Writing EU's new Quantum Strategy
How I became the Primary Drafter of one of Europe's key future policy plans
So the EU Quantum Strategy is out, and so is my secret. In case you’ve noticed I haven’t published many podcast episodes or newsletters this spring and summer and the reason is, I was invited by the European Commission to take care of the main editing task for the EU Quantum Strategy.
It is an honor of a lifetime, and I’m not even exaggerating one bit.
The EU Quantum Strategy is being written in the midst of a heated global race that is dividing interest lines and regrouping camps. Europe has the strength and the potential of being competitive in many of the quantum sectors, but now is the time to develop the ecosystem; build infrastructures, educate the workforce, develop problem solving solutions, establish supply chains (=friends) and ensure funding for the future.
I can not think of a more important, more timely document, than this.
As a recent EU returnee, I have a strong urge to contribute to the region. It’s not always easy to navigate the complex landscape of the EU member states, the Commission, the Parliament, the standardization bodies, or the European Investment Bank, all of which are key stakeholders to my small consulting business. Especially, as I just spent years making all of these parallel connections within the United States.
It has taken a lot of networking and relationship building to get to this point. I want to share my journey, as there are many young and young-minded people who have asked me about being an independent consultant, whether it’s worth it and how to do it.
If I had to pinpoint a few things that I think helped me most to get integrated and recognized, is, on top of already being an expert in quantum and deeptech ecosystem development, is creating a lot of high quality content, being authentic and speaking multiple languages.
On content, using the Deep Pockets podcast as a tool to invite and interview interesting people on interesting topics helps to get introduced to individual people, their roles and organizations. Using my book Government and Innovation as a showcase on having a big picture north star, and being able to produce a research backed, in-depth vision for a selected target audience, has been extremely useful. I always carry a couple of books with me to a conference, but I only give out signed copies to people who can help me move forward. I often come home with the books if I didn’t meet anyone who would qualify.
A special shoutout on content goes to the Quantum Strategy Institute where, over the past years, I’ve authored and co-authored several quantum strategy studies.
On authenticity, as you can see I don’t use AI to write my newsletters, or record the podcast. Each sentence is directly from my multilingual brain and I don’t edit my thoughts too much. I’m not afraid to be funny, or to attempt to be funny - haha. See what I did there. If you listened to my audiobook I hope the accent wasn’t too bad.
And finally, as this is Europe, it is really really useful to speak multiple languages. My French is not great but I make an attempt to speak whenever I can, same with Swedish. Even if you end up not communicating with that person in their native language, you left a good impression by at least trying.
My journey is of course personal to me, but I hope this will encourage other starting consultants to keep pushing, keep showing your vision and back it up with your own voice.
Get in Touch
Our team of U.S. and EU based advisors cover a wide range of expertise in the intersection of government and innovation, including deeptech strategy creation, innovation based economic development and foreign direct investment, technology reports, product white papers, market reports and more.
Upcoming events
I will be in Finland on VA-CA-TION (!!!) July 10-24th, 2025.
I will be in Luxembourg most of September, October, November 2025.
I have decided not be in the Quantum World Congress, Washington DC, this year in support of international scientists who are not able to travel to the U.S. at the moment.
I will be on Deep Pockets podcast every second week (-ish).
From the Archives
Government and Innovation: The Economic Developer's Guide to Our Future - PAPERBACK, HARDCOVER
My book from 2023 discussing how local, regional, and national governments can use existing instruments to steer their economies to include more innovative industries that provide higher economic value-add.
Government and Innovation: The Economic Developer's Guide to Our Future - AUDIOBOOK
FREE chapter “Section 1: Tools - How governments drive Innovation”
Audiobook narrated by author available at Audible
The Future of Transatlantic Relations / Deep Pockets episode from November 2024
Both the United States and the European Union held their big elections this year. The U.S. elected a new President, and changed the balance of power in the House and the Senate that govern 335 million Americans. The EU elected a new Parliament and is in the process of appointing new Commissioners, steering the future for 450 million Europeans. What does this mean in DeepTech? How will this impact Industrial Policy, and the Transatlantic relations? Milja Kalliosaari, Government Relations Manager at IQM Quantum Computers, and Finland's delegate to NATO's Transatlantic Quantum Community shares her insight.
Technology Adoption Should Be a Key Metric for US Science and Engineering Policy / Deep Pockets episode from January 2025
Tanya Ramond, technology commercialization architect, authority in Deep Tech, and the founder and CEO of Sapienne Consulting, discusses her recent article on science and engineering policy. Why the adoption of technology, turning R&D into usable products and services, should be the key metric when writing and evaluating policy?
The Quantum Codebreaker: Governments vs. the Next Big Cyber Threat / Deep Pockets episode from September 2024
Even though quantum computers are not in wide use yet, it is well known that they have the potential to break the encryption system that is in use in most modern computing systems. Across the globe, governments are beginning to prepare for the opportunities, but also to the threats that quantum computers will introduce. Danika Hannon, Deputy Head of the Quantum Strategy Institute, will tell us how the U.S., Europe, and Asian countries protect themselves against potential future threats.