On March 22, 2024, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU hosted the “Shaping Europe’s Quantum Future” conference in Brussels. The full-day event, held at the Belgium Institute of Natural Sciences and organized in the framework of the Quantum Flagship, celebrated the formal signing of the European Declaration on Quantum Technologies by representatives from 21 EU member states.
Belgian Minister for Higher Education Francoise Bertieaux participated alongside European Commission Deputy Director-General Thomas Skordas and Director General Frank Monteny of Belgium’s Federal Science Policy Office (Belspo). Speakers included representatives from imec, and workshops addressed the industrialization of quantum technologies and the establishment of European Quantum Competence Clusters.
A conference highlight was the unveiling of the Belgium Quantum Circle, a new community initiative bringing together researchers, academics, policymakers, technology providers, and business leaders to accelerate quantum adoption in Belgium. The Quantum Circle published an accompanying white paper titled “Let’s Engage on Quantum Technology,” which described Belgium as “a blind spot on the European quantum map” and called on governments to engage with local quantum ecosystems.