Italy Now Hosts Its First Publicly Accessible Quantum Computer for Research
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Paolo Viviani and colleagues at Politecnico di Torino and the Italian National Institute of Metrological Research detail the successful deployment and nine-month operation of Lagrange, Italy’s first publicly-accessible quantum computer, managed by LINKS Foundation, Politecnico di Torino and the Italian National Institute of Metrological Research (INRiM). They present a new software management stack developed to enable broad access to the IQM Spark five-qubit superconducting quantum computer. The system addresses a key gap in existing quantum computing infrastructure by providing essential features such as billing, project management, and fair usage enforcement without altering vendor software. Having processed over 240,000 quantum jobs and achieving greater than 98% uptime since September 2025, Lagrange uniquely enables hands-on quantum computing experience for students, even within formal examinations, and represents a sharp step towards democratising access to this emerging technology in Europe. Modular middleware unlocks sustained access and broad usage of Italy’s first quantum computer Lagrange, Italy’s first publicly accessible quantum computer, has now processed over 240,000 quantum jobs, a figure previously unattainable without strong management software. Representing more than one week of QPU (Quantum Processing Unit) execution time, this milestone demonstrates the successful implementation of a new modular middleware layer designed to bridge the gap between user access and quantum hardware. Superconducting quantum computers, like the IQM Spark, operate at extremely low temperatures, typically in the millikelvin range, requiring sophisticated control electronics and cryogenic systems. The IQM Spark utilises transmon qubits, a type of superconducting qubit known for its relatively long coherence times and ease of fabrication. Previously, the IQM Spark computer only offered basic authentication, with essential services like billing, project management, and fair usage enforcement absent, severely limiting broad accessibility and hindering its integration into educational and research workflows. Formal service and commercial agreements underpin the architecture, supporting simultaneous access for researchers, students, and the public. These agreements define service level objectives, data handling protocols, and intellectual property rights, ensuring responsible and sustainable operation. Uniquely, this enables student use during formal examinations, a first for European quantum computing, allowing for practical assessment of quantum algorithms and programming skills. The system employs a secure job submission queue and resource allocation algorithm to prevent monopolisation of the QPU and ensure equitable access for all users. During a nine-month operational period, the system has maintained a greater than 98% uptime record, demonstrating its reliability and robustness. Access is currently managed for three partner organisations, LINKS Foundation, Politecnico di Torino, and the Italian National Institute of Metrological Research, each with distinct billing and access arrangements tailored to their specific needs and contributions. The billing system incorporates a cost model based on QPU execution time, qubit usage, and data transfer, providing transparency and accountability. Politecnico di Torino has integrated the computer into both lectures and formal student examinations, showcasing a novel application of quantum computing access. This pedagogical approach allows students to directly interact with quantum hardware, reinforcing theoretical concepts and fostering practical skills in quantum programming and algorithm design. Students have been tasked with implementing and testing simple quantum algorithms, such as Deutsch’s algorithm and Grover’s search algorithm, on the Lagrange system. Although this represents a step towards accessibility, the current five-qubit system still falls short of the scale needed to tackle genuinely complex, real-world computational problems. Current quantum algorithms require a substantial number of qubits to outperform classical algorithms for many practical applications. Managing quantum computers is proving easier than gaining access, and the Lagrange project successfully demonstrated a system for billing, scheduling, and fair usage on a five-qubit machine, a feat previously hampered by a lack of supporting software from hardware vendors. The absence of standardised APIs and management tools has been a significant barrier to wider adoption of quantum computing. The modular middleware layer intercepts instructions, enabling billing, scheduling, and fair access without altering the vendor’s original software, an important step for wider adoption. This non-invasive approach ensures compatibility with future software updates and allows the underlying quantum hardware to evolve independently of the management system. The middleware is built upon a microservices architecture, allowing for independent scaling and maintenance of individual components. It utilises a message queue system for asynchronous communication between services, enhancing resilience and performance.
The team acknowledges that their nine-month experience is limited, and scaling this system to accommodate larger quantum processors and a growing user base presents a significant challenge. Scaling requires addressing issues such as increased data volumes, more complex scheduling algorithms, and enhanced security measures. Lagrange has demonstrated a functional management system for a complex emerging technology, successfully decoupling institutional policies from the underlying quantum hardware. This approach sidesteps the current reliance on vendors for essential services like billing and scheduling, paving the way for wider adoption, and it opens a key question: how can this model scale to support larger quantum processors and a growing community of users beyond the initial five-qubit machine. Future work will focus on developing automated resource allocation strategies, improving the user interface, and integrating with other quantum computing platforms and cloud services. The long-term goal is to establish a sustainable and scalable infrastructure for quantum computing education and research in Europe. The researchers successfully designed and implemented a software management system for Lagrange, a five-qubit superconducting quantum computer. This system provides essential services such as billing, project management, and fair usage enforcement, which were initially absent from the vendor-supplied hardware. The middleware processed over 240,000 quantum jobs with greater than 98% uptime during a nine-month operational period, demonstrating reliable access for students and researchers.
The team intends to focus on automated resource allocation and integration with other platforms to support future expansion and a growing user base. 👉 More information🗞 Lagrange: Operating Italy’s First Publicly-Accessible Quantum Computer for Research and Education🧠 ArXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.21695 Tags: