Google is aiming to build a useful, error-corrected quantum computer by the end of the decade, the company explained in a blog post. The search giant hopes the technology will help solve a range of big problems like feeding the world and climate change to developing better medicines. To develop the technology, Google has unveiled a new Quantum AI campus in Santa Barbara containing a quantum data center, hardware research labs, and quantum processor chip fabrication facilities. It will spend billions developing the technology over the next decade, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The target announced at Google I/O on Tuesday comes a year and a half after Google said it had achieved quantum supremacy, a milestone where a quantum computer has performed a calculation that would be impossible on a traditional classical computer. Google says its quantum computer was able to perform a calculation in 200 seconds that would have taken 10,000 years or more on a traditional supercomputer. But competitors racing to build quantum computers of their own cast doubt on Googles claimed progress. Rather than taking 10,000 years, IBM argued at the time that a traditional supercomputer could actually perform the task in 2.5 days or less.

This extra processing power could be useful to simulate molecules, and hence nature, accurately, Google says. This might help us design better batteries, creating more carbon-efficient fertilizer, or develop more targeted medicines, because a quantum computer could run simulations before a company invests in building real-world prototypes. Google also expects quantum computing to have big benefits for AI development.

Despite claiming to have hit the quantum supremacy milestone, Google says it has a long way to go before such computers are useful. While current quantum computers are made up of less than 100 qubits, Google is targeting machine built with 1,000,000. Getting there is a multistage process. Google says it first needs to cut down on the errors qubits make, before it can think about building 1,000 physical qubits together into a single logical qubit. This will lay the groundwork for the quantum transistor, a building block of future quantum computers.

Despite the challenges ahead, Google is optimistic about its chances. We are at this inflection point, the scientist in charge of Googles Quantum AI program, Hartmut Neven, told the Wall Street Journal, We now have the important components in hand that make us confident. We know how to execute the road map. Googles eventually plans to offer quantum computing services over the cloud.

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Google wants to build a useful quantum computer by 2029 - The Verge

circa 1931: German-born physicist Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) standing beside a blackboard with ... [+] chalk-marked mathematical calculations written across it. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

40 years ago, Nobel Prize-winner Richard Feynman argued that nature isn't classical, dammit, and if you want to make a simulation of nature, you'd better make it quantum mechanical. This was later perceived as a rallying cry for developing a quantum computer, leading to todays rapid progress in the search for quantum supremacy. Heres a very short history of the evolution of quantum computing.

1905Albert Einstein explains the photoelectric effectshining light on certain materials can function to release electrons from the materialand suggests that light itself consists of individual quantum particles or photons.

1924The term quantum mechanics is first used in a paper by Max Born

1925Werner Heisenberg, Max Born, and Pascual Jordan formulate matrix mechanics, the first conceptually autonomous and logically consistent formulation of quantum mechanics

1925 to 1927Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg develop the Copenhagen interpretation, one of the earliest interpretations of quantum mechanics which remains one of the most commonly taught

1930Paul Dirac publishes The Principles of Quantum Mechanics, a textbook that has become a standard reference book that is still used today

1935Albert Einstein, Boris Podolsky, and Nathan Rosen publish a paper highlighting the counterintuitive nature of quantum superpositions and arguing that the description of physical reality provided by quantum mechanics is incomplete

1935Erwin Schrdinger, discussing quantum superposition with Albert Einstein and critiquing the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, develops a thought experiment in which a cat (forever known as Schrdingers cat) is simultaneously dead and alive; Schrdinger also coins the term quantum entanglement

1947Albert Einstein refers for the first time to quantum entanglement as spooky action at a distance in a letter to Max Born

1976Roman Stanisaw Ingarden of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toru, Poland, publishes one of the first attempts at creating a quantum information theory

1980Paul Benioff of the Argonne National Laboratory publishes a paper describing a quantum mechanical model of a Turing machine or a classical computer, the first to demonstrate the possibility of quantum computing

1981In a keynote speech titled Simulating Physics with Computers, Richard Feynman of the California Institute of Technology argues that a quantum computer had the potential to simulate physical phenomena that a classical computer could not simulate

1985David Deutsch of the University of Oxford formulates a description for a quantum Turing machine

1992The DeutschJozsa algorithm is one of the first examples of a quantum algorithm that is exponentially faster than any possible deterministic classical algorithm

1993The first paper describing the idea of quantum teleportation is published

1994Peter Shor of Bell Laboratories develops a quantum algorithm for factoring integers that has the potential to decrypt RSA-encrypted communications, a widely-used method for securing data transmissions

1994The National Institute of Standards and Technology organizes the first US government-sponsored conference on quantum computing

1996Lov Grover of Bell Laboratories invents the quantum database search algorithm

1998First demonstration of quantum error correction; first proof that a certain subclass of quantum computations can be efficiently emulated with classical computers

1999Yasunobu Nakamura of the University of Tokyo and Jaw-Shen Tsai of Tokyo University of Science demonstrate that a superconducting circuit can be used as a qubit

