The CTIC, Eurecat and ITG technology centres today presented in Madrid the results of the last two years of joint research under the Cervera ARQA Network of Excellence which demonstrate quantum computing’s potential for solving complex tasks such as satellite image analysis and sorting, energy distribution optimisation and image generation to detect fraud.
“Our goal is to make innovation and quantum technologies more accessible to businesses because they will have a major impact in the medium and long term across many sectors,” said Pablo Coca, Director General of CTIC, the technology centre coordinating the ARQA network. “Initiatives such as the ARQA Network, made possible by CDTI funding through the Cervera programme, allow organisations such as ours to team up to further develop these technologies while also enabling us to share their current status and real potential with businesses and society.”
“The Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities is thrilled to be part of this tech development event organised by the ARQA Network,” commented Teresa Riesgo, Secretary General for Innovation. “It’s a great chance for our businesses to learn about quantum computing and see for themselves how it’s developing in our country and also work with experts to come up with innovative solutions and explore how they can be applied to real-world challenges. As a Cervera Network of Excellence, ARQA is a key player in driving innovation and technological development in quantum computing applications, positioning our country at the forefront of these technologies.”
Today’s conference was also attended by Susana de Prado Hernández, head of the Office for Digital Spain 2030 and Internationalisation, who presented the Spanish Quantum Technologies Strategy, and José Moisés Martín Carretero, Director General of the Centre for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI), who closed the event.
Analysing satellite images using quantum technology to improve land management
The demonstrators developed by the ARQA Network make it possible to show businesses the knowledge gained in quantum computing and its potential to deliver real, transferable solutions in the not-too-distant future. One of the quantum demonstrators built by the ARQA Network coordinated by Eurecat addresses the problem of sorting satellite images.
Based on images from a dataset taken by the Sentinel 2 satellite, a tool has been developed that can identify features such as rivers, forests, roads, lakes and cities and sort them by their content.
Using this demonstrator, “we have explored the advantages of tapping three types of algorithms when doing this sorting: conventional computing, simulated quantum computing and pure quantum computing,” said Adan Garriga, lead researcher at Eurecat’s Quantum Computing Research Group. “The results show how quantum computing can be effectively applied to this kind of problem.”
Optimising renewable energy use through quantum computing
Another ARQA demonstrator, coordinated by the ITG technology centre, seeks to improve the performance of systems in energy communities where energy generation, charging and distribution are crucial to cutting costs and getting the most out of the renewable energy generated. Based on factors such as solar energy forecasts, different users’ consumption and electricity market prices, this technology has been tested in the specific and real case of an energy community.
“By using quantum combinatorial optimisation algorithms, you can figure out the best way to distribute renewable energy within an energy community, delivering better performance for everyone involved,” pointed out Óscar González, Director of AI and ICT at ITG.
The algorithms analyse and manage the distribution of renewable energy and the allocation of resources, determining the optimal charging and discharging times and flexible charging operations. “We have designed multiple scenarios based on data from the SmartGrids Laboratory at our advanced experimentation centre and have been able to test how the quantum algorithms developed successfully solve this problem, running battery discharges at key moments and triggering charging at the best time.”
The solution thus cuts energy costs, increases efficiency and reduces greenhouse gas emissions, paving the way for the energy market of the future.
Quantum technology for detecting fraud in AI-generated images
Another area where quantum computing can bring big benefits is Generative Artificial Intelligence. The third ARQA Network demonstrator applies quantum computing to a security risk that threatens banking, legal and administrative settings: generating handwritten signatures with generative AI.
Coordinated by CTIC, this demonstrator has explored using quantum generative adversarial networks (QGANs) to train a generator model, which learns to generate synthetic signatures, and a discriminator model, which learns to detect whether the signature is genuine or forged.
“The results show increasingly realistic synthetic signatures and a quantum discriminator capable of accurately differentiating the background from the trace and providing appropriate feedback to the generator,” said Luis Meijueiro, leader of the CTIC quantum computing team. “The purely quantum model has yielded extremely good results notwithstanding its complexity, demonstrating the potential of applying quantum computing in this area.”
Key role of technology centres and public funding in the quantum future
The global quantum technology market is growing rapidly and expected to reach €152 billion by 2040. Against this backdrop, public investment in science and technology will enable knowledge to be turned into real impact.
The Cervera ARQA Network of Excellence, coordinated by CTIC Technology Centre together with Eurecat and ITG, is a strategic partnership promoting R&D in quantum computing applications for the business sector ranging from process improvement to new service development.
Funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the CDTI under the Cervera Technology Centres of Excellence 2023 programme and NextGenerationEU European funds, this initiative positions technology centres as drivers of innovation in quantum computing and ensures that Spain is at the forefront of the new quantum economy.
Today’s event was held at the University of Nebrija’s Princesa Campus with the support of the Centre for Technological Development and Innovation in the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.
