Dama Tecnopolo prepares for two advanced Quantum Computing systems

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Dama, the Bologna Technopole is preparing to host two of the most advanced quantum computing systems in Europe, consolidating Emilia-Romagna and Italy's position as an international hub for quantum technologies. The arrival, expected between the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, is the result of an investment financed by the Ministry of Universities and Research through the ICSC National Centre - which has an operational base in Dama - that aims to strengthen the role of the Region and the country in the study and use of systems destined to become central in the near future. Indeed, quantum computing will help provide us with more efficient navigation systems for getting around in traffic. It will make recharging smartphones and electric cars faster. From the point of view of health, it will make it possible to develop tailor-made pharmaceutical therapies and increasingly accurate weather forecasts, with considerable benefits for farmers, institutions and citizens.

Thanks to the institutional cooperation between the European Union, the Ministry of Universities and Research, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Emilia-Romagna Region, Dama Tecnopolo is confirmed as an international excellence for supercomputing, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence. Bologna's citadel of science, on the other hand, is already home to Cineca (the Interuniversity Consortium, the largest computing centre in Italy), the Data Centre of the European Centre for Medium-term Weather Forecasts (Ecmwf), and CNAF, which is the main computing centre of the INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics).

And, in the medium term, it will also be home to Art-Er, BI-REX - which is one of the eight national Competence Centres set up by the Ministry of Economic Development as part of the government's Industry 4.0 plan -, the Cmcc, the Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change. And then Enea, the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, ICSC - the National Centre for Research in High Performance Computing, Big Data and Quantum Computing, the IFAB Foundation on Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for Human Development, the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Italia Meteo, and a branch of the United Nations University.

The entire ecosystem revolving around Dama will play a strategic role for Europe, putting Emilia-Romagna at the centre of the global race for technological sovereignty. Through its membership of Step - the EU-led platform that aims to reduce dependence on China and the United States and safeguard European competitiveness - the Region has already earmarked 30 million to support investments in the development and manufacture of 'critical technologies' and research and innovation activities in the fields of deep tech, clean technologies and biotechnologies. In addition to all this, the citadel of science in Bologna is also one of the Union's reference points for the initiatives of the IT4LIA AI Factory project, which can count on a total investment of around 430 million euros in the field of artificial intelligence. In short, Dama is like an apartment building with many tenants residing under the roof of technological innovation and aiming to make everyday life easier.