The United States and China are currently leading the quantum computing development race, with China's leader, Xi Jinping, putting accelerating quantum technology in his 2021 five-year plan and investing at least $15.3 billion in public funds on quantum research.

China's investment has partly come to fruition with the Chinese Academy of Science's unveiling of a 504-qubit chip, still half the size of IBM's biggest.

Google claimed its 54-qubit Sycamore processor had performed a calculation in 200 seconds that would have taken the world's most powerful supercomputer 10,000 years, a breakthrough some likened to the Wright brothers' first flight in 1903.

IBM has also made significant progress, with its Eagle, Osprey, and Condor devices pushing the bar to over 1000 qubits, and plans for 1386 qubits in its Kookaburra in 2025.

Australia is also among the world leaders in a quantum computing gold rush, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying his government is "serious about building a strong quantum ecosystem" and investing nearly a billion dollars.

The National Quantum Mission in India was approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with a budget of ₹6,003 crore over eight years, aiming to create, develop, and nurture the quantum technology ecosystem in the country.

Germany is also seeking to take the lead in the development of quantum computer technology, with the state of Lower Saxony attracting at least 400 researchers under the project "Quantum Valley Lower Saxony".

Canada is also well-positioned to become a global leader in the developing quantum sector, with the government investing $40 million to enable the Toronto-based Canadian quantum computing company Xanadu Quantum Technologies Inc. to build and commercialize the world's first photonic-based, fault-tolerant quantum computer.

The United States and China dominate the quantum computing sector, with the US having major companies such as IBM, Google, and Microsoft driving growth through their presence and investment in research and development activities related to quantum computing.

Russia is also working on quantum computing, with a focus on four key physical platforms: superconducting qubits, photonic circuits, neutral atoms, and trapped ions.

The UAE is investing in the sector of quantum computing, which is expected to reach a global market value of $1 trillion in 2035.

North America is currently the leading market for quantum computing, with the United States playing a major role.

Europe is an increasingly important market for quantum computing, with countries such as the UK, Germany, and France investing heavily in research and development.

The quantum computing market in Asia Pacific is expected to experience significant growth over the coming years due to increased investments in research and development by countries like China, Japan, and South Korea.

China has an absolute advantage in quantum computer patents, with 52.8% of the world's total, as well as in quantum communication and quantum sensing.

The goal of the National Quantum Mission in India is to develop intermediate-scale quantum computers with 50-1,000 physical qubits in various platforms like superconducting and photonic technology.

IBM has made a breakthrough in reducing the number of qubits required for error correction by a factor of 10, which could open the door to efficient new approaches to creating fault-tolerant devices.

The leading approach to error correction is the surface code, which involves arranging qubits in a specially configured 2D lattice, but new approaches are being developed, such as the grid code, which can correct errors in a more efficient way.

Researchers have achieved a major milestone in quantum computing by extending the lifetime of quantum information beyond the breakeven point using Quantum Error Correction.

The Finnish government believes that the best way to be ready for the quantum computing industry is to build a working quantum computer.

Finland has big plans for quantum computing applications, with the QuTI project aiming to develop new components, manufacturing and testing solutions, and algorithms for the needs of quantum computing applications.

Terra Quantum, a Swiss/German company, is focusing on harnessing the power of quantum computing and applying it specifically in the fields of optimization, simulation, and machine learning.

The company has assembled one of the largest libraries in the world of algorithms designed to deliver unprecedented accelerated computing solutions using today’s hybrid computational power.

NVIDIA's open-source CUDA Quantum initiative is driving the development of quantum computing, allowing for the integration and programming of quantum processing units (QPU), graphics processing units (GPU), and central processing units (CPU) all in one system.

The Indian government has approved the National Quantum Mission (NQM) with a budget of ₹6,003 crore over eight years to create, develop, and nurture the quantum technology ecosystem in the country.

The quantum computing market is expected to have a profound effect on industries such as healthcare, finance, logistics, and energy, with potential applications including drug discovery, supply chain optimization, financial modeling, and climate modeling.

The global quantum computing market size was valued at USD 234.06 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 36.89% from 2022 to 2032.

Quantum computing is capable of solving problems that would be intractable or impossible for classical computers to solve, and has many important applications such as drug discovery, supply chain optimization, financial modeling, and climate modeling.

The quantum computing market is dominated by a few major players, including IBM, Google, Microsoft, and Honeywell.

Companies such as Goldman Sachs are actively researching how quantum computing can be applied to the pricing of complex derivatives, and CaixaBank's life insurance and pensions company, VidaCaixa, is using Canadian quantum computing company D-Wave's cloud service to build a quantum computing application for its investment portfolio selection and allocation activities.

The use of quantum computing in financial services could enable the modeling of multiple permutations of different scenarios or values to solve the most efficient outcomes in a fraction of the time it would take classical computing.

HSBC has joined the IBM Quantum Accelerator program, which aims to explore the potential of quantum computing in finance.

The global quantum computing market size is set to reach $1.77bn by 2026, up from $472m in 2021, at a compound annual growth rate of 30.2%, according to Markets and Markets.

Pioneering adoption of quantum computing by financial services companies is expected to drive the growth of the quantum computing market.

81% of senior UK executives expect quantum computing to play a significant role in their industry by 2030, according to EY's 2022 Quantum Readiness survey.

Countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea are increasing their investments in research and development efforts, which is expected to contribute to the growth of the quantum computing market in the Asia Pacific region.

The growing number of partnerships and collaborations among quantum computing companies, other technology firms, academic institutions, and research organizations is creating opportunities for the development of new quantum computing hardware and software systems.

The United States and China are currently leading the quantum computing development race, with China's leader, Xi Jinping, putting accelerating quantum technology in his 2021 five-year plan and investing at least $15.3 billion in public funds on quantum research.

Title:

Content: Chandeliers, ‘qubits’ and Schrödinger’s cat: Inside the bizarre world of quantum computing

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Chandeliers, ‘qubits’ and Schrödinger’s cat: Inside the bizarre world of quantum computing

In the quantum realm, the laws of physics are different. Now its mind-bending tech could soon transform our lives. How does it work?

It was 2009, and a group of scientists had crowded around a tiny monitor in a Sydney physics laboratory. The team, led by electrical engineer Andrea Morello, held their collective breath and peered at a single flat line on the screen. Then, in the blink of an eye, the line changed: it was a series of blips, like a heartbeat. They’d hit paydirt. “When you see that symbol, you’re in the game,” recalls physicist Charles Tahan.

Welcome to the quantum world, a subatomic realm – yes, smaller than an atom – where the laws of physics are, well, different. The experiment made Morello and his team the first in the world to show that a quantum computer could be made using not diamonds, not the superconductor niobium, but everyday silicon. “To show you could do that, 100 different things had to go right,” says Tahan.

Quantum computing is one of the key technologies defining this century. Its proponents say it will do for computers what the car did to the horse and buggy. It will upend encryption and molecular biology. In theory, it could even possibly find cures for cancer. Australia is among the world leaders in a quantum computing gold rush, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying his government is “serious about building a strong quantum ecosystem” and investing nearly a billion dollars.

Yet despite eye-watering outlays worldwide, quantum computing is still in its infancy, part of a mind-bending world that physicists are only beginning to fully grasp. What is it? And how will it make a difference to our lives?

How does a quantum computer work (and why did Alice in Wonderland have the jump on it?)

It’s often remarked that it looks like a beautiful chandelier, or a wedding cake. And IBM’s quantum computer, one of the world’s largest, is certainly an intriguing object, an intricate dome of golden wires and graceful tubes suspended from a ceiling.

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The part we can see, though, is really just the control and support system for a microchip (currently a version called Condor) buried deep inside. The glittering exoskeleton is there to keep its tiny heart as cold as possible – a hundred times colder than the coldest depths of space – and to feed information in and out, the process that makes it a “computer” and not just a science experiment.

The chip itself is smaller than a postage stamp, with several layers of circuitry and metal sandwiched in a tiny square, cooled to improve conductivity and to eliminate “noise”, the bugbear of many such devices. But even what we see here is not where the action happens. For that, we have to go deeper still, down into the chip and well beyond what’s visible through even the most powerful microscope, beyond the layers of individual atoms, into the atoms themselves.

‘The truth is the universe doesn’t run by the rules that we see every day – gravity, you bounce a ball and it falls. It runs on these other rules: quantum mechanics.’

In the subatomic realm of electrons, protons and photons, things happen very differently. Indeed, these tiny particles have no use for Newton’s laws of physics, nor even many of Einstein’s. “The truth,” says Tahan, “is the universe doesn’t run by the rules that we see every day – gravity, you bounce a ball and it falls. It runs on these other rules: quantum mechanics.”

Why these particles behave as they do in the quantum realm is a difficult concept to get your head around. Even Einstein resisted aspects of it, famously arguing that “God does not play dice with the Universe”. It was a misstep. “Because he didn’t believe in the completeness of quantum mechanics,” says Morello, “he lost a lot of productive years because he didn’t understand how it is possible that this thing is true.”

Many leading physicists investigated the concept from the early 1900s, including some familiar from popular culture today, notably Einstein and Neils Bohr (portrayed in Oppenheimer), Werner Heisenberg (whose name Walter White stole for his drug-chemist alter ego in Breaking Bad) and Viennese physicist Erwin Schrödinger, of the famous cat experiment (explained below).

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Lewis Carroll, meanwhile, may have had the jump on quantum physics with his ideas in the Alice books, as James Renner observed in The Wall Street Journal in 2015. “We speak of going down the wormhole into a mysterious world that defies Newtonian physics, where once Alice went down the rabbit hole into a mysterious world that had much the same effect. Now we speak of quantum particles being in two places at once or even Schrödinger’s cat being alive and dead at the same time, long after the Cheshire Cat’s grin was magically displaced from its body.”

