Catania, November 20-21, 2025 – QDeal25 – Research, Business, and Innovation for Quantum Italy, the first national workshop dedicated to developing an Italian technology transfer ecosystem in the quantum sector, took place in Viagrande (CT), at the Grand Hotel Villa Itria.
The event, organized by the National Quantum Science and Technology Institute (NQSTI) in collaboration with Confindustria Catania, brought together researchers, companies, startups, and institutions with the goal of transforming quantum technology into a tangible asset for the country’s industrial competitiveness.
In recent years, thanks to Next Generation EU funds, Italy has launched an awareness campaign regarding quantum technologies. QDeal25 was created to stimulate concrete actions in research, development, and technology transfer. The goal is ambitious but clear: to create a national system dedicated to technology transfer in the quantum sector, in line with the Strategy for Quantum Europe and the Italian Strategy for Quantum Technologies.
The workshop was structured into five strategic areas, covering the main frontiers of quantum technology development:
-
Sensing, metrology, and diagnostics – applications for industry, healthcare, and research.
-
Computation and simulation – hardware and software for quantum computing.
-
Quantum communication and cybersecurity – secure systems based on quantum principles.
-
Enabling technologies and applications – integrating quantum with other emerging technologies.
-
“Quantum” Ecosystem – training, skill creation, and national infrastructure development.
QuantumNet participated in the workshop with a presentation by Alfredo Massa.
The company was founded through a collaboration between NetCom Group and the University of Naples Federico II, with a clear mission: to transform quantum computing from an experimental promise into an operational tool for solving real problems, representing a concrete bridge between research, industry, and education.
The startup develops hybrid solutions that integrate quantum and classical computing, allowing companies to experiment with new possibilities without having to completely overhaul existing infrastructures. In parallel, it invests in advanced training through the Quantum Computing Academy, an environment dedicated to developing specialized skills and providing practical access to quantum tools.
The collaboration with the IBM Quantum Startup Program also allows the company to work on some of the most advanced hardware and platforms internationally, accelerating the development of applied solutions and experiments on real-world use cases.
Two projects were presented:
QuEST – Quantum Enhanced for Smart Transport
QuantumNet is among the winners of the NQSTI Spoke 8 call with the project QuEST (Quantum Enhancement for Smart Transport), selected in the Joint Lab category, which is dedicated to industrial research and experimental development initiatives with a direct impact on products, processes, and services in the quantum technologies sector.
The Joint Lab will be realized in collaboration with the University of Naples Federico II and will focus on emerging challenges in the Automotive and Transport sector, a field undergoing rapid transformation thanks to increasingly connected vehicles, Smart Roads, and C-ITS systems.
The project’s objective is to develop intelligent solutions for complex problems such as real-time traffic management, utilizing classical-quantum hybrid algorithms to increase operational efficiency. Metaheuristic algorithms, such as genetic algorithms, are traditionally employed for this type of problem, and QuantumNet has already achieved significant preliminary results: a hybrid quantum-classical genetic algorithm has proven effective in solving single-objective and multi-objective optimization problems.
The conducted analyses highlight advantages over purely classical approaches, suggesting the possibility of extending this methodology to even more complex real-world scenarios.
QUANTIC – Quantum ANalysis and Technology for Image Classification
The second project, QUANTIC, explores the use of quantum machine learning for the classification of different hazelnut varieties through hybrid models applied to image recognition.
QuantumNet developed a variational quantum circuit (VQC) trained on a public dataset of hazelnut images, comparing its performance with that achieved by a classical convolutional neural network (CNN). The goal is to rigorously evaluate the real-world applicability of QML and its potential as a complement to traditional deep learning in industrial contexts.
The study includes a comparison between two optimization strategies: ADAM, which is gradient-based, and a gradient-free genetic algorithm. The results obtained show an accuracy comparable to that of classical models, with values around 88–90%. ADAM achieved the highest performance (88.5%), while the genetic algorithm demonstrated greater robustness to noise and better scalability on NISQ quantum devices.
This evidence shows how hybrid architectures and evolutionary optimizers can contribute to the development of increasingly hardware-aware quantum applications, positioning themselves as useful tools in industrial image analysis scenarios.
Thanks to its projects, international partnerships, and specialized training, QuantumNet confirms its active role in the development of Quantum Italy. This presentation highlighted how quantum computing is rapidly moving from experimentation to the realization of operational solutions, capable of generating value in key sectors such as transport, optimization, finance, and artificial intelligence.