2002The first version of the Quantum Computation Roadmap, a living document involving key quantum computing researchers, is published

2004First five-photon entanglement demonstrated by Jian-Wei Pan's group at the University of Science and Technology in China

2011The first commercially available quantum computer is offered by D-Wave Systems

2012 1QB Information Technologies (1QBit), the first dedicated quantum computing software company, is founded

2014Physicists at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at the Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, teleport information between two quantum bits separated by about 10 feet with zero percent error rate

2017 Chinese researchers report the first quantum teleportation of independent single-photon qubits from a ground observatory to a low Earth orbit satellite with a distance of up to 1400 km

2018The National Quantum Initiative Act is signed into law by President Donald Trump, establishing the goals and priorities for a 10-year plan to accelerate the development of quantum information science and technology applications in the United States

2019Google claims to have reached quantum supremacy by performing a series of operations in 200 seconds that would take a supercomputer about 10,000 years to complete; IBM responds by suggesting it could take 2.5 days instead of 10,000 years, highlighting techniques a supercomputer may use to maximize computing speed

The race for quantum supremacy is on, to being able to demonstrate a practical quantum device that can solve a problem that no classical computer can solve in any feasible amount of time. Speedand sustainabilityhas always been the measure of the jump to the next stage of computing.

In 1944, Richard Feynman, then a junior staff member at Los Alamos, organized a contest between human computers and the Los Alamos IBM facility, with both performing a calculation for the plutonium bomb. For two days, the human computers kept up with the machines. But on the third day, recalled an observer, the punched-card machine operation began to move decisively ahead, as the people performing the hand computing could not sustain their initial fast pace, while the machines did not tire and continued at their steady pace (seeWhen Computers Were Human, by David Alan Greer).

Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman stands in front of a blackboard strewn with notation ... [+] in his lab in Los Angeles, Californina. (Photo by Kevin Fleming/Corbis via Getty Images)

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27 Milestones In The History Of Quantum Computing - Forbes

CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Clinics partnership with IBM to use quantum computing for medical research brings to mind the most unfortunate instance of bad timing in the history of Cleveland: the 1967 merger of Case Institute of Technology with Western Reserve University just when the computer age was coming to life.

The merger squelched Cases opportunity to be among the leaders in the most revolutionary technology ever (and to benefit Cleveland with computer-related jobs). Might the arrival of quantum computing mean fresh opportunity?

At the time of the merger, Cases Department of Computer Engineering and Science had a good chance to be at the forefront. But capitalizing on that required support from senior administrators of the new Case Western Reserve University administrators who could not be focused on technology to the degree that Case, on its own, had been. In the new world of CWRU, technology was one of many fields.

A vision for the merged institutions prepared by a prominent commission gave only a brief mention of computing either as a current or potential strength of the new institution or as a challenge or opportunity to be addressed, according to Richard E. Baznik in Beyond the Fence: A Social History of Case Western Reserve University. The goose with golden innards wasnt even recognized, let alone encouraged to lay eggs.

Further, the merger created the worst possible institutional environment for computer advocates. Not only did administrators have to contend with issues of who might lose their job because of consolidation and who would have which power (particularly over budget), they also had to manage the challenge that all universities were facing as the post-World War II surge in enrollment and federal funding was ebbing.

Inescapably, the units that formed CWRU were locked in competition for shrinking resources, if not survival. And in that mix, dominated by heavyweights such as the School of Medicine and the main sciences, computers was a flyweight.

All of that was topped off by intense feelings among Case people of being severely violated by the Institutes loss of independence, which feelings were heightened by the substantial upgrading that had occurred under the longtime leadership of former Case president T. Keith Glennan (president from 1947 to 1966).

Thomas Bier is an associate of the university at Cleveland State University.

The combination of those potent forces upset CWRU institutional stability, which was not fully reestablished until the presidency of Barbara Snyder 40 years later.

Although in 1971, CWRUs computer engineering program would be the first of its type to be accredited in the nation, momentum sagged and the opportunity to be among the vanguard was lost. Today, the universitys programs in computer engineering and science are well-regarded but not top-tier.

But the arrival of quantum computing poses the challenge to identify new opportunity and exploit it.

Quantum computing, as IBM puts it, is tomorrows computing today. Its enormous processing power enables multiple computations to be performed simultaneously with unprecedented speed. And the Clinics installation will be first private-sector, on-premises system in the United States.

Clinic CEO and President Dr. Tomislav Mihaljevic said, These new computing technologies can help revolutionize discovery in the life sciences and help transform medicine, while training the workforce of the future and potentially growing our economy.

In terms of jobs, the economy of Northeast Ohio has been tepid for decades, reflecting, in part, its scant role in computer innovation. While our job growth has been nil, computer hot spots such as Seattle and Austin have been gaining an average of 25,000 jobs annually.

Cleveland cannot become a Seattle or an Austin. Various factors dictate that. But, hopefully, the arrival of quantum computing a short distance down Euclid Avenue from CWRU will trigger creative, promising initiatives. Maybe, as young technologists and researchers become involved in the Clinic-IBM venture, an innovative entrepreneur will emerge and lead the growth of a whole new industry. Maybe, the timing couldnt be better.