The quantum realm has only truly begun to reveal itself to us relatively recently. In 1964, the Irish-born physicist John Bell published one of the most important theorems, which, according to Professor Andrew Whitaker in Physics World, “opened up the possibility of experimental philosophy, the study of what are normally thought of as philosophical issues in experiments. Not only do these experiments probe the deepest and most profound aspects of quantum theory, they also provide information on the fundamental nature of the universe.”

At the time, Bell’s theorem could not be tested in a lab. That would come in the late 1960s and early 1970s when experimentalists such as John Clauser began to show that the weirdness Bell had described on paper actually occurred in the real world. Which, at the time, was considered quite rude. One eminent physicist “was highly offended by my impertinent effort and told me that it was tantamount to professing a disbelief in quantum physics,” Clauser later recalled.

He and other apostates continued their work because he found some of the predictions “sufficiently bizarre that I could not accept them without seeing experimental proof”. Working with leftover lab equipment – “physics department scrap” – he went on to provide experimental evidence that refuted even Einstein’s theories. “I was very sad to see that my own experiment had proven Einstein wrong,” he said. Clauser would go on to win the 2022 Nobel Prize for Physics alongside Alain Aspect and Anton Zeilinger for their groundbreaking experiments with so-called “entangled” particles.

Quantum physicists still despair at the difficulties of explaining their weird world to outsiders. “Many writers fall back on boilerplate that makes physicists howl in agony,” wrote computer scientist Scott Aaronson in The New York Times in 2019. Unfortunately, says Gerard Milburn, a quantum physicist from the University of Queensland, “The quantum world lies beyond the reach of natural language.”

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But we’ll give it a go. Chiefly, particles in the quantum realm aren’t tied down to being in one place or state in the way bigger things are in the outside world, such as cats, which tend to be in one place at once. They obey different rules entirely. The first way to understand this oddness harks back to high-school science and how light can behave as both a particle and a wave. Photons – bursts of light – can act like ball bearings, with position and momentum. Yet light also behaves like a wave washing over a beach in a way that a ball bearing can’t. That’s a quantum physics party trick.

What is Schrödinger’s cat?

The most famous primer for quantum mechanics is the paradox of Schrödinger’s cat, a mind experiment devised by Schrödinger in 1935. A hypothetical cat goes into a box with a vial of poison gas, which has a 50-50 chance of killing it. You close the box and can’t see inside. So, without opening the box, you can’t know whether the poison has killed the cat or not. Therefore, posited Schrödinger, puss is neither dead nor alive but both – until you open the box.

In quantum mechanics, this state is called “superposition”. It’s impossible to describe properly without a background in higher-level mathematics, which we lack, but it generally means not knowing whether, say, an electron is over here, or over there, or – cat-like – in both places at the same time. Another way of looking at it is to visualise a coin spinning on its side. Until it stops and lands on one side or another, it’s not heads or tails but both.

At least, kind of.

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“Every explanation we give in lay terms is in some way wrong,” says Stephen Bartlett, a theoretical quantum physicist and director of the University of Sydney Nano Institute. “People often say a quantum superposition is in the value zero and the value one at the same time. That’s sort of right, and sort of not right.” Says Morello: “This is where language is failing us, right? If you’re trying to say that in plain English, it sounds really weird. But if you actually think about, you know, the mathematics of it, and the actual physical embodiment of that, it actually makes perfect sense.” Suffice to say, a real cat cannot find itself in “superposition”: this is a state that can exist only in the subatomic world.

How is this useful (and what’s a qubit)?

In a conventional computer, information is encoded as voltages that pass around the system thanks to millions of tiny transistors – essentially, gates or switches that turn on and off. A quantum computer is similar except that instead of using transistors as switches it uses subatomic particles, such as electrons or photons, that can have many more states than simply on or off, according to their position, momentum, spin direction and polarisation. Once harnessed – and there are many ways of doing that – these particles-as-switches are called “qubits”, a play on the word “bit”, the smallest unit of data that a computer can process and store.

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Information can be encoded on qubits in various ways: for his computers, Morello uses silicon and strong magnetic fields like those found in MRI machines. “The stuff that I build in my lab is actually a small silicon chip the size of a fingernail,” he says, “but the whole infrastructure around it is quite fancy. It’s a very powerful refrigerator that cools down the chip to [just] above absolute zero.

Critically, qubits can relate to other qubits in a state called “entanglement”. This enables quantum computers to perform multiple calculations simultaneously – which is their superpower. Schrödinger described entanglement as “the characteristic trait of quantum mechanics, the one that enforces its entire departure from classical lines of thought”. Sceptical Einstein called entanglement “spooky action at a distance”. Gerard Milburn says entanglement is great for building a computer “because if you want to have all these switches, having them strongly correlated is exactly what you want. And if you can control those correlations, you can do computation.”

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It’s these characteristics that have scientists and engineers excited. Not because quantum computers will necessarily take over from the conventional miracles we so rely on today but because they can do some particular things that transistor-based machines either struggle with or fail at completely. Today’s supercomputer might try to simulate molecular behaviour with “brute force”, says IBM’s quantum department. “But as it moves past the simplest, most straightforward molecules available, the supercomputer stalls. Quantum algorithms take a new approach to these sorts of complex problems, creating multidimensional computational spaces.”

‘Calculations that are completely impossible … would rapidly become possible on a quantum computer.’

This might include modelling how a drug might affect a virus, how new materials in aeroplanes might react to stress, or the exact process necessary to create a perfect chemical reaction.

“Calculations that are completely impossible – not just on present-day conventional computers but any conceivable future conventional computer – would rapidly become possible on a quantum computer,” says Andrew Doherty, professor of physics at Sydney University. “These are things where the application of that computer would be transformative to people’s lives without every home, you know, having a laptop quantum computer.”

Whether quantum computing will also revolutionise artificial intelligence is less certain. AI works by drawing from a huge amount of data, which is not something that naturally fits on a quantum computer, says Morello. “The problem with quantum computers in general and, in particular, with applications to AI is that loading data into them and reading data out of them is slow and cumbersome and prone to errors. It’s a bottleneck.”

Why is it so hard to build quantum machines?

Creating the qubits is hard, whatever material you start with. Interfacing with them via tiny wires like the golden lattice in IBM’s machines is hard. Getting accurate information from them is hard: “noise”, in the form of vibration or spurious electromagnetic signals, makes them behave badly and give poor results – “decoherence”, in physics speak.

Much of Andrew Doherty’s team’s work these days is in figuring out how to reduce this noise to acceptable levels and compensating for the errors that noise produces. “Compared to our conventional computers, quantum technology [computers] are very noisy devices,” he says. “They go wrong one time in 1000 as opposed to one time in an astronomically huge number of uses of [normal computers].”

Teams around the world are working on multiple approaches both to building the machines and compensating for their eccentricities, from labs in Australia to the tech giants Google, Microsoft and IBM – its Quantum Lab relies on superconducting qubits made from aluminium and niobiumand the Chinese government.

Some versions, such as IBM’s and Morello’s, chill the atoms to keep them as stable as possible. In contrast, the Australian company Quantum Brilliance is working with synthetic diamonds because they work at room temperature. “Unlike other materials,” says co-founder Marcus Doherty (no relation to Andrew), “diamond’s incredible hardness means that even at room temperature, there isn’t enough thermal energy in the environment to create vibrations that destroy the quantum properties of qubits.”

‘People are working really hard to try to find different mathematical problems that they think maybe quantum computers can’t crack.’

Another key moment in the quantum timeline came in 1994 when US mathematician Peter Shor showed that a quantum computer could crack encryption standards safeguarding everything from national intelligence systems to bank accounts. “He devised an algorithm, in theory, that he would need to run on a quantum computer,” says Bartlett. “And if you could build a quantum computer of sufficient size, then yeah, all information security falls apart.” Cybersecurity experts call that scenario Q-Day. “At the moment, people are working really hard to try to find different mathematical problems that they think maybe quantum computers can’t crack,” says Bartlett.

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In 2001, IBM made a seven-qubit device controlled through radio frequency pulses to demonstrate Shor’s Theorem. IBM’s prototype wasn’t given a huge task, managing to calculate that three times five was … wait for it ... 15. Yet this was considered a great success, even if it had shades of the famous supercomputer Deep Thought from Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which ponders the question of “life, the universe and everything” for thousands of years before giving the answer: 42.(Adams also dreamed up the Infinite Improbability Drive for a spaceship called the Heart of Gold, which used quantum theory to allow it to cross through every point in the universe simultaneously, allowing interstellar travel without all that “tedious mucking about in hyperspace”.)

Then, in 2019, Google claimed its 54-qubit Sycamore processor had performed a calculation in 200 seconds that would have taken the world’s most powerful supercomputer 10,000 years – a breakthrough some breathlessly likened to the Wright brothers’ first flight in 1903. Others were more sceptical, saying it would be many more years before quantum computers would have enough qubits – and be stable enough – to do anything actually useful. IBM said it could simulate Google’s experiment in two-and-a-half days on a “normal” computer, albeit if it had access to the Oak Ridge Summit supercomputer, a beast occupying an area the size of two basketball courts. IBM’s shimmering Eagle, meanwhile, had just 127 qubits; its successors, Osprey and now Condor, have pushed the bar to over 1000 and it plans for 1386 qubits in its Kookaburra in 2025.

Yet most of these devices are still basically proofs of concept, says Morello, the first step to manufacturing and miniaturising, as we saw with today’s transistor-based computers, which started out as rooms full of valves and cables. In the post-World War II era, says Andrew Doherty, “computers took up office floors of buildings in Manhattan and people put paper cards into them to program them. Out came numbers that even my childhood pocket calculator could have calculated right.” Many hundreds of billions of dollars have gone into developing computer technology, in packaging it for convenience and getting the components to work reliably, he says. “That whole engineering thing has got to grow up around these quantum technologies.”

Already, Marcus Doherty’s Quantum Brilliance has installed a quantum computer at the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre in Perth and is about to export computers, at this stage for customers to experiment with quantum computing and work out how to make it useful. In the future, finding commercial applications for a quantum computer will require tailoring it, at least initially, says UNSW’s Maja Cassidy, a former quantum researcher for Microsoft. “People have to go in and understand a company’s problem, how they’re using classical computing and … work out what section might be enhanced by the quantum computer.”

