Quantum Technology moves so rapidly it’s often challenging to take the time to look back at what makes the most impact with quantum enthusiasts. I’ve selected the posts from 2022 that garnered over 5,000 views each on LinkedIn.    

INFORMATION/ EDUCATION/ TALENT

Quantum Education

In January 2022, I published a post on Quantum Education that garnered over 23,000 views. There are many more institutions and online domains (MIT, CERN, YouTube, etc.) offering quantum education programs heading into 2022 than ever. University of California, Los Angeles recently announced their new Quantum Masters program, “tailored to those who wish to pursue technical positions that require a unique combination of specialized knowledge and skills.“

University of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing offers “an interdisciplinary graduate program in Quantum Information that leads to MMath, MSc, MASc, and PhD degrees.“. Stevens Institute of Technology‘s (SIT) Quantum Engineering Master’s Program “prepares students for a successful career in industries utilizing quantum information science and quantum technology or a continuation to a Ph.D. in physics or quantum technology.“. QSI’s Special Advisor Michael Tarino is an SIT Masters student.

At Quantum Strategy Institute, we’re thrilled there are so many more options for quantum enthusiasts, and we’re excited to be concentrating in 2022 on educating business people about the practical side of quantum-for-business through a variety of media led by our Head of Education Matthew R. Versaggi, of UnitedHealth Group/Optum. Explore our website for more information.

Quantum Intelligence – Keeping Pace With the Evolution

For quantum enthusiasts it can be a challenge to keep pace with the changes ongoing in the quantum ecosystem, let alone for new entrants to the field. 

Reading Sergio Gago’s “The Week in Quantum Computing – Feb 7th” reminded me how much is going on in quantum and how critical it is to stay current. Doug Finke’s Quantum Computing Report offers up-to-date coverage of quantum news (as well as ‘Qnalysis’, players, resources, jobs & more). The Quantum Insider, who state they are the “leading resource dedicated exclusively to making Quantum Technology accessible through news, information, media and data” recently introduced their ‘Quantum Intelligence Platform‘ with data covering investments, end users and a host of other important data points. 

If you’re a regular quantum technology reader, you may recognize these sources and others, which should never be underestimated for value of keeping pace with this dynamic industry. If you’re new to quantum, take advantage of these and other ‘summary’ resources to catch up to the pioneers and early quantum adopters on your quantum intelligence.

Quantum Talent – Shortages & Tactics

Quantum Strategy Institute‘s mission is to support the acceleration of the adoption of quantum technologies. One primary barrier to that adoption is what Quantum.Tech highlighted in their 2021 survey – “a lack of talent”. Is it truly a challenge and if so, how can commercial end users and producers develop, attract, retain, educate and leverage quantum talent? Brian Lenahan covers this topic in his “Quantum Talent – Shortages and Tactics“.

USE CASES

• QKD Protected Blockchain Application – JP Morgan Chase

When the quantum world is looking for use cases and applications to drive confidence in the future of quantum technologies, Quantum Computing Report ‘s alerts deliver up-to-date examples.  Today’s alerts identified JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s collaboration with Toshiba and Ciena to protect a blockchain application using quantum key distribution (QKD). In this case across a 70-km span. 

Marco Pistoia, PhD, Distinguished Engineer and Head of the FLARE Research group, JPMorgan Chase stated “This work comes at an important time as we continue to prepare for the introduction of production-quality quantum computers, which will change the security landscape of technologies like blockchain and cryptocurrency in the foreseeable future.” Read more here.

• Quantum Use Cases – Could 2022 Be the Year?

The opening line of Zapata Computing, Inc.‘s First Annual Report on Enterprise Computing Adoption states “Quantum computing moves from the fringes to the short list of transformational technologies as early adopters expect to become quantum- capable in the next two years.”

The image attached here lists various use cases in-market or underway. Many new ones have yet to be revealed. Whether it’s 2022, 2025 or 2030 organizations need to start building out their quantum capabilities now to be ready for this new, exciting technology. 

• Quantum Use Cases: Stock Valuation

The Quantum Insider’s Matt Swayne this week published an article which illustrates a development that may change the face of quantum. A quantum use case that can deliver results today. A year ago McKinsey & Company forecasted “How quantum computing could change financial services“. They included a mention that “BBVA has formed a partnership to explore portfolio optimization and more efficient Monte Carlo modelling.” That partnership is bearing fruit. 