Quantum computing bring, it, on!

Thomas Bier is an associate of the university at Cleveland State University where, until he retired in 2003, he was director of the Housing Policy Research Program in the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs. Bier received both his masters in science degree, in 1963, and Ph.D., in 1968, from from Case/CWRU. Both degrees are in organizational behavior.

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* Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this opinion column to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.

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Quantum computings imminent arrival in Cleveland could be a back-to-the-future moment: Thomas Bier - cleveland.com

Global quantum computing market is projected to register a healthy CAGR of 29.5% in the forecast period of 2021 to 2027.

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Global quantum computing market is projected to register a healthy CAGR of 29.5% in the forecast period of 2021 to 2027.

Quantum computing is an advanced developing computer technology which is based on the quantum mechanics and quantum theory. The quantum computer has been used for the quantum computing which follows the concepts of quantum physics. The quantum computing is different from the classical computing in terms of speed, bits and the data. The classical computing uses two bits only named as 0 and 1, whereas the quantum computing uses all the states in between the 0 and 1, which helps in better results and high speed. Quantum computing has been used mostly in the research for comparing the numerous solutions and to find an optimum solution for a complex problem and it has been used in the sectors like chemicals, utilities, defence, healthcare & pharmaceuticals and various other sectors.

Quantum computing is used for the applications like cryptography, machine learning, algorithms, quantum simulation, quantum parallelism and others on the basis of the technologies of qubits like super conducting qubits, trapped ion qubits and semiconductor qubits. Since the technology is still in its growing phase, there are many research operations conducted by various organizations and universities including study on quantum computing for providing advanced and modified solutions for different applications.

For instance, Mercedes Benz has been conducting research over the quantum computing and how it can be used for discovering the new battery materials for advanced batteries which can be used in electric cars. Mercedes Benz has been working in collaboration with the IBM on IBM Q network program, which allows the companies in accessing the IBMs Q network and early stage computing systems over the cloud.

Some of the major players operating in thisQuantum Computing MarketareHoneywell International, Inc., Accenture, Fujitsu, Rigetti & Co, Inc., 1QB Information Technologies, Inc., IonQ, Atom Computing, ID Quantique, QuintessenceLabs, Toshiba Research Europe Ltd, Google,Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Xanadu, Magiq Technologies, Inc., QX branch, NEC Corporation, Anyon System,Inc. Cambridge Quantum Computing Limited, QC Ware Corp, Intel Corporation and others.

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Quantum Computing Market 2021-Industry Demands, Size & Share, Covid-19 Impact Analysis, Recent Developments, Global Growth, Trends, Top Operating...

Researchers have used a technique similar to MRI to follow the movement of individual atoms in real time as they cluster together to form two-dimensional materials, which are a single atomic layer thick.

The results, reported in the journalPhysical Review Letters, could be used to design new types of materials and quantum technology devices. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, captured the movement of the atoms at speeds that are eight orders of magnitude too fast for conventional microscopes.

Two-dimensional materials, such as graphene, have the potential to improve the performance of existing and new devices, due to their unique properties, such as outstanding conductivity and strength. Two-dimensional materials have a wide range of potential applications, from bio-sensing and drug delivery to quantum information and quantum computing. However, in order for two-dimensional materials to reach their full potential, their properties need to be fine-tuned through a controlled growth process.

This technique isnt a new one, but its never been used in this way, to measure the growth of a two-dimensional material. Nadav Avidor

These materials normally form as atoms jump onto a supporting substrate until they attach to a growing cluster. Being able to monitor this process gives scientists much greater control over the finished materials. However, for most materials, this process happens so quickly and at such high temperatures that it can only be followed using snapshots of a frozen surface, capturing a single moment rather than the whole process.

Now, researchers from the University of Cambridge have followed the entire process in real time, at comparable temperatures to those used in industry.

The researchers used a technique known as helium spin-echo, which has been developed in Cambridge over the last 15 years. The technique has similarities to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but uses a beam of helium atoms to illuminate a target surface, similar to light sources in everyday microscopes.

Using this technique, we can do MRI-like experiments on the fly as the atoms scatter, said Dr Nadav Avidor from Cambridges Cavendish Laboratory, the papers senior author. If you think of a light source that shines photons on a sample, as those photons come back to your eye, you can see what happens in the sample.

Instead of photons however, Avidor and his colleagues use helium atoms to observe what happens on the surface of the sample. The interaction of the helium with atoms at the surface allows the motion of the surface species to be inferred.

Using a test sample of oxygen atoms moving on the surface of ruthenium metal, the researchers recorded the spontaneous breaking and formation of oxygen clusters, just a few atoms in size, and the atoms that quickly diffuse between the clusters.

This technique isnt a new one, but its never been used in this way, to measure the growth of a two-dimensional material, said Avidor. If you look back on the history of spectroscopy, light-based probes revolutionized how we see the world, and the next step electron-based probes allowed us to see even more.