Who is leading the quantum race?

China is the only other nation giving the United States a run for its money. Its leader, Xi Jinping, put accelerating quantum technology in his 2021 five-year plan. McKinsey & Company estimates China has spent at least $15.3 billion in public funds on quantum research. That partly came to fruition in April with the Chinese Academy of Science’s unveiling of a 504-qubit chip, still half the size of IBM’s biggest.

For its part, Australia got a head start with quantum research in the 1990s. Today, two major spinoffs from UNSW research are pursuing silicon-based quantum computing: Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC), led by Professor Michelle Simmons, and Diraq, led by Professor Andrew Dzurak. SQC’s approach involves embedding phosphorus atoms within a wafer of silicon. Dzurak’s approach involves trapping electrons on silicon transistors. Both have the advantage of silicon chips already being ubiquitous. “Today, in our phones and our laptops, the silicon chips that are in those have upwards of a billion transistors on them,” says Dzurak. “The benefit of the technology that we’ve developed is that we are also able to get millions, and ultimately billions, of quantum bits onto a single silicon chip.”

‘Computers as we know them today are an absolutely mind-blowing achievement. So any technology that has the ambition of being an alternative or being better than that has a phenomenally high bar to clear.’

Other leading players in Australia include Q-CTRL, which is working on controlling and enhancing quantum hardware; quantum security company QuintessenceLabs; and Doherty’s Quantum Brilliance, which used its synthetic diamonds in the world-first integration of a two-qubit quantum device into a supercomputer at room temperature in 2022.

Meanwhile, out of the University of Queensland came early gains in “photonic” quantum computing, which harnesses particles of light – photons – as qubits. In April, the federal and Queensland governments jointly set aside $940 million in share purchases, grants and loans for PsiQuantum, a Silicon Valley company whose founders include Australian professors Jeremy O’Brien and Terry Rudolph. Unlike ions or electrons, photons are not charged, Bartlett says, so are not sent haywire by electromagnetic forces – but they are hard to manipulate and measure.

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Another approach involves “trapped ion” quantum computing, pursued by US company IonQ: physicists take an atom, flick off an electron so it is positively charged, then suspend the resulting ion within an electromagnetic field and manipulate the ion with lasers. But Bartlett says this approach will be hard to scale, given the technology to suspend millions of ion qubits doesn’t yet exist.

In April, the federal government also announced $18 million for the University of Sydney to establish Quantum Australia, a research consortium between several universities headed by Bartlett. “It used to be a small research community,” he says. “You absolutely needed to speak the common language of everyone else, which were the rules of physics. Now we are really seeing quite a bit of specialisation.”

Even if quantum computers develop practical uses, they will likely live in vast, super-cooled server farms where land and power are cheap. We’ll communicate with them through our everyday devices, much as we download and upload data from cloud servers, Netflix, TikTok, DropBox, whatever, today. The real challenge for quantum computing, says Morello, is that the alternative is “really, really good”. “Computers as we know them today are an absolutely mind-blowing achievement. So any technology that has the ambition of being an alternative or being better than that has a phenomenally high bar to clear.”

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How much have countries and blocs invested in quantum computing?

China's investment has partly come to fruition with the Chinese Academy of Science's unveiling of a 504-qubit chip, still half the size of IBM's biggest.

What are important areas in quantum research?

What countries and blocs are leading in developing quantum computing?

Google claimed its 54-qubit Sycamore processor had performed a calculation in 200 seconds that would have taken the world's most powerful supercomputer 10,000 years, a breakthrough some likened to the Wright brothers' first flight in 1903.

What advantages do quantum computers have over conventional computers?

extremely complex calculations
extremely fast calculations

What are important areas in quantum research?

What companies are leading in developing quantum computing?

What have been the landmark achievements in quantum computing?

Google's Sycamore quantum supremacy experiment

IBM has also made significant progress, with its Eagle, Osprey, and Condor devices pushing the bar to over 1000 qubits, and plans for 1386 qubits in its Kookaburra in 2025.

What are important areas in quantum research?

What companies are leading in developing quantum computing?

What countries and blocs are leading in developing quantum computing?

What seminal quantum computers/ processors have been developed?

Australia is also among the world leaders in a quantum computing gold rush, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying his government is "serious about building a strong quantum ecosystem" and investing nearly a billion dollars.

The National Quantum Mission in India was approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with a budget of ₹6,003 crore over eight years, aiming to create, develop, and nurture the quantum technology ecosystem in the country.

Title:

Content: Satyam Priyadarshy

Rajesh Mehta

Governments, venture capitalists, and private companies have invested billions of dollars in quantum computing in the last 10 years. Recently, at the Puzzle X conference held in Barcelona, it was evident that Europe is preparing to take on the leadership role to push the boundaries of quantum computing ecosystem. So, what is quantum computing?

Bits to Qubits

In simple words, quantum computing combines the fields of quantum mechanics and computer science. It moves us beyond Bits to Qubits. In traditional computer science, the information is stored and manipulated using bits that have two discrete states, 0 and 1, while in the quantum computing world, Qubits can represent both states at the same time, thus allowing for a high degree of parallelism, enabling by phenomena of “interference, superposition, and entanglement.”

Such parallelism allows quantum computers to tackle computational challenges that become a limiting factor for traditional computers.

Wide applications

Many companies in the quantum computing field are engaged in solving complex problems that could significantly impact the fields of drug development, material design, energy transition, finance, security, and defense.

All nations must address various aspects of the quantum computing ecosystem sooner than later due to China’s quantum computing activities.

The National Quantum Mission (NQM) was approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on April 19, 2023.

With a budget of ₹6,003 crore over eight years, it aims to create, develop, and nurture the quantum technology ecosystem in the country.

The goal of the mission is to develop intermediate-scale quantum computers with 50-1,000 physical qubits in various platforms like superconducting and photonic technology. Satellite-based secure quantum communications between ground stations over a range of 2,000 km within India, long-distance secure quantum communications with other countries, inter-city quantum key distribution over 2,000 km, as well as multi-node quantum networks with quantum memories, are among the other deliverables. The technology is expected to break ground in communications, cryptography, intelligence, fossil fuel exploration, space research, and drug design.

As we step into 2024, an increased set of activities to solve complex challenges will be addressed by combining the tools of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum computing.

Priyadarshy is a pioneer in the fields of Quantum Mechanics, Data Science, Big Data and Emerging Technologies; Mehta is an International Consultant in the field of Market Entry, Innovation and Public Policy

COMMENT NOW

Germany is also seeking to take the lead in the development of quantum computer technology, with the state of Lower Saxony attracting at least 400 researchers under the project "Quantum Valley Lower Saxony".

