Visualising quantum innovation: A regional case study

Abstract

At the beginning of this century, the advent of a second generation of ‘quantum technologies’ was announced together with its revolutionary potential to change existing information technologies. Despite the rapidly increasing paid to quantum technological development, there has been little attention paid to the specific characteristics or relationships within emerging quantum ecosystems. The aim of this study is to visualize the innovation structures and relationships that are emerging to shape these technological developments. As these structures typically depend on specific regional features, we have specifically focused on the Spanish case, as it is potentially indicative of the differences between European innovation models and other regional patterns. This objective was achieved by researching the funding network of the ecosystem, collected from a systematic review of various official sources and relevant previous literature. The resulting dataset was framed using the Innovation Ecosystem model and broken down through network analysis theory, as well as characterized through descriptive statistics. This framework identified the significant role that projects play in European scientific and technological innovation, which work as hubs to concentrate resources and incentive cooperation between actors. This is relevant because current work on quantum technologies neglects their importance, as their analysis focuses on the quantity of institutions rather than their relations. Moreover, this paper points out the prominence of public funding to drive quantum innovation, largely stemming from the European Commission. This is another key mechanism that is missed by the existing literature. Finally, it also sheds light on the recipients of this funding, who are mostly research centres. These results allow us to conceptualize the Spanish quantum ecosystem and offer the opportunity for comparative studies with other quantum technologies ecosystems.