Were now going another step beyond that, to atom-based probes, allowing us to observe more atomic scale phenomena. Besides its usefulness in the design and manufacture of future materials and devices, Im excited to find out what else well be able to see.

Reference: Ultrafast Diffusion at the Onset of Growth: O/Ru(0001) by Jack Kelsall, Peter S.M. Townsend, John Ellis, Andrew P. Jardine and Nadav Avidor, 12 April 2021, Physical Review Letters.DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.155901

The research was conducted in the Cambridge Atom Scattering Centre and supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

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Following Atoms in Real Time Could Lead to New Types of Materials and Quantum Technology Devices - SciTechDaily

Basking in warm sunshine and an atmosphere of optimism, the Terp community came together today at Maryland Stadium to honor the Class of 2021s achievements in the face of COVID-19s unprecedented challenges.

We really are Terrapin Strong, University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines told the crowd at the 11 a.m. commencement ceremony. Seeing your faces in person is a sign. Its a sign that we are beginning to win this fight against this virus. Its a sign that your collective resilience and strength and grit is stronger than any challenge you will face.

The 8,500 members of the Spring 2021 graduating class are being honored today with two in-person, outdoor ceremonies at the stadium, divided by school and collegethe first open-air graduations in 66 years. Graduates could bring two guests, sat in distanced households of three for safety reasons and were sent off with an appearance from Testudo and a fireworks display. Spring 2020 and Winter 2020 graduates, who had only virtual ceremonies due to the pandemic, were invited to attend as well.

We were reminded that each day is precious and many of us vow to never again take for granted the everyday parts of life, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said in a recorded message. I hope that as you graduate today, you remember that each of us can make the days ahead count that much more.

Hannah Rhee 21, the student speaker and computer science major, said the pandemic and recent social justice challenges facing the entire nation are reminders that asking for help and relying on friends and family are proof of strength, not weakness.

Through these relationships I learned about the world, made lasting friendships and developed my character, she said. I believe we are emerging as fearless Terps, more thoughtful and more kind because of our experiences.

The main, recorded address was delivered by Peter Chapman, president and CEO of IonQ, a leading quantum computing company spun off from UMD research and headquartered in the nearby Discovery District. The son of a NASA scientist-astronaut and formerly director of engineering for Amazon Prime, Chapman urged graduates to meet the future with optimism and look to the promise of technology in answering challenges ranging from disease to climate change.

I know that for some of you, this day is bittersweet, he said. But for all that youve lost, for all that we have all lost, youve gained a lot, too: memories and friendships, new strengths and new skills. And today, a degree from the University of Maryland.

More than 8,500 students were granted degrees at the Spring 2021 ceremonies at Maryland Stadium. Graduates from Spring and Winter 2020 were also invited to celebrate in-person after having virtual ceremonies due to COVID-19.Photo by Stephanie S. Cordle

UMD President Darryll J. Pines praised graduates for their resiliency over the past year as the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated changes inside and out of the classroom.Photo by John T. Consoli

Senior marshal Alyssa Conway represented the College of Education at Fridays ceremonies. Senior marshals are chosen for academic excellence, service, extracurriculars and personal growth to assist at commencement.Photo by Stephanie S. Cordle

Peter Chapman, president and CEO of quantum computing company IonQ, delivered the main commencement address via recording. He urged graduates to be optimistic about the future and the promise that technology holds for issues ranging from disease to climate change.Photo by John T. Consoli

Graduates were able to invite two guests to join them at morning and afternoon commencement ceremonies in Maryland Stadium separated by school and college. The socially distanced events marked the first in-person graduation festivities since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020.Photo by Stephanie S. Cordle

Student speaker Hannah Rhee, a computer science major, emphasized the importance of relationships to support students studying through the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and social unrest brought on by racism and inequality.Photo by Stephanie S. Cordle

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Maryland Today | 'We Really Are Terrapin Strong' - Maryland Today

For the past year and a half, life has been both massively challenging and exhilarating for business technology vendors and their customers and partners. As the COVID-19 pandemic forced companies to fundamentally rethink the way workers, managers and executives performed essential tasks, vendors responded with innovative new solutions and services.

Organizations adopted and deployed those offerings at unheard-of speeds, accomplishing in weeks or months what once would have taken years. The result led to unusual or unique accomplishments. As IBM CEO Arvind Krishna pointed out during his IBM Think 2021 keynote address last week: I venture to say that 2020 was the first time in history that digital transformation spending accelerated despite GDP declining.

As vaccinations bring the pandemic under control and things return slowly to normal, how will businesses preserve or extend the transformational solutions they adopted? At IBM Think, Krishna and his leadership team offered valuable insights and new solutions to consider.

The announcements at Think 2021 mostly centered on areas that have long been focal points for IBM (and some of its competitors): hybrid cloud, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. What was different this time around was the practical and business value offered by new solutions and features.