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Content: Artificial intelligence - a global race on quantum computing | Science and technology | Latest discoveries and studies from DW Arabia | DW | 04.09.2021
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Science and Technology
Artificial Intelligence: A Global Race for Quantum Computing
Germany is in the midst of a frantic global race for artificial intelligence technologies through quantum computers.
The Quantum Valley Lower Saxony project will make this state a leading center for the development of quantum computing in Germany, attracting 400 researchers.
The possession of quantum computer technology has become one of the most important bets of the future for which the world powers are engaged in a feverish race to harness all the scientific and financial possibilities.
The technology is far more powerful than today ’ s best computers, employing the incredible physical properties of tiny particles.
Instead of the data storage unit (BIT) on which traditional computing operates with values of 0 and 1, the quantum scientist uses a unit (Qbits) that allows multiple values at the same time, theoretically enabling parallel calculations beyond anything known to man to date.
However, this technology is still at an experimental stage and in the future it is expected to solve complex computational problems that current computers cannot do, applying to multiple fields, including computation of tracks and more complex decoding, as well as countless application areas, such as drug development, to name a few.
In May 2021, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has completed a PhD in quantum chemistry, launched the first quantum computer built in Germany by the American company IBM, at a time when the world is in a race against time to take the lead in this promising technology.
The Q System One, built near Stuttgart in cooperation with the German research institute Fraunhofer, has been in service since the beginning of April, and is the first device of its kind for the American company outside the United States.
Lower Saxony is also seeking to be a leading platform for the development of this technology in Germany as part of the Quantum Valley Lower Saxony project, which attracts at least 400 researchers.
Watch the video 26: 00
Made in Germany - Innovation is the engine of success
Germany - Artificial Intelligence for Quantum Computing
The major world powers have entered a frantic race over the technologies of the future that will change the way of life of humanity in the world of tomorrow.
The German government has earmarked at least €2 billion this year for the development of quantum computers, which experts say are the main entry point for artificial intelligence technologies.
Germany aims to keep pace with global competition by developing a quantum computer over the next five years.
German Minister of Scientific Research Anja Karlyschek (May 2021) said: “Quantum technologies are one of the key technologies that will be crucial in the future.
"It will allow us to make our communications completely secure, make leaps in medical technology via highly sensitive sensors, or address previously unsolvable problems in logistics or materials research via quantum computing."
Lower Saxony aims to build Germany ’ s first quantum computer and put it into operation by the end of 2025.
Using a technique called the "ion trap", ions are charged atoms, as the basic unit of computation of a computer - the ion is a qubit.
With the help of electric fields, these ions are captured and controlled by radio waves and laser beams.
Lower Saxony - Leadership in Quantum Technology
The state of Lower Saxony (eastern Germany) is seeking to take the lead in the development of quantum computer technology in Germany, in cooperation with a number of universities and research institutions, attracting the expertise of at least 400 researchers under the project "Quantum Valley Lower Saxony".
The project is expected to receive funding of 1.5 billion euros over 10 years.
watch video 01: 33
Rare bipartisan deal in U.S. Congress on tech support
Between science fiction and hard science facts, quantum technology is one of the most important breakthroughs in modern technology.
The industry is increasingly relying on highly complex computing processes in the shortest possible time frame.
However, all current quantum computers are basically just experimental or prototype devices.
The number of qubits does not have to be the only measure, but the quality of the calculations is more important.
In the future, a complete system with special algorithms and software will have to be developed so that researchers can develop technology with enormous potential.
Computers are all at the same time.
The first (mechanical) computer appeared in 1941 before a number of inventions were developed that changed the face of computing and made computers the devices we know today in terms of efficiency, smallness and lightness compared to the first models.
Despite the tremendous development of computing technologies, they still face numerous dilemmas, including, but not limited to, the constant fear of hacking and intrusion of data confidentiality.
Quantum computers go beyond the binary logic of qubits being in the states of 0 and 1 at the same time, but also in the states in between.
This means that far fewer kibbutz are needed to perform calculations, which traditional computing devices cannot.
Another advantage of quantum technology is that these processes take place at close to the speed of light.
However, the generation of quantum "bits" still poses a number of dilemmas, using superconducting elements, such as ions, "trapped" atoms, photons and other similar processes.
The ions are stimulated by microwave radiation, which can be placed in multiple states, which can then be loaded with different information.
The particles are moving.
To be able to function, it must be "frozen", with extreme cooling close to absolute zero (-273.15 ° C) using complex techniques such as magnetic fields.
In addition, qubits are unstable and react to the slightest external stimulation, such as vibrations, magnetic and electrical fields, and other factors.
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European Commission seeks to limit market power of tech giants
From a quantum computer to a neural computer.
Traditional computer chips are almost beginning to exhaust their maximum capabilities because semiconductor performance is starting to reach its physical limits.
Because chips cannot be downsized indefinitely in order to increase their performance in as little space as possible, quantum computers and neural computers are being developed as technological alternatives in the future.
As explained above, a classical computer operates with 0 and 1 binary mode geometry (i.e., current flow or no current flow).
This is specified in the bit unit.
The physical structure in a computer consists of electronic components, such as capacitors or transistors in microchips.
The primary and fundamental property of a "bit" unit is that its value is precisely defined and does not change when measured, on the other hand, the value of a "bit" does not change immediately once the value of another "bit" changes, and in a classical computer only after a certain period of time in the range of milliseconds per second.
Coinciding with the interest in quantum computers, a new technological approach has emerged and concerns computers that do not rely on artificial intelligence but mimic the human brain and are called neural computing.
It has the privilege of extremely low energy consumption, computing speed and high capacity to store information in an analogy to the functioning of the human brain.
Artificial Intelligence: The Tool of Domination in Tomorrow ’ s World
An ambitious US project has invested $170 billion for scientific research and development in the field of precision technology, such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors.
China is engaged in an economic and technological war with Western powers and the United States in particular that exploded in the form of trade battles under former President Donald Trump, and is one of the rare issues adopted by Democratic President Joe Biden after his Republican predecessor.
It enjoys broad consensus in Congress for its strategic dimension.
It has become clear that whoever wins the race for future technologies such as artificial intelligence will be the world ’ s first economy.
The U.S. project provides for $52 billion over five years to encourage companies to manufacture chips and semiconductors in the United States.
Washington believes the Chinese rival is investing at least $150 billion to develop the technologies of the future.
Hassan Zinind

What countries and blocs are leading in developing quantum computing?

Canada is also well-positioned to become a global leader in the developing quantum sector, with the government investing $40 million to enable the Toronto-based Canadian quantum computing company Xanadu Quantum Technologies Inc. to build and commercialize the world's first photonic-based, fault-tolerant quantum computer.

Title:

Content: There were 1,711 press releases posted in the last 24 hours and 342,181 in the last 365 days.

Supporting Canada's leadership in quantum computing to grow the economy and create jobs

TORONTO, Jan. 23, 2023 /CNW/ - Quantum technologies are at the leading edge of science and innovation. As Canadian researchers, workers and businesses continue to demonstrate leadership on the world stage in innovating and developing quantum technologies, we have the potential to transform how we work and live in Canada and around the world – in areas from fighting climate change to making advancements in health care. The Government of Canada will continue to support Canadian companies to help them keep growing and staying competitive, while driving economic growth and creating highly skilled and well-paying jobs for Canadians.

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced a new federal investment of $40 million to enable the Toronto-based Canadian quantum computing company Xanadu Quantum Technologies Inc. to build and commercialize the world's first photonic-based, fault-tolerant quantum computer. Once developed, this computer will have the potential to provide world leading capabilities to help solve complex data problems and could be used in a variety of sectors such as finance, transportation, environmental modelling, and health.

Supported through the government's Strategic Innovation Fund, this $177.8 million project is expected to create 530 new highly skilled positions in the high-tech and quantum computing fields.

Home to some of the world's largest quantum tech hubs, Canada is well positioned to become a global leader in the developing quantum sector, which will create new opportunities for Canadians and Canadian businesses. The Government of Canada will continue to invest in innovative companies to grow the economy and create highly skilled and well-paying jobs for Canadians.

Quotes

"Quantum technology is changing the world as we know it. With the potential to solve difficult problems in key areas such as health care, finance, and climate sciences, this sector expands the realm of possibility. Today's announcement is great news for Canadian workers and businesses. This investment will bring good jobs, spur economic growth, boost innovation, and solidify Canada as a world leader in quantum technology."

— The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

"Quantum technologies will set the course of the future and thanks to companies like Xanadu, Canada is at the forefront ready to lead. With today's announcement, our government is strengthening Canada's position in quantum technology and helping to create more economic growth and good jobs for Canadians. We'll continue to build this sector through our National Quantum Strategy and support made-in-Canada technology so Canada remains a world leader for decades to come."

— The Hon. François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry

"The government's continued investment in quantum technologies has been invaluable to our success. We are proud to be a Canadian company and, with this investment, are excited to enter the next phase in our mission to build quantum computers that are useful and available to people everywhere."

— Christian Weedbrook, Founder and CEO, Xanadu

Quick Facts

  • Since the birth of quantum science more than 100 years ago, quantum technologies have been the source of many game-changing innovations such as semiconductors and the laser.
  • Quantum science is the study, manipulation, and control of systems at the atomic and subatomic level.
  • It is estimated that by 2045, the Canadian quantum industry will be a $139 billion industry, including all economic effects, and account for over 200,000 jobs, according to a study commissioned by the National Research Council in 2020.
  • Earlier this month, the Government of Canada launched its National Quantum Strategy, which invests an additional $360 million to help solidify Canada as a global leader in quantum technologies.
  • Over the past 10 years, the Government of Canada has invested more than $1 billion in quantum research and science.
  • Additionally, the government has invested in bringing new quantum technologies to the Canadian and global markets, including investments through Canada's regional development agencies, the Strategic Innovation Fund, and the National Research Council of Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Program.
  • Xanadu is a notable contributor to Canada's innovation ecosystem and has committed to continuing to support innovation, growth, and Canada's research and development sector.
  • Founded in 2016, Xanadu is a Toronto-based Canadian quantum computing company with the mission to build quantum computers that are useful and available to people everywhere. Xanadu has become one of the world's leading quantum hardware and software companies and leads the development of PennyLane, an open-source software library for quantum computing and application development.

Associated Links

This document is also available at https://pm.gc.ca

SOURCE Prime Minister's Office

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2023/23/c3179.html

What are important areas in quantum research?

What countries and blocs are leading in developing quantum computing?

The United States and China dominate the quantum computing sector, with the US having major companies such as IBM, Google, and Microsoft driving growth through their presence and investment in research and development activities related to quantum computing.

Title:

Content: Monday, 25 March 2024 02: 58 GMT
UAE invests in ‘ quantum computing ’ to look to the future
(MENAFN- Al-Bayan)
The UAE is investing in the sector of quantum computing, which is expected to reach a global market value of $1 trillion in 2035, as one of the fastest expanding fields of technology in the world and because of its innovative applications capable of solving challenges in many sectors, because of its strength and speed in calculating physical phenomena, compared to traditional computers.
The UAE aims to invest in quantum computing to enable innovation and a knowledge and sustainable economy through the Quantum Research Center and UAE institutes and universities to explore the future of this vital sector. The Institute of Technology Innovation ’ s (TII) Quantitative Research Center is working to build the first quantum computer in the UAE, according to the Interregional Center for Strategic Analytics in Abu Dhabi.
The UAE has quickly realized the benefits of the quantum computing sector in all sectors and fields, especially in the economy and scientific research, as part of the country ’ s long-term strategies to keep pace with the global technological development represented by the fourth industrial revolution and artificial intelligence, which will change the face of the world in the coming years.
IDC expects global investments in quantum computing to reach $16.4 billion by the end of 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 11.5%, which includes investments by the public and private sectors and R & D spending from technology, services and finance companies.
There is growing interest in quantum computing by global government agencies, with 14 of them (13 countries plus the European Union) announcing multi-year initiatives that will generate billions of dollars for quantum computing research.
The center said that the UAE is among the 50 projects working to create an attractive investment environment for investments in new and future sectors, including quantum computing technology.
According to Accenture Middle East, quantum computing technology is advancing rapidly, making it a promising technology sector.
The US and China dominate the quantum computing sector to take advantage of the features of the new technological revolution that has enabled scientists to study the basic particles of matter, whose applications have multiplied across different fields despite their relative novelty, promising radical transformations for any industry dependent on speed and processing power, including aerospace, automotive, medicine and others.
Quantum computing technologies have a huge market value, with quantum computing alone expected to reach a global market value of $1 trillion by 2035.
Quantum technology has played a role in many areas, including complex mathematical models, simulations, electronic devices, CT scanners and many others, as it has the potential to revolutionize the way humans communicate and process information at record speeds.
The most prominent areas of use of quantum computing can be found in many fields of military, communications and medicine, and can address economic crises and challenges quickly, and there is no doubt that quantum computing technology can change the map of national industries.
Major technology companies are leading efforts to develop quantum computing, with Google Research Lab and IBM, which built one of the largest quantum computers in the field, and the Chinese University of Science and Technology has developed a quantum computer that is 10 billion times faster than the computer developed by Google.
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Title:

Content: Quantum Computing Market was valued at nearly USD 234.06 billion by 2032

Prudour Private Limited

Updated · Mar 06, 2023

Quantum Computing Market Overview

Published Via 11Press: Quantum computing is a rapidly developing market that is revolutionizing how we approach computing and data processing. By employing principles of quantum mechanics to perform computations, quantum computers are capable of solving problems that classical computers may find impossible or impracticable to resolve.