Multiverse Computing‘s Singularity software proved out a 37-43% error reduction on stock valuations without an increase to runtime or number of runs (in fact 7.5x fewer samples required). Financial institutions looking for greater accuracy on stock valuations within their portfolios would do well to investigate solutions like the “Fair Price” offering. 

Increasingly, consumers should not be waiting for some future date for benefits from quantum technologies. They should be exploring use cases important to their business and further, exploring how they can ready themselves. Quantum Strategy Institute will continue to highlight quantum use cases on our mission to accelerate the adoption of quantum. 

• Quantum & Life Sciences

Use cases for quantum technologies in life sciences are growing. 
Protein engineering, imaging analysis, clinical trials, personalized and precision medicine and many more figure prominently in the future progress of life sciences pursuits. 

Trial and error methods without excessive duration, cost and risk? Making effective progress in life sciences demands these domains and quantum technology, combined with AI/machine learning may be dominant tools in the scientists arsenal. Companies like GSK, Menten AI and others are already leveraging quantum computing to drive their research efforts. 

Check out these references from around the world:
– D-Wave Systems Inc.
– The Nordic Quantum Life Science Round Table
– Tata Consultancy Services

INVESTMENT

Quantum Investment – Where to Discover Trends

Russ Fein, a venture investor, increasingly is becoming a well-known voice in the quantum field. His Medium articles are worthwhile reading if you’re looking for insight into quantum investing. In his Feb. 14th Medium article, Russ summarizes “For those of you anxious to invest in the evolving Quantum Computing industry, there are a few publicly available options. Some will provide a direct, pure-play investment, while others should enjoy enhanced returns based on their QC exposure.”

For data in large quantity, one can look to The Quantum Insider. Its Quantum Intelligence Platform, a source I reported on earlier this year, is tracking global investment in quantum and suggests 2022 is well on the way to exceed the record-breaking 2021.

Quantum trend data is also provided by IDC, John Prisco in Forbes, and ResearchandMarkets.com‘s “Global Quantum Computing Technology Market Research Report 2022: Competitive Landscape, Company Profiles, & Patent Analysis”

With significant growth in investment comes a demonstrable need to generate revenues, and increased awareness and application on the consumer side of quantum. Quantum Strategy Institute is dedicated to this increased awareness and application. 

Quantum Investment – Just the Beginning?

PitchBook Data stated in September of this year that “Scientists and engineers are still toiling in labs in a race to develop quantum computers that would significantly outperform traditional computers. But that isn’t holding venture capitalists back. They’re pouring record-high funding into work on computing power that is still considered years away from being ready.”

72.6% of the US $1.02 billion in venture capital (VC) investments at the time came from just 5 deals (PsiQuantum, IonQ, Xanadu, Rigetti Computing & Quantum Machines ). The US $1 billion in VC was three times the previous year. (Read more here.) Of course, this total excludes government and big tech spending activities. With the pace of research, breakthroughs and use case exploration, will venture capital investments in quantum technologies grow at an even faster pace in 2022? The lure of quantum will need to be matched by returns on these investments. 

Watch for more in 2022 from the Quantum Strategy Institute on accelerating the adoption of quantum and the importance of sustaining the industry through routes to revenues. And keep an eye on the Quantum Computing Report, The Quantum Insider and André König of OneQuantum for ongoing data points about what’s happening in quantum investments. 

EVOLUTION

The Path to Scalable Quantum Computing

Classiq Technologies and ColdQuanta joined forces today to share their ideas around the path to scalable quantum computing in their webinar. Why is that scalability important? Increasingly we’re seeing classes of problems for quantum to address to result in real business value. One example given was modelling penicillin molecules can be accomplished with 100’s of qubits. As we scale, more complex molecules (and problems) can be addressed. 

‘Why now?’ is a more straightforward question. Like in the evolution of artificial intelligence, early adopters benefited from early learnings, and ability to scale. As President, Quantum Information Platforms, at ColdQuanta and Board Member of Quantum Strategy Institute, Paul Lipman states, “Now is the time to engage.” Even if consumers start with a plan rather than an investment, they will be well-positioned for taking important steps toward the future of this technology. 

