Our team will not be limited to investigators and research associates. Considerable engagement with stakeholders has already taken place leading up to this project and the identification of three thematic pillars of enquiry (optical interconnects, wireless control/readout, and cryoelectronics). We have leveraged our connections with UK industry experts and project partners including, but not limited to, the UK QT Hubs, NPL, the NQCC and their stakeholder and industry networks (see here), as well as the portfolio of Innovate UK consortia we are part of. Our network is widened through eFutures (UKRI ICT Network+) and the IET Quantum Engineering Network (QEN) to organise and promote our events within the community.

The first 12 months of EPIQC will be dedicated to co-creation activities aimed at validating and further refining the focus of our work. The NQCC will devote a project manager to coordinate and support the co-creation activities, helping to reach the broader community and ensuring activities are delivered professionally. In the first instance, a series of one-to-one conversations will be held with end-users to validate needs and understand the market pull. This will inform further one-to-one discussions with key industry players and identify supply chains and pre-competitive areas of research. This groundwork will be essential to the successful set-up and definition of a series of focus groups on three pillars of Optical interconnects, Wireless control/readout, and Cryoelectronics (see here), exploring state-of-the-art, future trends and markets and defining top-level roadmaps for pre-competitive challenges. These challenges will be further explored through sandpit events defining feasibility studies and the details of collaborative research strands under each pillar in the years 2-4.