The global quantum computing market size is forecast to reach USD 234.06 billion by 2032 from USD 10.13 billion in 2022, rising at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36.89% during the forecast period.

At present, the quantum computing market is dominated by a few major players such as IBM, Google, Microsoft, and Honeywell. These firms are investing heavily in quantum computing research and development as well as creating quantum computing hardware and software systems.

The quantum computing market is expected to have a profound effect on industries such as healthcare, finance, logistics, and energy. Some key applications of quantum computing include drug discovery, supply chain optimization, financial modeling, and climate modeling.

Though the quantum computing market is promising, it still faces several obstacles such as high costs of hardware, a shortage of skilled experts in this area, and technical difficulties when building large-scale quantum computers. With ongoing research and development efforts, however, these problems should be overcome within the coming years, leading to even greater growth and innovation in this space.

Key Takeaways

  • The global quantum computing market size was valued at USD 234.06 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 36.89% from 2022 to 2032.
  • Quantum computing is capable of solving problems that would be intractable or impossible for classical computers to solve.
  • The quantum computing market is dominated by a few major players, including IBM, Google, Microsoft and Honeywell.
  • The quantum computing market is expected to have a profound effect on numerous industries, such as healthcare, finance, logistics and energy.
  • Quantum computing has many important applications such as drug discovery, supply chain optimization, financial modeling and climate modeling.
  • The quantum computing market remains plagued by several obstacles, such as the high cost of quantum computing hardware, lack of qualified quantum computing experts and technical difficulties in building and running large-scale quantum computing systems.
  • Research and development are expected to overcome these obstacles within the next couple of years, propelling even greater growth and innovation in the quantum computing market.

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Regional Snapshot

  • North America: North America is currently the leading market for quantum computing, with the United States playing a major role. Major companies such as IBM, Google, and Microsoft are driving this growth through their presence and investment in research and development activities related to quantum computing. This region boasts numerous key players such as IBM, Google, and Microsoft which are driving demand within this region.
  • Europe: Europe is an increasingly important market for quantum computing, with countries such as the UK, Germany, and France investing heavily in research and development. Through partnerships between quantum computing companies and other technology firms as well as the growing adoption of quantum computing across various industries, this region’s market is experiencing rapid expansion.
  • Asia Pacific: The quantum computing market in Asia Pacific is expected to experience significant growth over the coming years due to increased investments in research and development by countries like China, Japan, and South Korea. Furthermore, there have been an increasing number of collaborations between companies using quantum computing with academic institutions as well as its increasing adoption across industries like healthcare and finance – all contributing factors for market expansion within this region.
  • The Rest of the World: Countries such as Brazil, South Africa, and the UAE are expected to experience significant growth in the quantum computing market over the coming years due to increased investments in research and development efforts as well as the growing adoption of quantum computing across various industries. These factors are fueling this region’s meteoric rise in this region.

Drivers

  • Quantum Computing Gaining Adoption in Various Industries: Quantum computing is seeing an uptick in popularity across a range of industries, such as healthcare, finance, logistics, and energy – as companies seek to use their power to solve complex problems and gain an edge in competition.
  • Investments in Quantum Computing Research and Development: Governments, academic institutions, and private companies have made substantial investments in quantum computing research and development, spurring innovation and progress within the field.
  • Growing Number of Partnerships and Collaborations: There has been an uptick in partnerships and collaborations between quantum computing companies and other technology firms, as well as academic institutions and research organizations. This trend is propelling the development of new quantum computing hardware and software systems, as well as its adoption across various industries.
  • Increasing Access to Cloud-Based Quantum Computing Services: The growing availability of cloud-based quantum computing services is making it simpler for companies and researchers to utilize this cutting-edge technology, spurring adoption and innovation within the field.

Restraints

  • Limited Access to Qualified Quantum Computing Experts: Unfortunately, there is currently a shortage of highly experienced quantum computing specialists, making it challenging for companies to construct and sustain quantum computing systems.
  • Technical Challenges in Building and Maintaining Large-Scale Quantum Computing Systems: The development of large-scale quantum computing systems is still in its early stages, so there are numerous technical obstacles that must be overcome, such as noise reduction, error correction, and scalability.
  • Limited Quantum Computing Applications: Although the list of potential applications for quantum computing is growing, the number of practical ones that have been developed and implemented remains limited. This can make it challenging for companies to justify investing in quantum computing technology.
  • Regulatory Challenges: Quantum computing technology may face regulatory restrictions, particularly around data privacy and security. This could create additional obstacles to the adoption and investment in the technology.

Opportunities

  • Growing Number of Partnerships and Collaborations: The growing number of partnerships and collaborations among quantum computing companies, other technology firms, academic institutions, and research organizations is creating opportunities for the development of new quantum computing hardware and software systems as well as its adoption across various industries.
  • Advancements in Quantum Computing Hardware and Software: With the rapid progress being made in the development of quantum computing hardware and software, new opportunities will present themselves for applying this technology across various industries and fields.
  • The growing availability of cloud-based quantum computing services: Cloud-based quantum computing services are making it simpler for companies and researchers to access and utilize quantum computing technology, spurring adoption and innovation within the field.
  • Growth of Quantum Computing as a Service: As more companies and researchers embrace the potential of quantum computing, cloud-based quantum computing services are creating exciting new business opportunities for those offering these solutions.
  • Potential for Breakthroughs in Areas such as Drug Discovery, Finance, and Energy: Quantum computing holds the potential to unravel complex issues in fields like drug discovery, finance, and energy – leading to major breakthroughs and advances. This presents companies with unique opportunities for those who can develop and implement quantum computing solutions in these sectors.

Challenges

  • Technical Challenges in Constructing and Running Large Quantum Computing Systems: As quantum computing systems continue to emerge, numerous technical obstacles must be overcome such as noise reduction, error correction, and scalability. These issues make it challenging for companies to construct and run these massive quantum computers efficiently.
  • Limited Access to Qualified Quantum Computing Experts: There is currently a shortage of highly experienced quantum computing professionals, making it difficult for companies to construct and maintain quantum computing systems. This shortage could potentially restrict the growth of this industry in the coming years.
  • Quantum computing Applications: While quantum computing has many potential uses, the number of practical applications that have been created and implemented remains limited. This could make investing in quantum computing technology and research on practical applications an attractive prospect.

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Recent Developments

  • Google Claims Quantum Supremacy: In 2019, Google claimed to have achieved quantum supremacy by performing a calculation on its quantum computer that even the most powerful supercomputers would take thousands of years to complete. This was seen as an important milestone in the advancement of quantum computing technology.
  • IBM Launches Quantum Computing Program for Students: In 2020, IBM unveiled a quantum computing program specifically tailored towards students that provides them with access to IBM’s resources and tools, as well as a platform for learning and collaboration.
  • Honeywell Achieves Quantum Computer Record Performance: On March 20, 2021, Honeywell revealed its creation of a quantum computer with an astonishing quantum volume of 512. This feat marked an amazing advancement in quantum computing technology and demonstrated how rapidly progress has been made since then.
  • Amazon Web Services Announces Quantum Computing Service: On June 2021, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the launch of its own quantum computing service called Amazon Bracket. This offering gives customers access to various vendors’ hardware as well as tools and resources for developing and testing quantum algorithms.

Key Market Segments

Type

  • Hardware
  • Software
  • Services

Application

  • Defense
  • Healthcare & pharmaceuticals
  • Chemicals
  • Banking & Finance
  • Energy & power

Key Market Players

  • D-Wave Systems
  • Google
  • IBM
  • Intel
  • Microsoft
  • 1QB Information Technologies
  • Anyon Systems
  • Cambridge Quantum Computing
  • ID Quantique
  • IonQ
  • QbitLogic
  • QC Ware
  • Quantum Circuits
  • Qubitekk
  • QxBranch
  • Rigetti Computing

Nature Insights

  • Progress is being made in the development of quantum computing hardware: Despite the challenges facing large-scale quantum computing systems, progress is being made on quantum computing hardware. This includes creating quantum processors with increasingly more qubits and creating new materials suitable for use in quantum computers.
  • Quantum computing software is still in its early stages: While progress is being made with quantum computing hardware, software development for quantum computation remains at a standstill. This presents an immense challenge to the industry as developing efficient quantum algorithms is essential to realizing its full potential.
  • Collaboration is essential to the advancement of quantum computing: Collaboration between companies, academic institutions, and research organizations is essential for progress in this industry. This includes joint efforts to develop new hardware and software systems as well as collaborations that promote quantum computing across various industries.

Report Scope

Report Attribute Details
The market size value in 2022 USD 10.13 Bn
Revenue forecast by 2032 USD 234.6 Bn
Growth Rate CAGR Of 36.89%
Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa, and the Rest of the World
Historical Years 2017-2022
Base Year 2022
Estimated Year 2023
Short-Term Projection Year 2028
Long-Term Projected Year 2032

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FAQ.

What is quantum computing?

Quantum computing is a type of processing data using quantum mechanics. It relies on principles such as superposition, entanglement, and interference which enable quantum computers to perform calculations that would be impossible with classical computers.

What are some potential applications of quantum computing?

Quantum computing holds great promise for revolutionizing industries such as drug discovery, finance, energy, and logistics. Potential uses include creating new drugs and materials, optimizing supply chains and logistics networks, and even improving weather forecasting models with greater precision.

What are some of the challenges facing the quantum computing market?