Take AI, for one. Many if not most AI projects and efforts center on or have been designed to support large-scale moonshot efforts that underscore their owners far-sighted vision and willingness to take on big challenges. That can be both dramatic and problematic, given how often these projects complexities lead to setbacks, delays and failure. There is also a tendency toward forest for the trees confusion manifested by mistaking the results of complementary efforts, such as machine learning for AI itself.

During its decades-long involvement in AI R&D, IBM has been involved in its own share of moonshot projects. However, the AI solutions announced at Think were more in the line of practical innovations designed to maximize dependable business benefits. For example, AI enhancements drive the new AutoSQL function in IBMs Cloud Pak for Data that enables customers to receive queries to data in hybrid multi-cloud environments (on-premises, private clouds or any public cloud) up to 8X faster and at half the cost of prior solutions. The new intelligent data fabric in Cloud Pak for Data will automate complex management functions by using AI to discover, understand, access and protect information in distributed environments.

Another new AI-powered IBM solution is Watson Orchestrate, which is designed to increase the personal productivity of employees in sales, human resources, operations and other business functions by automating and simplifying business processes. The AI engine in Watson Orchestrate automatically selects and sequences pre-packaged skills required to perform tasks and connects them with associated applications, tools, data and historical details. There are no IT skills required for users. Instead, they can use natural language collaboration tools, such as Slack and email, to initiate work. Watson Orchestrate also connects to popular applications, including Salesforce, SAP and Workday.

Similarly, the new Maximo Mobile solution uses Watson AI to enhance the performance and productivity of field technicians who work on bridges, roads, production lines, power plants, refineries and other physical industrial and infrastructure assets. Users can use Maximo Mobile virtually anywhere, even in remote locations, to access operational data, human assistance and digital twins (virtual representations that act as real-time digital counterparts of physical objects or processes) to complete vital tasks.

The practical melding on AI and automation to better manage or perform complex processes was one of the most profound themes at IBM Think. In his keynote, CEO Krishna noted that automation is nothing new, Its been around for centuries. Industrial automation gave manufacturing companies economies of scale and cost advantage in making things such as cars and household appliances. The most profound economies of scale are no longer only about manufacturing; theyre about producing breakthrough ideas by people leveraging technology automation to tap into their knowledge.

Krishna addressed a common concern: That technologically-enabled automation will damage or eliminate traditional jobs. The future is not about how AI is going to replace jobs but how it will change jobs by bringing in what I call AI complementarity. What I mean by that is that AI is very good at accomplishing things that we dont particularly like doing, and vice versa.

Krishna also noted that AI-enabled automation can have a remarkable impact on workers and businesses alike. Research shows that high-powered automation can help you reclaim up to 50% of your time to focus on what matters most. IDC predicts that by 2025, AI-powered enterprises will see a major increase in customer satisfaction. Let me put a number on it: up to 1.5 x higher net promoter scores compared to the competition. Human ingenuity leveraging technology is what is going to drive a competitive advantage today.

This is a profound message for IBMs customers and partners, many of whom have been significantly, negatively impacted by Covid-19. As the pandemic eases and businesses work to regain forward momentum, significantly improving both process efficiency and customer satisfaction would be hugely beneficial.

Of course, AI-infused automation wasnt the only subject highlighted at IBM Think. The company also announced other new solutions focused on making life easier for enterprise IT professionals, including Project CodeNet, a large-scale, open-source dataset comprised of 14 million code samples, 500 million lines of code and 55 programming languages. Project CodeNet is designed to enable the understanding and translation of code by AIs and includes tools for source-to-source translation and transitioning legacy codebases to modern code languages. Another new AI-enabled solution, Mono2Micro, is a capability in WebSphere Hybrid Edition that is designed to help enterprises optimize and modernize applications for hybrid clouds.

Not surprisingly, IBM announced significant advancements in its Quantum computing efforts. Qiskit Runtime is a new software solution containerized and hosted in the hybrid cloud. In concert with improvements in both the software and processor performance of IBM Q quantum systems, Qiskit Runtime can boost the speed of quantum circuitsthe building blocks of quantum algorithmsby 120X, vastly reducing the time required for running complex calculations, sich as chemical modeling and financial risk analysis.

Think 2021 featured testimonials by numerous enterprise customers, including Johnson & Johnson, Mission Healthcare, NatWest Bank and CVS Health that underscored the benefits they are achieving with IBM solutions, including hybrid cloud, Watson AI and IT modernization. IBM also unveiled new competencies and skills training in areas including hybrid cloud infrastructure, automation and security. These were developed as part of the $1 billion investment the company has committed to supporting its partner ecosystem.

So, what were the final takeaways from IBM Think 2021? First and foremost, the company and its leadership are focused on helping enterprise customers and partners survive the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and prepare them to thrive as business and daily life resumes.

In some cases, companies will hope to return to and regain their past trajectories and IBMs portfolio of solutions should serve them well. But in many other instances, businesses will be pushing toward a new normal by adopting new and emerging innovations, including AI, advanced automation and hybrid cloud computing. Those organizations should have come away from Think 2021 knowing that IBM has their back, whether it is by providing the offerings they need immediately or investing in new solutions and services that will support future growth.

