Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TERASEC (THz imaging technology for public security)
Reporting period: 2020-06-01 to 2022-05-31
The TERASEC PoC project scope, as set in the project workplan, was to carry out a feasibility study referred to the implementation of a novel sensing technology capable to detect security threats in sensitive installations, as a replacement of the existing security scanners. In fact, the starting point of the TERASEC project was referred to the conventional security scanners present several drawbacks.
During the TERASEC project, a detailed analysis of the public security market was carried out evidencing a range of different solutions potentially competitive solutions, starting from the airports and other installations where currently conventional security scanners are employed.
However, our analysis of the underpinning market conditions and trends has pointed out that, due to Covid-19 pandemic, the passenger traffic has substantially shrank instead of growing, as was forecasted before the pandemics started.
This makes the TERASEC business proposition way more weaker and difficult to defend, also in virtue of high intrinsic technology costs. In fact, the most important competitive advantage of TERASEC is real-time and distant screening that would replace conventional controls of passengers standing in the lines and passing one by one through the security equipment, thus creating long waiting times and requiring passengers to reach the airport well in advance.
But this was the pre-pandemic reality. Now, with the reduced air traffic, the waiting times are no more due to the traditional security controls but rather to epidemiologic verifications.
Thus, the value proposition of the TERASEC technology is no more as valuable as it used to be in 2019 when the project was submitted. On the other hand, the investments to enable the adoption of the TERASEC technology are supposed to be of great order, thus requiring a very clear justification and a strong commercial trigger which currently lacks.
However, the achievements of the TERASEC team are such that related outcomes can be exploited in many other ways, beyond the public security domain.
In fact, the superconductive materials developed by the team for sensing can be used in all those frameworks where superconductive skills are required, starting from the superconductive computing. The project team has published about 20 scientific publications during the project which all pertains to the different fields and modalities of exploitation of the superconductive properties of the TERASEC component.
Among others, the Quantum Computing and High Performance Computing are those domains where superconductive technologies are mostly requested.
Hence, the TERASEC team has focused the second phase of the feasibility study on the investigation of the implementability of the technology for building a superconducting memory cell based on the Josephson Junction principle, in order to drive the research in line with the surrounding markets conditions.
Indeed, quantum computing (QC) is a topic that triggers significant interest of the industry and science and much needs still to be done to achieve a well performant and scalable next generation computer. It is also a field where much funds (public and private) are being invested.
TERASEC team is highly confident to be able to contribute with their research to take European QC industry further on its path to creation of a competitive QC with a crucial component for every computer that is a RAM.
The Project team has thus analyzed the background scenario related to the existing propositions as to the superconductive RAMs, in order to lay a basis for the development of a possible competitive positionning of the future TERASEC superconductive memory, once related features will be properly characterized.
Additionally, the R&D team has teamed up with different researchers from the QC field and has presented an additional large R&D initiative to develop superconductive components together with the best scientific teams from all across Europe. This R&D was recently granted with a EIC Transition grant. The project has started June 2022 and will last for 36 Months.
Importantly, the trigger point for such large initiative was the Terasec project and we thus consider related activity as extremely successful as it has enabled the team to pursue an R&D path where the proposed technology can benefit from the highest commercial potential due to the favourable market conditions.
A patent was filed during the project with the aim to protect the invention and the new discoveries made incidentally during the project implementation.
During the TERASEC project, a detailed analysis of the public security market was carried out evidencing a range of different solutions potentially competitive solutions, starting from the airports and other installations where currently conventional security scanners are employed.
However, our analysis of the underpinning market conditions and trends has pointed out that, due to Covid-19 pandemic, the passenger traffic has substantially shrank instead of growing, as was forecasted before the pandemics started.
This makes the TERASEC business proposition way more weaker and difficult to defend, also in virtue of high intrinsic technology costs. In fact, the most important competitive advantage of TERASEC is real-time and distant screening that would replace conventional controls of passengers standing in the lines and passing one by one through the security equipment, thus creating long waiting times and requiring passengers to reach the airport well in advance.
But this was the pre-pandemic reality. Now, with the reduced air traffic, the waiting times are no more due to the traditional security controls but rather to epidemiologic verifications.
Thus, the value proposition of the TERASEC technology is no more as valuable as it used to be in 2019 when the project was submitted. On the other hand, the investments to enable the adoption of the TERASEC technology are supposed to be of great order, thus requiring a very clear justification and a strong commercial trigger which currently lacks.
However, the achievements of the TERASEC team are such that related outcomes can be exploited in many other ways, beyond the public security domain.
In fact, the superconductive materials developed by the team for sensing can be used in all those frameworks where superconductive skills are required, starting from the superconductive computing. The project team has published about 20 scientific publications during the project which all pertains to the different fields and modalities of exploitation of the superconductive properties of the TERASEC component.
Among others, the Quantum Computing and High Performance Computing are those domains where superconductive technologies are mostly requested.
Hence, the TERASEC team has focused the second phase of the feasibility study on the investigation of the implementability of the technology for building a superconducting memory cell based on the Josephson Junction principle, in order to drive the research in line with the surrounding markets conditions.
Indeed, quantum computing (QC) is a topic that triggers significant interest of the industry and science and much needs still to be done to achieve a well performant and scalable next generation computer. It is also a field where much funds (public and private) are being invested.
TERASEC team is highly confident to be able to contribute with their research to take European QC industry further on its path to creation of a competitive QC with a crucial component for every computer that is a RAM.
The Project team has thus analyzed the background scenario related to the existing propositions as to the superconductive RAMs, in order to lay a basis for the development of a possible competitive positionning of the future TERASEC superconductive memory, once related features will be properly characterized.
Additionally, the R&D team has teamed up with different researchers from the QC field and has presented an additional large R&D initiative to develop superconductive components together with the best scientific teams from all across Europe. This R&D was recently granted with a EIC Transition grant. The project has started June 2022 and will last for 36 Months.
Importantly, the trigger point for such large initiative was the Terasec project and we thus consider related activity as extremely successful as it has enabled the team to pursue an R&D path where the proposed technology can benefit from the highest commercial potential due to the favourable market conditions.
A patent was filed during the project with the aim to protect the invention and the new discoveries made incidentally during the project implementation.