The quantum computing market faces numerous obstacles, such as technical difficulties in building and running large-scale quantum computers, high costs associated with quantum computing hardware, a scarcity of highly qualified quantum experts, and an absence of practical applications developed and deployed.

Who are some of the major players in the quantum computing market?

Major companies operating within this space include IBM, Google, Microsoft, Honeywell, Intel, and Rigetti Computing. These firms are actively developing and commercializing quantum computing hardware and software systems.

What is the outlook for the quantum computing market?

Overall, analysts anticipate a bright future for quantum computing, with continued investment and innovation anticipated in the coming years. Though still in its early stages of development, its potential advantages are immense - leading to rapid industry growth over the coming years.

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Content: Finland has big plans for quantum computing applications

The QuTI project will develop new components, manufacturing and testing solutions, and algorithms for the needs of quantum computing applications.
25 January 2022

Quantum computing applications are expected to be adopted by more industries this year as organizations around the world begin testing the use cases for the technology. While organizations are the ones most looking forward to making the most of the technology, a few governments are also hoping quantum computing applications can improve their services.

In Finland, their first-ever quantum computer was commissioned at a research center near the capital. Scientists are expected to use it to study next-generation computing power. The 5 quantum-bit computers were developed to learn how to build a quantum computer, how to program one, and how to operate one in the future.

The state-owned VTT Technical Research Center (VTT) plays a crucial role in ensuring researchers learn in a range of scientific domains and making quantum computing applications ready for the industry. According to a report by Computer Weekly, the Finnish government believes that the best way to be ready for the quantum computing industry is to build a working quantum computer.

Computer Weekly also highlights five areas for quantum computing applications. They are in drug and materials discovery, supply chain and logistics, financial services, artificial intelligence, and cloud security.

For drug and materials discovery, Computer Weekly reports that a separate team in VTT which is the quantum algorithm team is developing algorithms to be used on the quantum computer. They are looking at two broad types of quantum computing applications. The first is to solve complex optimization problems that exist in many industries. This includes energy distribution, process control, and fleet management. The second is to predict the structures and properties of molecular formations more accurately and effectively. This will help accelerate drug discovery and the development of new materials.

While other countries are also developing quantum computer ecosystems, with the majority focusing on topics and platforms. Tech vendors like IBM and Google, who are also developing quantum use cases are not government-linked or owned and are mostly testing industry use cases.

Compared to the rest of the world, Finnish researchers focus almost exclusively on the superconducting qubit approach, which they have been using for years and know very well. In fact, a new research project has just been launched to accelerate the progress of Finnish quantum technology.

The QuTI project, coordinated by VTT, will develop new components, manufacturing and testing solutions, and algorithms for the needs of quantum technology. The QuTI consortium, partly financed by Business Finland, consists of 12 partners and has a total budget of around EUR 10 million.

For Professor Mika Prunnila, QuTI project’s coordinator, from VT, “Quantum technology is a multidisciplinary and rapidly advancing field. The QuTI consortium provides an ideal starting point for strengthening the international competitiveness of Finnish technology and industry in this fast-growing field.”

The quantum computing, communication and sensing devices to be developed in the QuTI project are largely based on expertise in microsystems, photonics, electronics, and cryogenics. The project develops customized software and algorithms hand in hand with the hardware, strengthening the Finnish quantum computing infrastructure. In addition, new tools will be created for quantum technology product development that will serve the needs of the QuTI project as well as the entire field of quantum technology.

As China and the US continue to battle each other for quantum computing supremacy, Finland is definitely building their presence in the industry as well. With the government supporting quantum computing initiatives, Finland might just have a quantum computing ecosystem on the horizon.

What companies are leading in developing quantum computing?

What countries and blocs are leading in developing quantum computing?

What companies are leading in developing quantum computing?

What countries and blocs are leading in developing quantum computing?

What companies are leading in developing quantum computing?

What countries and blocs are leading in developing quantum computing?

Russia is also working on quantum computing, with a focus on four key physical platforms: superconducting qubits, photonic circuits, neutral atoms, and trapped ions.

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Content: Investments in quantum computing startups reached $2.35 billion in 2022
Quantum technologies have great potential for both science and business, and attract large investments in different countries of the world, including Russia.
This is stated in the analytical report "Quantum Computing: Prospects for Business", which was prepared jointly with the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "VNIIA named after N.L. Dukhov" and the Institute of Artificial Intelligence AIRI.
“Increasing attention in the world is paid to supporting start-ups in the field of quantum technologies.
In 2022, venture investors around the world invested $2.35 billion in them.
Also last year, almost 1,600 patents were issued and published in all subfields of quantum computing: from physical implementations of quantum equipment and error correction to AI [artificial intelligence] and machine learning.
Video of the day
Leading countries, realizing the breakthrough potential of this direction, include quantum technologies in national programs and allocate increasing budgets for research.
The leader is China with $15.3 billion in government funding.
Development programs have the leading technological corporations of the world.
So, which has made a quantum processor for 433 qubits [qubit or quantum bit - the main unit of information in quantum processors and quantum computing], plans this year to increase the number of qubits to 1121, and intends to show a device for a thousand qubits after 2025.
The intention to develop a full stack of technologies for quantum computing announced and has already released to the market quantum chips on spin qubits.
In Russia, work on quantum computing is underway on four key physical platforms: superconducting qubits, photonic circuits, neutral atoms, and trapped ions.
The Russian Federation has also formed a pool of organizations, including companies, scientific institutions and universities that conduct research and development, study the applicability of quantum computing to practical tasks.
“Quantum computing can give the world an impetus to the development of new industries based on the processing of big data.
In addition, they can improve the performance and efficiency of artificial intelligence algorithms, the accuracy of models and simulations of complex systems (such as molecules of new drugs, chemical reactions or physical processes), as well as provide a new level of calculations in finance and logistics, new solutions to climate problems and cryptographic algorithms that will provide a higher level of security.
The authors of the report come to the conclusion that although no one in the world has been able to demonstrate practical quantum superiority, nevertheless, companies should plan today what will happen after its achievement.
Quantum computing is able to integrate seamlessly into data processing workflows, using adaptation tools for popular programming languages and interfaces.

What are important areas in quantum research?

implementations of quantum processors
new types of qubits

The UAE is investing in the sector of quantum computing, which is expected to reach a global market value of $1 trillion in 2035.

North America is currently the leading market for quantum computing, with the United States playing a major role.

What countries and blocs are leading in developing quantum computing?

Europe is an increasingly important market for quantum computing, with countries such as the UK, Germany, and France investing heavily in research and development.

What countries and blocs are leading in developing quantum computing?

What countries and blocs are leading in developing quantum computing?

China has an absolute advantage in quantum computer patents, with 52.8% of the world's total, as well as in quantum communication and quantum sensing.

Title:

Content: Quantum technology, known as the powerful engine of next-generation technology, has become increasingly competitive in recent years. According to an article published by Korean media on quantum information technology, quantum technology is not only fiercely competitive, but the scale of investment is also rapidly increasing.
However, according to statistics, in addition to sweeping half of the world's quantum technology patents, China ranks first in the world in the scale of investment in quantum information technology.
According to a South Korean media report, China's basic science and system research and development force of quantum information technology is rapidly growing and has become a competitor on par with the United States and Europe.
And to achieve this kind of technological leap, can not be separated from huge investment.
The data shows that China ranks first in the world in terms of investment in quantum information technology and has built the world ’ s largest quantum laboratory.
As of 2022, China ’ s investment in quantum information technology has reached $15.3 billion, far exceeding Europe ’ s $8.4 billion and the United States ’ $3.7 billion.
South Korean media cited China's often used "curve overtaking" strategy, and pointed out that the rapid development of electric vehicles in recent years as an example, in the 1980s, mainland enterprises officially entered the commercial vehicle industry, and imitated Germany, the United States and other developed countries.
However, with the fastest perception of automotive electrification trends and bold push, China has successfully entered the leading group of global electric vehicles.
The article pointed out that if it is said that in the field of electric vehicles, China and the United States and Europe have launched a parallel competition, in the field of quantum information technology as a future technology, China is also playing a competitive role with the United States and Europe.
Judging from the global patent application volume on quantum information technology, China is leading the world with its huge investment.
At present, China's patent applications account for 52.3%, which has an absolute advantage.
After China, it is followed by Japan (13.8%), the European Union (13.8%), the United States (10%), and South Korea (3.6%).
Looking at the breakdown, China has an absolute advantage in quantum computer patents (52.8% of the world's total), quantum communication (43.2% of the world's total), and quantum sensing (56.6% of the world's total), especially in quantum cryptographic communication.
Source: China has swept half of the world ’ s quantum technology patent investment scale is the world ’ s first
# Quantum # Technology # China # Patent # Quantity

What countries and blocs are leading in developing quantum computing?

The goal of the National Quantum Mission in India is to develop intermediate-scale quantum computers with 50-1,000 physical qubits in various platforms like superconducting and photonic technology.

What are important areas in quantum research?

IBM has made a breakthrough in reducing the number of qubits required for error correction by a factor of 10, which could open the door to efficient new approaches to creating fault-tolerant devices.

Title:

Content: New Codes Could Accelerate the Advent of Practical Quantum Computing

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for quantum computers is their tendency to be error-prone and the massive computational overhead required to clean up their mistakes. IBM has now made a breakthrough by dramatically reducing the number of qubits required to do so.

All computers are prone to errors, and even the computer chip in your laptop runs code designed to fix things when a bit flips accidentally. But fragile quantum states are far more vulnerable to things like environmental noise, which means correcting errors in quantum processors will require considerable resources.

Most estimates predict that creating just a single fault-tolerant qubit, or logical qubit, that can carry out useful operations will require thousands of physical qubits dedicated to error correction. Given that today’s biggest processors have just hundreds of qubits, this suggests we’re still a long way from building practical quantum computers that can solve real problems.