A final point about IBMs efforts in AI: The messaging at Think 2021 does not mean that the company is abandoning large-scale projects or long-term goals. But rather than focusing mostly or entirely on moonshot projects, the new IBM solutions infused with AI complementarity show that the company has its feet firmly on the ground. That business-focused message should and will sit well with IBMs enterprise customers and partners.

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IBM Think 2021: AI, Automation, Hybrid Cloud and Practical Innovation | eWEEK - eWeek

EU Commission vice president Margrethe Vestager and commissioner Thierry Breton presented a new roadmap for the next 10 years - the '2030 digital compass'.

The European Union is determined to remain a competitive player in the quantum revolution that's expected in the next decade, and has unveiled plans to step up the development of quantum technologies within the bloc before 2030.

EU Commission vice president Margrethe Vestager and commissioner Thierry Breton have presented a new roadmap for the next 10 years, the '2030 digital compass', which sets out targets for digital transformation across many different fields, in an effort to reassert the bloc's relevance in a range of technologies.

New objectives were set for quantum technologies, with the Commission targeting a first computer with quantum acceleration by 2025, paving the way for Europe to be "at the cutting edge" of quantum capabilities by 2030.

SEE: IT Data Center Green Energy Policy (TechRepublic Premium)

The ultimate goal, according to the roadmap, is for the EU to be able to develop quantum computers which are highly efficient, fully programmable and accessible from anywhere in Europe, to solve in hours what can currently be solved in hundreds of days, if not years.

Sophisticated quantum computing capabilities will be used to enable faster development of new drugs and cancer treatments, the Commission said; quantum computers will also solve highly complex optimisation problems for businesses, while helping with the design of energy-saving materials, or finding the cheapest combination of renewable sources to supply an energy grid.

Although the target is to develop the EU's first quantum computer in the next five years, the complexity of the device has not been specified. Most analysts expect that a large-scale quantum computer capable of resolving real-world problems faster than a classical device is still at least a decade away. It's likely, therefore, that the Commission is aiming for a somewhat less sophisticated device.

"It seems more likely that the quantum computer may be a noisy intermediate-scale type of quantum computer. In other words, not an all-singing-all-dancing fully fault-tolerant quantum computer, but a smaller, noisier quantum computer optimised to perform a specific computing task," Andrew Fearnside, senior associate specialising in quantum technologies at intellectual property firm Mewburn Ellis, tells ZDNet.

"That seems far more achievable to me, and also more deliverable and, therefore, more likely to show quantum-sceptical technology investors and industry that quantum computing can truly improve their business."

Alongside targets that are specific to quantum computing, the Commission also announced the goal to develop an ultra-secure quantum communication infrastructure that will span the whole of the EU. Quantum networks will significantly increase the security of communications and the storage of sensitive data assets, while also keeping critical communication infrastructure safe.

The EU's interest in quantum technologies is not new: the Commission launched a 10-year quantum flagship in 2018, which, with a 1 billion ($1.20 billion) budget, was described as one of the bloc's most ambitious research initiatives.

Since then, individual member states have started their own quantum programs: Germany, in particular, has launched a 2 billion ($2.4 billion) funding program for the promotion of quantum technologies, far surpassing many other nations; but France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland are all increasingly trying to establish themselves as hubs for quantum startups and research.

This has established Europe as a strong leader, with a high concentration of quantum-relevant talent and innovative quantum startups. However, the bloc's best efforts, in the context of a fast-moving quantum race,have not always been enough.

"When it comes to operationalising quantum technology knowledge, Europe is falling behind the US and China to create IP, secure VC funding, and establish a mature startup and industry ecosystem," Ivan Ostojic, partner at research firm McKinsey, tells ZDNet. "Europe needs to find innovative ways to accelerate the development and scaling of breakthrough applications of quantum technologies to fully capture the economic potential."

SEE: 5G and edge computing: How it will affect the enterprise in the next five years

Since the US signed in the National Quantum Initiative Act in 2018, which came with a $1.2 billion budget, researchers and businesses across the Atlantic have flourished; the country is widely considered the biggest competitor in quantum, and has already established a mature ecosystem for the technology.

China, for its part, has a long-established interest in quantum technologies. Earlier this week, in fact, the Chinese government revealed itseconomic roadmap for the next five years, which features aggressive objectives for quantum, including the development of a long-distance and high-speed quantum communications system, and building up computers that can support several hundred qubits.

Although the EU Commission's new roadmap reflects a desire to establish the bloc as a leading global power in quantum technologies, Ostojic argues that without a well-defined strategy, it will be difficult for Europe to compete against other nations.

"The question is if the strategy is limited to the creation of quantum computing assets, or if it includes a full ecosystem," he says. "There are critical areas to be considered across the entire value chain, from cooling technologies through quantum analytics and software to industry applications. Such a strategy should also include an answer on how to boost competitiveness from education through IP creation, company creation, funding, and industry partnerships."

