The German government is to spend billions of euros to support the development of the country’s first quantum computer and related technologies.

The announcement, reported by Reuters, was made by the economy and science ministries this week. The science ministry will contribute €1.1bn by 2025 to support R&D in quantum computing, while the economy ministry will contribute €878m to support the development of applications.

The German Aerospace Centre (DLR), the national aeronautics and space research centre, will receive the largest share of the funds (€720m). The funds will help it team up with industry – ranging from large companies to start-ups – in order to form two consortia for quantum computing.

“Quantum computing has the potential to revolutionise key industries of our economy,” said Peter Altmaier, the economy minister, citing areas such as managing supply and demand and testing new active substances. “It’s our goal that Germany will become one of the best players worldwide in the development and practical application of quantum computing.”

Science minister Anja Karliczek added that the government aims to build a competitive quantum computer in five years while growing a network of companies to develop applications: “Today, we start the mission quantum computer ‘Made in Germany’ and now we are ready for take-off,” she said.

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