, investors and academics. The discussion underlined the significance of quantum technology for Europe’s open strategic autonomy.
In the afternoon, Ministers Robbert Dijkgraaf and Sylvie Retailleau, both quantum physicists, reinforced the long-standing academic relations of our countries, formalised in a bilateral MoU and a trilateral statement together with Germany.
Joining this round table from our community were Freeke Heijman, Jesse Robbers and Ton van ‘t Noordende and startup CEOs Jesse Qin-Dregely of Single Quantum, Stefan Hengesbach of QuiX Quantum, Niels Bultink of Qblox and Georges-Olivier Reymond of PASQAL.
Earlier that morning, our board member Pieter de Witte took part in the signing of the French-Dutch Innovation Pact for Innovation and sustainable growth during a round table led by VNO-NCW. Quantum technology is one of four central themes of the Pact.
On the first evening of the visit to the Netherlands, a State Banquet took place in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, for which Quantum Delta NL’s Director of Ecosystem Freeke Heijman and Strategic Partnerships Lead Ulrich Mans had the honour to be on the guest list.
We greatly thank all teams helping to arrange this wonderful occasion and all involved for their contribution to this successful visit.
Written by Juliette de la Rie, QDNL. Source linked here.