Alongside the objectives it sets for quantum technologies, the Commission's roadmap lays out some aggressive milestones for the bloc in the next decade always with a vision to establish the EU as a leading player on the international scene.

SEE: BMW explores quantum computing to boost supply chain efficiencies

According to the document, the coronvirus crisis has highlighted Europe's "vulnerabilities" in the digital space, and the bloc's increased reliance on non-EU based technologies. The Commission aims, for example, to double the weight of European microprocessor production in the global market to reach a 20% share by 2030, up from the European semiconductor industry's current 10% share.

Similarly, the Commission highlighted that much of the data produced in Europe is stored and processed outside of the bloc, which means the EU needs to strengthen its own cloud infrastructure and capacities. By 2030, the Commission hopes that 10,000 secure edge nodes will be deployed to allow data processing at the edge of the network.

Cloud technologies have been a sticking point in the EU for many years. To resist the dominance of US-based hyperscalers, such as Microsoft and AWS, the bloc has been working on a European cloud provider dubbed GAIA-X, which launched last year, butis showing little promise of success.

The Commission's new roadmap suggests that the EU is still actively willing to claim the bloc's digital sovereignty in the face of increasing international competition. Commissioner Thierry Breton said: "In the post-pandemic world, this is how we will shape together a resilient and digitally sovereign Europe. This is Europe's Digital Decade."

The next few months will see the targets laid out in the roadmap debated and discussed, before an official 'digital compass' is adopted at the end of 2021. Then, the Commission proposes carrying out an annual review of each member states' performance in meeting the targets to keep track of the bloc's progress.

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The EU wants to build its first quantum computer. That plan might not be ambitious enough - ZDNet

GUANGZHOU, China China is looking to boost research into what it calls "frontier technology" including quantum computing and semiconductors, as it competes with the U.S. for supremacy in the latest innovations.

In its five-year development plan, the 14th of its kind, Beijing said it would make "science and technology self-reliance and self-improvement a strategic pillar for national development," according to a CNBC translation.

Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday that China would increase research and development spending by more than 7% per year between 2021 and 2025, in pursuit of "major breakthroughs" in technology.

China's technology champions such as Huawei and SMIC have been targeted by U.S. sanctions as tensions between Beijing and Washington have ramped up in the past few years.

As such, China has concentrated on boosting its domestic expertise in areas it sees as strategically important, such as semiconductors. And now it has laid out seven "frontier technologies" that it will prioritize not just for the next five years, but beyond too.

China plans to focus on specialized chip development for AI applications and developing so-called open source algorithms. Open source technology is usually developed by one entity and licensed by other companies.

There will also be an emphasis on machine learning in areas such as decision making. Machine learning is the development of AI programs trained on vast amounts of data. The program "learns" as it is fed more data.

AI has been a key field for Chinese companies and the central government over the last few years. Major companies such as Alibaba and Baidu have been investing in the technology.

China and the U.S. are competing for AI dominance. A group of experts chaired by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said China could soon replace the U.S. as the world's "AI superpower."

Semiconductors are a critical area for China and one it has invested a lot in over the past few years but the country has struggled to catch up to the U.S., Taiwan and South Korea.

The problem is the complexity of the semiconductor supply chain. Taiwan's TSMC and South Korea's Samsung are the two most advanced chip manufacturers but they rely on tools from the U.S. and Europe.

Washington has put SMIC, China's biggest chip manufacturer, on an export blacklist called the Entity List. SMIC cannot get its hands on American technology. And the U.S. has reportedly pushed to stop Dutch company ASML from shipping a key tool that could help SMIC catch up to rivals.

Since China doesn't have the companies that can design and make the tools that its chip manufacturers require, it relies on companies from other countries. This is something China wants to change.

In its five-year plan, China says it will focus on research and development in integrated circuit design tools, key equipment and key materials.

Chips are incredibly important because they go into many of the devices we use such as smartphones but are also important for other industries.

China plans to research areas such as how to stop diseases of the brain.

But it also says that it plans to look into "brain-inspired computing" as well as "brain-computer fusion technology," according to a CNBC translation. The five-year plan did not elaborate on what that could look like.

China laid out seven "frontier" technologies in its 14th Five Year Plan. These are areas that China will focus research on and include semiconductors and brain-computer fusion.

Yuichiro Chino | Moment | Getty Images

However, such work is already underway in the U.S. at Elon Musk's company Neuralink. Musk is working on implantable brain-chip interfaces to connect humans and computers.

With the outbreak of the coronavirus last year, biotechnology has grown in importance.

China says it will focus on "innovative vaccines" and "research on biological security."

China's research will concentrate on understanding the progression of cancer, cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic diseases.

The government also says that it will research some "cutting-edge" treatment technologies such as regenerative medicine. This involves medicine that can regrow or repair damaged cells, tissues and organs.

China says it will also be looking at key technologies in the prevention and treatment of major transmissible diseases.

Space exploration has been a top priority for China recently. Beijing said it will focus on research into the "origin and evolution of the universe," exploration of Mars as well as deep sea and polar research.

