Policy dossier: Italy
A one-country brief on Italy in European quantum technologies for policy makers, built only from data this portal already holds. Every figure names its source and reference date; ratios come with the counts they are made of. Nothing here is a ranking or a composite score: counts describe catalogue coverage, not national capability.
Dossier generated 2026-11-03 21:16:40 (UTC). Missing data is listed under Gaps and caveats at the end.
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1. EU funding absorption
CORDIS covers Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe quantum projects only: no other EU programme, no national or regional funding.
| Country or group | Participations | EU contribution | Population (year) | GDP, current prices (year) | Participations per million inhabitants | EU contribution per inhabitant | Participations per EUR billion of GDP | EU contribution per EUR billion of GDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italy (this dossier) | 409 | EUR 177.1 million | 58,942,828 (2026, provisional) | EUR 2,265.00 billion (2025) | 6.9 | EUR 3.00 | 0.18 | EUR 78,191 |
| EU27 average (pooled) | 3,714 | EUR 2.28 billion | 451,990,314 (2026) | EUR 18,883.19 billion (2025) | 8.2 | EUR 5.04 | 0.20 | EUR 120,646 |
| Peer group average (pooled: FR, ES, DE, PL) | 1,882 | EUR 1.17 billion | 238,502,290 (2026) | EUR 10,134.29 billion (2025) | 7.9 | EUR 4.89 | 0.19 | EUR 115,073 |
| France (peer by population) | 649 | EUR 390.4 million | 69,112,309 (2026, provisional) | EUR 2,991.06 billion (2025, provisional) | 9.4 | EUR 5.65 | 0.22 | EUR 130,531 |
| Spain (peer by population) | 341 | EUR 188.7 million | 49,590,099 (2026, provisional) | EUR 1,690.01 billion (2025, provisional) | 6.9 | EUR 3.81 | 0.20 | EUR 111,676 |
| Germany (peer by population) | 798 | EUR 534.1 million | 83,467,117 (2026) | EUR 4,529.71 billion (2025, provisional) | 9.6 | EUR 6.40 | 0.18 | EUR 117,919 |
| Poland (peer by population) | 94 | EUR 52.9 million | 36,332,765 (2026) | EUR 923.51 billion (2025) | 2.6 | EUR 1.46 | 0.10 | EUR 57,267 |
Definitions: Participations by country; Net EU contribution to participants by country; Population, GDP and GERD (Eurostat); Participations per million inhabitants; Net EU contribution per inhabitant; Participations per EUR billion of GDP; Net EU contribution per EUR billion of GDP
Peer group: France (closest in population), Spain (closest in population), Germany (closest in population), Poland (closest in population). The peers are the 4 EU Member States closest to Italy in population or in GDP, whichever is closer for each: the smaller of the absolute log ratios of the two figures, latest Eurostat year of each country, ties by country code. Candidates are the Member States with a CORDIS row and both Eurostat figures.
Method: participations and EU contribution are CORDIS totals over all start years in the catalogue; population on 1 January and GDP at current prices are the latest single year Eurostat publishes for each country, so the ratios correct for size, not for time. Group averages are pooled: the group totals divided by the group population or GDP, never a mean of country ratios. The EU27 average pools 27 Member States. A dash means that a figure is not published or that the EU contribution is zero; "less than" marks a positive figure too small to show at this precision.
Source: CORDIS, Publications Office of the European Union, retrieved 2026-10-16, reused under the European Commission reuse notice. Eurostat datasets tps00001 (Population on 1 January, updated 2026-09-30); nama_10_gdp (Gross domestic product (GDP) and main components (output, expenditure and income) - annual data, updated 2026-10-20), retrieved 2026-10-21, reused under the Eurostat copyright notice. The ratios are calculated by this portal; neither source is responsible for them.
2. Specialisation by application pillar
| Pillar | Projects of Italy | Share of its projects | EU27 projects | EU27 share | Ratio (country share / EU27 share) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quantum computing and simulation | 77 | 35.5% | 516 | 48.3% | 0.73 |
| Quantum communication | 32 | 14.7% | 116 | 10.9% | 1.36 |
| Quantum sensing and metrology | 44 | 20.3% | 189 | 17.7% | 1.15 |
| Enabling technologies and supply chain | 18 | 8.3% | 49 | 4.6% | 1.81 |
Definition: Specialisation by pillar against the EU27
Method: the share of the CORDIS quantum projects of the country in each pillar, divided by the same share for the EU27 (projects with at least one participant from a Member State). A ratio above 1 means the pillar weighs more in the projects of this country than in those of the EU27; it says nothing about size or quality. No count, share or ratio is shown from fewer than 10 projects of the country. Pillars follow the portal method (confirmed classification, else the taxonomy rules on the title, else a matched keyword suggestion); a project in several pillars counts in each, and 49 projects of this country are not placed in a pillar.
Source: CORDIS project snapshot, 1,256 projects (Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe), retrieved 2026-10-16; counts computed by this portal on 2026-11-02 14:13:03 (UTC).
3. Collaboration: top partner countries
| Partner country | Shared projects |
|---|---|
| Germany | 123 |
| France | 93 |
| Spain | 76 |
| Netherlands | 64 |
| United Kingdom | 57 |
| Austria | 53 |
| Denmark | 49 |
| Switzerland | 41 |
| Poland | 38 |
| Belgium | 35 |
Definition: Top partner countries
A project is shared when organisations of both countries take part in it; this shows co-participation, not the strength of a relationship. Counts cover CORDIS quantum projects only (Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe).
