The world’s first Centre of expertise for societal impact of quantum technologies, Centre for Quantum and Society (CQS), officially launched in Amsterdam, as an initiative from the Netherland’s program to boost quantum technology, Quantum Delta NL.
The scenario for the launch was the Big Meetup: How will quantum impact business and society?, organized by CQS and Quantum Amsterdam as a space for networking and exchange within the Netherland’s ecosystem related to the field.
CQS stands as a co-creation Centre where businesses, governments, societal organizations, scientists, and citizens come together to research and co-create ethical, legal, and societal standards. It aims at guiding the development of quantum technologies and their applications to the benefit of society, and boost social readiness levels.
As part of its ongoing development since its foundation in 2021, CQS have partnered with organizations like Qlimate, which directly supports the goals of the European Green Deal while providing research into the ethical, legal, and societal implications of decarbonization use cases. It also collaborates with Quantum Application Lab (QAL) to support the ethical, legal, and societal embedding of early quantum computing use cases. QAL is a field lab that offers a unique collaboration with world-leading knowledge, knowhow, and facilities to explore the potential power of quantum computing and develop applications.
“We need to start understanding the ethical, legal and societal implications of quantum technologies as this is crucial to propel applications of quantum technologies with a positive impact,” says Deborah Nas, initiative lead of the Centre for Quantum and Society. “We are proud that a growing number of organizations are partnering with our Centre to explore the positive societal impact of quantum technologies in an early stage of the innovation process”.
CQS is part of Quantum Delta NL, the Dutch ecosystem for excellence in quantum innovation, which received 615 million euros funding from the Dutch government last year. Three percent of the Quantum Delta NL budget was allocated to this part of the national programme, an unprecedented amount worldwide to support the positive societal impact of quantum technologies.
Want to know more about how the Centre for Quantum and Society independently supports startups, small businesses, and corporate innovation teams in understanding the impact of their quantum innovations on their sector, customers, and society? Or would you like to get involved? Mail to CQS@quantumdelta.nl.