But now researchers at IBM say they’ve discovered a new approach that slashes the number of qubits required for error correction by a factor of 10. While the approach currently only works on quantum memory rather than computation, the technique could open the door to efficient new approaches to creating fault-tolerant devices.

Practical error correction is far from a solved problem,” the researchers write in a blog post. “However, these new codes and other advances across the field are increasing our confidence that fault tolerant quantum computing isn’t just possible, but is possible without having to build an unreasonably large quantum computer.”

The leading approach to error correction today is known as the surface code, which involves arranging qubits in a specially configured 2D lattice and using some to encode data and others to make measurements to see if an error has occurred. The approach is effective, but it requires a large number of physical qubits to pull off—as many as 20 million for some key problems of interest, according to IBM.

The new technique, outlined in a preprint on arXiv, comes from the same family of error-correction approaches as the surface code. But while each qubit in the surface code is connected to four others, the new technique connects them to six others, which makes it possible to encode more information into the same number of physical qubits.

As a result, the researchers say they can reduce the number of qubits required by an order of magnitude. Creating 12 logical qubits using their approach would require only 288 physical qubits, compared to more than 4,000 when using the surface code.

There are some significant caveats, though. For a start, it’s currently impossible to achieve the kind of six-way connectivity the team envisages. While the surface code operates on a single plane and can therefore be easily implemented on the kind of flat chip already found in quantum processors, the new approach requires connections to distant qubits that aren’t located on the same surface.

The researchers say this isn’t an insurmountable barrier, and IBM is already developing the kind of long-range couplers required to make these kinds of corrections. The technologies needed are certainly plausible, Jérémie Guillaud at French quantum computing startup Alice & Bob told New Scientist, and could be here in just a matter of years.

A bigger open question, though, is the fact that so far the approach only works with a small number of logical operations. This means that while it works for reading and writing to a quantum memory in a fault-tolerant way, it wouldn’t support most quantum computations.

But the IBM researchers say the techniques they’ve unveiled are just a stepping stone that points toward a rich new vein of even better error-correction approaches. If they’re right and scientists are able to find more efficient alternatives to the surface code, it could significantly accelerate the advent of practical quantum computing.

Image Credit: IBM

Edd Genthttp://www.eddgent.com/
I am a freelance science and technology writer based in Bangalore, India. My main areas of interest are engineering, computing and biology, with a particular focus on the intersections between the three.
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What are important areas in quantum research?

What are the challenges in quantum computing research?

What companies are leading in developing quantum computing?

The leading approach to error correction is the surface code, which involves arranging qubits in a specially configured 2D lattice, but new approaches are being developed, such as the grid code, which can correct errors in a more efficient way.

What are important areas in quantum research?

Researchers have achieved a major milestone in quantum computing by extending the lifetime of quantum information beyond the breakeven point using Quantum Error Correction.

Title:

Content: Quantum Error Correction: Shattering the Breakeven Barrier

A logical qubit is embedded into the state space of a harmonic oscillator using the grid code, represented here by faces of the cube. Quantum error correction protects these grid states from corruption by a noisy environment, symbolized by the ray. Credit: Image courtesy of Polina Shmatkova

Researchers have achieved a major milestone in quantum computing by extending the lifetime of quantum information beyond the breakeven point using Quantum Error Correction, opening the path for effective quantum information processing amidst real-world noise.

Understanding Decoherence and Quantum Error Correction

Decoherence is a foundational phenomenon in which the classical behavior emerges from the quantum laws of nature. This quantum-classical interface presents significant hurdles in utilizing these laws for information processing, especially in the field of quantum computing. Practical issues, like stray radiation, can cause a quantum computer’s qubits to alter their quantum states, resulting in a loss of stored information.

The Breakeven Point and Quantum Error Correction

To mitigate the effects of decoherence, Quantum Error Correction (QEC) is implemented. Despite this, previous experimental attempts to use QEC were mostly unsuccessful as the speed of the error correction was slower than the rate of decoherence. This resulted in the quantum system losing information faster than QEC could compensate. The term ‘breakeven’ describes the juncture where the added complexity of the correction circuit just manages to counteract the induced decoherence.

Extended Lifetimes and New Possibilities

In a groundbreaking experiment, scientists have managed to extend the lifetime of quantum information past the breakeven point by over twofold. This significant finding demonstrates that no fundamental roadblocks exist in extending the lifetime of quantum information through active interventions. This experimental achievement aligns with scientists’ theoretical expectations and paves the way for quantum information processing in the presence of noise from radiation, cosmic rays, and other sources.

Looking Forward: Error-Corrected Qubits and Real-World Challenges

As quantum systems in the real world are unavoidably affected by noise, the next challenge for this research platform is to realize high-fidelity logical operations between two error-corrected qubits.

Implementing Grid Code in Quantum Experiments

The experiment utilized the grid code within an electromagnetic mode located in a superconducting cavity. The quantum state of this mode is managed by an auxiliary superconducting circuit, known as the transmon. To conduct the experiment, scientists cooled the system inside a dilution refrigerator to a temperature 100 times colder than the cosmic background of outer space. An external controller coordinated the quantum error correction process, which only took a few hundred nanoseconds, and a reinforcement learning agent optimized the process to offset the imperfections in the experimental setup and the controller.

Reference: “Real-time quantum error correction beyond break-even” by V. V. Sivak, A. Eickbusch, B. Royer, S. Singh, I. Tsioutsios, S. Ganjam, A. Miano, B. L. Brock, A. Z. Ding, L. Frunzio, S. M. Girvin, R. J. Schoelkopf and M. H. Devoret, 22 March 2023, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05782-6

This work was conducted at Yale University and funded in part by the Co-design Center for Quantum Advantage (C2QA), a national quantum information science research center led by Brookhaven National Laboratory.

This research was supported by the U.S. Army Research Office and by the Department of Energy Office of Science, National Quantum Information Science Research Center, Co-design Center for Quantum Advantage (C2QA). The use of fabrication facilities was supported by the Yale Institute for Nanoscience and Quantum Engineering and the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science Cleanroom.

What are important areas in quantum research?

What are the challenges in quantum computing research?

The Finnish government believes that the best way to be ready for the quantum computing industry is to build a working quantum computer.

What are important areas in quantum research?

Finland has big plans for quantum computing applications, with the QuTI project aiming to develop new components, manufacturing and testing solutions, and algorithms for the needs of quantum computing applications.

What are important areas in quantum research?

What countries and blocs are leading in developing quantum computing?

Terra Quantum, a Swiss/German company, is focusing on harnessing the power of quantum computing and applying it specifically in the fields of optimization, simulation, and machine learning.

Title:

Content: Terra Quantum announces hybrid quantum computing collaboration with NVIDIA

Terra Quantum collaborates with NVIDIA to develop quantum-accelerated applications. The partnership aims to bridge the gap between classical and quantum computing, leveraging hybrid algorithms.

Terra Quantum, a quantum services company with headquarters in Germany and Switzerland, has today announced a collaboration with NVIDIA aimed at fostering the development of quantum-accelerated applications.

The chicken and egg conundrum

As the manufacturers of quantum computers and error correction mechanisms continue to compete in a qubit arms race, in order to do the algorithm research needed to develop applications that can leverage this technology, scientists need a solution to bridge the divide between classical and quantum computing. A chicken and egg conundrum that Terra Quantum has been working on since 2019 with its hybrid algorithm approach.

Focusing on harnessing the power of quantum computing, both hybrid now and native in the future, and applying it specifically in the fields optimisation, simulation, and machine learning, the Swiss/German outfit has assembled, in the words of its founder and CEO Markus Pflitsch, “one of the largest libraries in the world” of algorithms designed to not only deliver unprecedented accelerated computing solutions using today’s hybrid computational power but ones that will scale exponentially when native quantum hardware is realised.

The quantum inflection point

There is no arguing that NVIDIA has been instrumental, if not the linchpin in driving the explosion of AI technologies that proliferate today’s headlines.

The company is so crucial to the development of next-gen technologies that world governments have butted heads on who has dibs on the company’s next purchase orders.

And now, according to Pflitsch, we’re about to see the same revolution in quantum computing.

Driven by NVIDIA’s open-source CUDA Quantum initiative, a project that allows for the integration and programming of quantum processing units (QPU), graphics processing units (GPU), and central processing units (CPU) all in one system, the chicken and egg conundrum has seemingly met its match.

C-suite proof

While we’ve seen governments pour tremendous amounts of money into quantum, China $9.7 billion, the United States $1.9 billion, and the European Union $1.1 billion, government support can and will only take the market so far.

To fully realise and advance the potential of a technology, c-suite executives have to see the bottom line in dollars and cents. Helping to move this needle Terra Quantum has partnerships with a number of blue chip organisations including HSBC, Thales, and Schaeffler Group.

Now in collaboration with NVIDIA providing its CUDA Quantum participants with access to Terra Quantum’s library of algorithms, that needle is set to jump.

Pflitsch shared:

“We are using our hybrid quantum algorithms delivered on NVIDIA GPUs to deliver significant business impact today. This collaboration will not only accelerate this impact but also help unlock  a whole new range of opportunities in the areas of machine learning and simulation — while also setting a pathway for quantum computing.”

Furthermore, NVIDIA’s director of HPC and Quantum Tim Costa explained:

“Our collaboration with Terra Quantum will put CUDA Quantum into the hands of a new set of  researchers working to build the world’s first quantum accelerated applications, contributing to breakthroughs on the path to valuable quantum computing.”

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What countries and blocs are leading in developing quantum computing?

What fields can quantum computers advance?

The company has assembled one of the largest libraries in the world of algorithms designed to deliver unprecedented accelerated computing solutions using today’s hybrid computational power.

NVIDIA's open-source CUDA Quantum initiative is driving the development of quantum computing, allowing for the integration and programming of quantum processing units (QPU), graphics processing units (GPU), and central processing units (CPU) all in one system.

What are important areas in quantum research?

The Indian government has approved the National Quantum Mission (NQM) with a budget of ₹6,003 crore over eight years to create, develop, and nurture the quantum technology ecosystem in the country.