Source: CORDIS, Publications Office of the European Union (CORDIS), retrieved 2026-10-16, reused under the European Commission reuse notice (Decision 2011/833/EU); shared projects counted by this portal.
4. National programmes and public investment
- Strategia italiana per le tecnologie quantistiche (Italian strategy for quantum technologies) · National strategy or programme · checked 2026-10-21 · official source
Source: the public investment registry of this portal, compiled 2026-10-27 from official announcements; amounts are as announced, not disbursed, in the currency of the source, and are never added up. The registry is not exhaustive.
Definition: National programmes and public investment
National sources and cohesion funding on this portal
| Source | Publisher | Licence | Last read (UTC) | Published on this portal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAIRE Graph: projects of national funders (Ministero dell'Istruzione dell'Università e della Ricerca (MIUR)) | OpenAIRE | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (OpenAIRE Graph) | 2026-11-01 | 7 projects |
| Kohesio (EU cohesion policy projects) | European Commission, Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) | CC0 1.0 (Cohesion Open Data Platform, dataset 2014-2020 Kohesio projects) | 2026-10-28 | 19 projects located in this country |
Definition: Records of connected national sources
Counts of records published on this portal at the time of the dossier, with node access; open notices only for procurement sources. Cohesion projects (Kohesio, EU cohesion policy, managed by national and regional authorities) are located in the country by the source; they are not in CORDIS and not part of the absorption figures. The record at each source is authoritative.
5. Infrastructure
EuroQCI: yes. EuroQCI projects located in this country in the catalogue: NOSTRADAMUS, QUID (Quantum Italy Deployment).
| Entry | Kind | Status | Programmes | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOL | Quantum simulator | Planned, per the EuroHPC JU | EuroHPC JU | EuroHPC JU: Our quantum computers (retrieved 2026-10-19) |
| NOSTRADAMUS | Evaluation facility | Project | EuroQCI | European Commission: European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) (retrieved 2026-10-19) |
| CINECA Quantum Computing as a Service | Quantum computing user platform | In operation, per the source | National programme or platform | CINECA Quantum Computing Lab: Quantum Computing as a Service (retrieved 2026-10-21) |
| QUID (Quantum Italy Deployment) | Quantum communication network project | Project period ended, per the source | EuroQCI | QUID: home page (retrieved 2026-10-22) |
| QuaMT-ITA: Quantum Metrology and Testing for Italy | Testbed | In operation, per the source | National programme or platform | INRiM: QuaMT-ITA (retrieved 2026-10-27) |
Definition: Infrastructure catalogue entries in the country
Source: the infrastructure catalogue of this portal, compiled 2026-10-27 from official programme, government and host pages; a referral list, not confirmed by the providers.
6. Post-quantum cryptography readiness
National guidance status: National guidance or roadmap found (checked 2026-10-21). National agency whose pages were checked: National Cybersecurity Agency (Agenzia per la Cybersicurezza Nazionale, ACN).
ACN publishes an introduction to post-quantum and quantum cryptography and cryptographic guidelines; its cryptography page lists them. No national transition roadmap was found.
Signed the EU joint statements on post-quantum cryptography of: 2024-11-27, 2025-06-27.
Source: the PQC guide of this portal, compiled 2026-10-27 from official national pages; a status, not a legal or compliance assessment.
7. Approved evidence from published reports
- Not available The Observatory's November 2024 report covers public funding, national strategies and company activity for Italy and the world, but none of its figures is available to the portal. Reference period 2024; Italy, with worldwide context; Observation; checked 2026-10-22. Osservatori Digital Innovation, Politecnico di Milano, The national and international scenario of Quantum Computing & Communication (2024 research, fourth edition of the Observatory). Report page, description and access notice.
- 10 countries Ten of the countries QuantERA surveyed in 2023 confirmed a national funding programme or strategy for quantum technologies: Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Reference period 2023; QuantERA member countries (31 EU Member States and associated countries); Observation; checked 2026-10-22. QuantERA, Quantum Technologies Public Policies in Europe (Second edition, 2023). Printed page 16, PDF page 16, Key findings, National policies, National QT strategies and initiatives.
- 5 countries Five surveyed countries funded quantum research through their national recovery and resilience programmes in 2023: Austria, Germany, Italy, Latvia and Spain. Reference period 2023; QuantERA member countries (31 EU Member States and associated countries); Observation; checked 2026-10-22. QuantERA, Quantum Technologies Public Policies in Europe (Second edition, 2023). Printed page 16, PDF page 16, Key findings, QT programmes within national recovery and resilience programmes, footnote 8.
Values as the publisher states them, each with its edition and page. Groups of countries are named in full; a figure about a group is not a figure about this country alone. Estimates of different publishers are never added up or averaged.
Definition: Approved evidence from published reports
8. Gaps and caveats
- Always: CORDIS covers Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe quantum projects only, found by the word quantum in their title, acronym or topic; it is catalogue coverage, not a census. National budgets, private investment and other EU programmes are not in the absorption figures.
- Always: no league table or composite score is computed; a ratio is only as good as its counts, which are shown next to it.