Yuval Boger hosted this session as well as many more available on Classiq’s website. Also learn more about ColdQuanta Information Platforms here.

Quantum vs Classical – Comparing Performance in the World of Two Computers

In Medium today, I published an article about how organizations can begin to compare performance criteria between classical computing and that of quantum computing centered around a real-life Life Sciences use case analysis by The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson Therapeutics Discovery head Peter Clark. 

Thanks to IEEE Quantum Computing Innovation Summit chair Maëva Ghonda and the team for affording the January 10, 2022 audience the opportunity to hear Peter and the other speakers.

Qubit Coherence – 5 Seconds Via Silicon Carbide Qubits

For years, we have been talking about qubit coherence in terms of micro or milliseconds. Now, as a result of Argonne National Laboratory & University of Chicago ‘s breakthrough, qubit coherence, maintaining an intact quantum state, extends to five seconds. 

So what will this mean? For the quantum internet, a great deal. According to David Awschalom, senior scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, director of the Q-NEXT quantum research center, Liew Family Professor in Molecular Engineering and Physics at the University of Chicago, and principal investigator of the project. – ​“Five seconds is long enough to send a light speed signal to the moon and back… that light will still correctly reflect the qubit state even after it has circled the Earth almost 40 times — paving the way to make a distributed quantum internet.” Read more here.

Because the qubits are made of silicon carbide (SC), they would be cost-effective and scalable as SC is a common engineering material. In terms of speed of operations, the press release states “new record time means we can perform over 100 million quantum operations before our state gets scrambled,” Yet another step closer on the quantum internet and quantum computing journeys. 

Qutrits and Ququarts – What’s New in Quantum?

The Quantum Computing Report published an article earlier this month which should have quantum enthusiasts excited and those yet to be engaged in the field reeling. Not only does one need to understand the physics behind a qubit, but now there’s the new dynamic of the qutrit and ququart. 

What are these “Q’s” you might ask? Qutrits can be “in a superposition of three states or ququarts which is a simultaneous superposition of four states.” Mind-blowing. What does this mean for those us interested in the practical applications? Better classification performance, reduced readout errors, and in one reference increasing the likelihood to “provide cloud access to a universal quantum computer by the end of 2024.”

For some ‘light’ reading on the subject check out:
– Quantum Computing Report
– Rigetti
– Berkely Lab

COMPETITIONS

Quantum Competitions – Driving Innovation, Investment & Adoption

The burgeoning ecosystem of quantum competitions promises to further drive innovation and adoption. Last week, Accenture’s global Quantum Computing group won the BMW/AWS Quantum Computing Challenge at Q2B2021. The team led by Carl Dukatz, Quantum Program Lead, Principal Director at Accenture and composed of  Tim Leonhardt, Dr. Sebastian Senge, and Kinan Halabi won for their contribution of the use case of optimal sensor positioning on cars.  

In November, The Quantum Pitch Competition 2021 was jointly organised by QURECA and tec-connection bringing quantum startups and investors together, allowing startups the opportunity to pitch to an audience of investors potentially securing funding for their organisations. Companies like Ingenii, QBee, QCentroid, QuantumCai, Inc., Xairos Systems, and BosonQ Psi (BQP) joined the competition. 

Case competitions include those led by INSEAD and ETH Zürich on the 22nd & 23rd of Oct 2021 focused on Quantum Computing and its application areas. Addressing various business problems, 20 teams concentrated their quantum computing solutions in front of a jury while getting involved in workshops hosted by Bain & Company, McKinsey & Company, and EPFL Quantum Computing Association. 

These represent just a few examples of quantum competitions occurring around the world that will only grow in the number and variety as many strive to make Quantum Computing “one of the landmark technologies of the 21st century”.  

Brian Lenahan is the Founder & Chair of the Quantum Strategy Institute. He is also the author of five Amazon-published books on artificial intelligence and quantum computing including the Bestseller “Quantum Boost – Using Quantum Computing to Supercharge Your Business”. He is a former executive in a Top 10 North American bank, and mentors innovative companies in the Halton and Hamilton areas. Brian’s training in quantum computers comes from CERN/University of Oviedo, and Technische Universiteit Delft, and he writes extensively on quantum computing.

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