Dialogue provides Impetus for implementing HTAD Goals in Quantum Communication and strengthens Germany’s Innovation Capacity:
At the end of July 2025, the German Federal Cabinet adopted the Hightech Agenda Deutschland. It focuses on six key technologies of strategic importance, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Biotechnology, and Quantum Technologies. The aim of the agenda is to strengthen Germany’s innovation capacity and competitiveness through targeted investments in these future technologies. To this end, research, development, and commercialization are to be accelerated, and technological capacities in Germany and Europe are to be systematically expanded. At the same time, the Hightech Agenda provides the framework for a strategic realignment of cybersecurity research and underscores the need to rapidly translate research results into market-ready applications, products, and services.
Building on the Hightech Agenda, a dialogue organized by the Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt (BMFTR) took place at the end of March 2026. The event brought together key stakeholders from Quantum Communication Research in academia and industry in Germany, as well as representatives from other ministries and the federal states. In this context, key topics for the technology roadmap of Quantum Communication in Germany were discussed.
The dialogue was opened by Dr. Alexandra-Gwyn Paetz, Head of the “Technological Sovereignty and Innovation” department.” In three parallel breakout sessions on the topics “Fiber-based Quantum Communication over long distances / Quantum Repeater Technologies,” “Free-space Quantum Communication over long distances via satellite,” and “Quantum Communication as a resource,” strategic goals for Germany in the field of Quantum Communication were discussed with regard to value creation and technological sovereignty, and key challenges and milestones were identified. In a subsequent plenary session, overarching impulses for the further development and strengthening of the Quantum Communication innovation ecosystem in Germany were elaborated. The focus was on measures to strengthen networking among stakeholders in order to better leverage synergies in research and application. At the same time, the innovation pipeline along the entire value chain is to be continuously strengthened – from basic research to the transfer into concrete applications. In addition, collaboration within the EU and with international partner countries sharing common values is to be further expanded.
The results of the dialogue provide important impetus for the implementation of the Hightech Agenda’s goals in Quantum Communication and contribute to strengthening Germany’s innovation capacity and competitiveness in an international context. In doing so, they make an important contribution to consolidating and further expanding Germany’s position in the field of Quantum Communication in the long term. Click here for more information about the Hightech Agenda Deutschland.