The quantum computing market is expected to have a profound effect on industries such as healthcare, finance, logistics, and energy, with potential applications including drug discovery, supply chain optimization, financial modeling, and climate modeling.

What fields can quantum computers advance?

logistics
climate change solutions
finance

The global quantum computing market size was valued at USD 234.06 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 36.89% from 2022 to 2032.

The global quantum computing market size was valued at USD 234.06 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 36.89% from 2022 to 2032.

The global quantum computing market size was valued at USD 234.06 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 36.89% from 2022 to 2032.

Quantum computing is capable of solving problems that would be intractable or impossible for classical computers to solve, and has many important applications such as drug discovery, supply chain optimization, financial modeling, and climate modeling.

What advantages do quantum computers have over conventional computers?

extremely complex calculations
extremely fast calculations

What fields can quantum computers advance?

The quantum computing market is dominated by a few major players, including IBM, Google, Microsoft, and Honeywell.

What countries and blocs are leading in developing quantum computing?

Companies such as Goldman Sachs are actively researching how quantum computing can be applied to the pricing of complex derivatives, and CaixaBank's life insurance and pensions company, VidaCaixa, is using Canadian quantum computing company D-Wave's cloud service to build a quantum computing application for its investment portfolio selection and allocation activities.

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September 23, 2022

Is the finance sector quantum ready?

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It is an important year for quantum computing, according to GlobalData’s Technology, Media and Telecoms Predictions 2022. In addition to the high levels of hype generated around this disruptive technology, significant technical advances have seen companies starting to invest in exploring its potential benefits.

The global quantum computing market size is set to reach $1.77bn by 2026, up from $472m in 2021, at a compound annual growth rate of 30.2%, according to Markets and Markets. Pioneering adoption of quantum computing by financial services companies is expected to drive this growth.

Is the financial services industry prepared for quantum?

What does a quantum advantage over classical computing mean for financial services? Increasing the speed and volume of calculations and transactions by multiples represents the biggest change for a post-quantum financial services sector – and the key to identifying the potential benefits of specific use cases is exploration. Early iterations of quantum computing-as-a-service are under way with Big Tech companies Microsoft, Amazon, IBM and Google offering clients a cloud service for experimenting with quantum simulators (essentially classical computers mimicking quantum computers in the cloud to see what they can do).

This collaborative approach between businesses and tech companies addresses two problems in tandem: first, it allows businesses to familiarise themselves with the emerging technology despite quantum supremacy being some years away; second, it tackles the biggest business challenge, which is identifying the most effective use cases for financial services.

US tech giant IBM’s quantum accelerator programme was set up with exactly that in mind: to allow businesses themselves to find effective quantum computing use cases. Many of IBM’s financial services clients in the accelerator programme have initial concerns about the effect quantum computing will have on cryptography, according to Prakash Pattni, managing director for financial services – digital transformation at IBM.

“It took a few years for banks to work out where blockchain fits in with cryptography, for example, and we are now at a stage where blockchain is really taking off,” he says.

Pattni likens quantum computing as being at that same early stage of experimentation as blockchain was. Financial services companies are perhaps even more acutely aware of the potential impact of quantum computing on data security because the nature of banking regulation means data has to be stored and kept safe for many years, adds Pattni.

While cybersecurity remains a clear concern for clients, specific use cases are still being worked out. Again, experimentation is key, according to Pattni, who says: “I think we’ are still at that very early stage in terms of experimentation where quantum is concerned.” According to Gartner, 40% of large companies are planning to create initiatives around quantum computing by 2025, but even with accelerator programmes and research and development budgets, very specific use cases are still proving hard to identify.

Financial services, particularly those which work across multiple markets, stand to benefit greatly from efficiencies enabled by quantum computing given that it enables the modelling of multiple permutations of different scenarios or values to solve the most efficient outcomes in a fraction of the time it would take classical computing.

Pattni believes this could be particularly useful in the cross-border fraud detection space, saying: “Real-time payments mean the window to look at fraud needs to be in real time too.” As AI is increasingly integrated into banking systems, the interface between AI and quantum computing is also a testing ground. Pattni says risk calculation is an area that investment banks are looking at.

“It requires incredibly high levels of compute power to run multiple risk scenarios that regulators don’t like, so that is another area where quantum computing could be applied, but it is still really early days of experimenting with applications,” he adds.

Finance’s first movers in quantum computing adoption

EY’s 2022 Quantum Readiness survey, produced in collaboration with the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre, found that 81% of senior UK executives expect quantum computing to play a significant role in their industry by 2030. Despite this, most companies are taking a ‘watch and see’ approach. However, there are those in the finance sector taking a pioneering approach by testing the technology and ramping up investment in a calculated bet that quantum computing will, in fact, live up to its hype.

US investment bank Goldman Sachs is actively researching how quantum computing can be applied to the pricing of complex derivatives. Computing a price within a complicated contract or statistical model can be an expensive process. Derivatives are so common in finance that even a small improvement in pricing them, or in calculating related quantities, could be very valuable, according to William Zeng, head of quantum research for Goldman Sachs, who made the claim in September 2022 for Microsoft Azure’s quantum blog.

In March 2022, Spain’s CaixaBank’s life insurance and pensions company, VidaCaixa, announced that it is using Canadian quantum computing company D-Wave’s cloud service to build a quantum computing application for its investment portfolio selection and allocation activities, as well as its portfolio hedging.

According to CaixaBank, this is the first time a financial services company has applied quantum computing in investment hedging in the insurance sector. What normally took the bank several hours of computing time was reduced to just minutes, representing up to a 90% decrease. This time reduction facilitates increased modelling complexity, which is better adapted to real-time markets, optimises invested capital while maintaining constant risk levels and improves the hedging decision-making process. The Spanish banking group is evaluating whether to use the application in other areas of its operations over the coming months.

In March 2022, HSBC announced it will join the IBM Quantum Accelerator programme to progress potential quantum use cases in pricing and portfolio optimisation to advance its net-zero goals and to mitigate risks, including identifying and addressing fraudulent activity. The collaboration will also include knowledge transfer through internal training programmes, as well as actively recruiting quantum computing research scientists to build a dedicated capability within its innovation team.

Elsewhere, Standard Chartered has embarked upon research into quantum computers as part of an academic partnership with the Universities Space Research Association. The partnership is already actively developing what is known as the Quantum Computing System for Financial Services, and the bank will use it to address the security challenges posed by a super-powerful quantum computer.

Post-quantum security a pressing matter

Both IBM and Google have road maps to create quantum computers capable of defeating current encryption by 2030, according to GlobalData. Despite the cybersecurity industry developing quantum-resistant encryption before that time, future quantum computers could decrypt data harvested today. As a result, GlobalData expects companies to implement quantum security solutions in 2022, particularly as cybersecurity has become front of mind for business leaders.

Over the past 12 months, interest in quantum security has grown considerably in the financial services sector, according to Duncan Jones, head of cybersecurity at quantum computing company Quantinuum. “This is partly driven by the stream of announcements from the US government highlighting the urgent need to combat the quantum threat alongside the business opportunities,” he says.

In addition, as more quantum-enabled business use cases emerge, so too do the cybersecurity concerns. Jones and his team at Quantinuum are working on ways to remedy this. Quantinuum’s partnership with cybersecurity software company PureVPN uses Quantinuum’s cyber platform, Quantum Origin, to create and deploy encryption keys generated using a verifiable quantum process, which are more secure than keys from unverified, classical computing processes.

Every technology advance creates a commensurate cybersecurity challenge and quantum-proofing financial services companies will continue to be a concern alongside the business growth opportunities, according to Jones. “Financial services companies are realising there is a new quantum baseline for security and are factoring this into their cyber planning,” he adds.

In July 2022, it became public knowledge that US investment bank JPMorgan Chase had hired assistant professor Dr Charles Lim – a world-renowned expert in next-generation, quantum-resistant communication networks at the National University of Singapore – to lead the bank’s quantum communications and cryptography. The move not only demonstrates how quantum computing has become a business concern but also highlighted a global race for talent in the field, serving as a warning to other financial services companies that they may want to ramp up their search for quantum computing talent. Historically, financial services has attracted the brightest and the best with attractive compensation, but the sector is now competing with commensurate employee offerings by Big Tech. A battleground for quantum computing talent is set to continue.

Credit rating financial services company Moody's Analytics announced in September 2022 that it is establishing the Moody's Analytics Quantum Computing Team, which is perhaps a sign that quantum computing has become part of the financial services establishment. Early adoption of this technology may seem like a choice in 2022, but it may prove vital in future-proofing financial services companies against the changes that it will bring to the sector. As with any emerging technology there are first movers and those that follow the trend – it is still too soon to tell which approach will reap the most benefits.

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What advantages do quantum computers have over conventional computers?

What countries and blocs are leading in developing quantum computing?

What fields can quantum computers advance?

The use of quantum computing in financial services could enable the modeling of multiple permutations of different scenarios or values to solve the most efficient outcomes in a fraction of the time it would take classical computing.

What advantages do quantum computers have over conventional computers?

extremely complex calculations
extremely fast calculations

What fields can quantum computers advance?

HSBC has joined the IBM Quantum Accelerator program, which aims to explore the potential of quantum computing in finance.

What fields can quantum computers advance?

Pioneering adoption of quantum computing by financial services companies is expected to drive the growth of the quantum computing market.

What fields can quantum computers advance?

81% of senior UK executives expect quantum computing to play a significant role in their industry by 2030, according to EY's 2022 Quantum Readiness survey.

Countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea are increasing their investments in research and development efforts, which is expected to contribute to the growth of the quantum computing market in the Asia Pacific region.

What countries and blocs are leading in developing quantum computing?

The growing number of partnerships and collaborations among quantum computing companies, other technology firms, academic institutions, and research organizations is creating opportunities for the development of new quantum computing hardware and software systems.

What are important areas in quantum research?

implementations of quantum processors
development of high-level software