In December, a Chinese spacecraft returned to Earth carrying rocks from the moon. It was the first time China has launched a spacecraft from an extraterrestrial body and the first time it has collected moon samples.

And in July, China launched a mission to Mars called Tianwen -1.

CNBC's Iris Wang contributed to this report.

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In battle with U.S., China to focus on 7 'frontier' technologies from chips to brain-computer fusion - CNBC

Cambridge Quantum Computing is developing a leadership position in four quantum domains quantum cybersecurity, quantum chemistry, quantum machine learning and quantum finance.

Founded in 2014, the company was initiated by Ilyas Khan, the founding chairman of The Stephen Hawking Foundation and a fellow at St Edmunds college.

I was one of three founders and the sole original founding investor of the Accelerate Cambridge programme, which is run from Cambridge Judge Business School, Ilyas says of the exegesis of one of the worlds key quantum technology companies from its butterfly cocoon. Cambridge Quantum Computing emerged from the idea that Cambridge could produce a successful deep science company and, when this company was founded in 2014, there were three motivating factors.

Firstly, the experience at Accelerate Cambridge was very exciting and secondly, the emergence of quantum computing hardware, which had until then been an aspiration.

Thirdly, Google and IBM were by then involved, and so it shifted from a subject within academia to business in the private sector.

Indeed, the UK National Quantum Technologies programme had started in 2013, with quantum engineers and technologists meeting the entrepreneurial sector for the first time. The goal a mere aspiration back then was to develop products and services which made use of quantum superposition and quantum entanglement. The results are now starting to bear fruit.

Cambridge Quantum Computing is a result of the success of the National Quantum Technologies programme, Ilyas notes. An analogy would be to say that it would not be dissimilar to someone setting up a business to focus on the internet in 1996 or 97. Early in 2014 the themes were coming together. At that time I thought the business might be viable by 2024, and obviously since then its been far faster.

Indeed, just this yearCambridge Quantum Computing (CQC) announced a collaboration with Roche to design and implement noisy-intermediate-scale-quantum (NISQ) algorithms for early-stage drug discovery and development. The partnership will employ CQCs leading quantum chemistry platform, EUMEN, to augment Roches Alzheimers disease research efforts.

And last week Crown Bioscience, JSR Life Sciences and CQC announced a partnership agreement, with the initial approach being to focus on identifying cancer treatment biomarkers and driving the next generation of bioinformatics.

The upsurge coincides with a move from the Cambridge Union Society building on Bridge Street to Station Road, says Ilyas.

We outgrew the space at the Cambridge Union and decided to look around last summer well have between 50 and 60 people there.

There are other sites, in London, Chessington, San Francisco and Washington DC in the US, and Tokyo.

The company as a whole has more than 130 people now, Ilyas says. Were very science-heavy, with more than 100 scientists more than 60 with PhDs with a very strong business development team, a very strong legal and finance team.

The quantum sector divides into three areas: quantum technologies, which is quantum clocks and metrology, and were not in that. Second is quantum computers the hardware and were not there either. Third is applications, algorithms and software; were very active in that area.

So what are the possible applications? CQC develops specific products and platforms for quantum chemistry (EUMEN); and t|ket>, an architecture-agnostic quantum software stack and best in class compiler which translates machine-independent algorithms into executable circuits, optimising for physical qubit layout.

And with its IronBridge quantum encryption technology, CQC has developed methods to provide current and post-quantum cybersecurity by solving the most fundamental vulnerabilities in cryptographic protocols and procedures.

One thing that is rarely mentioned in the same breath as quantum is autonomous driving why is that?

There is no informed consensus on whether machine learning will be capable of having a day-to-day impact on autonomous driving any time soon, Ilyas replies.

My view is that some way in the future, however theoretical, machine learning is a very exciting area for the development of quantum computing.

Machine learning is here and, at Cambridge Quantum Computing, is an area of AI weve been most interested in, and without question are a global leader in meaning-aware language processing so the ability of a computer or device is not just word or speech recognition as in Alexa, for example but full-sentence, paragraphs and full conversations.

There are technical reasons why a quantum computer will ultimately be able to do something a classical computer will not, for example, quantum chemistry is one area where a quantum computer can do something a classical computer will not. The other area is meaning-aware language processing, and Id say this is an extremely powerful and global area for quantum computing.

So thats drug discovery, linguistic processing and cybersecurity from a defensive standpoint.

Its difficult to predict when it could be one or two years, or seven to 10. In other areas the jury is out.

And any sign of an operating system on the way?

Were many years away from an operating system for quantum computers, Ilyas answers. There will be operating systems, but at the moment anybody trying to say theyre working on an operating system is like me saying Im practising living on Mars because one day I want to be there.

All this is of a fit with an overarching goal the introduction of quantum computing to as many areas of business and science as possible.

As weve entered 2021, continues Ilyas, an increasing number of large global corporations from pharma to banks to logistical to petrochemical are already users of high-performance computers and in 2021 a larger number of corporations are starting to budget for quantum computing for one of two different reasons.

Either they believe a quantum computer has a credible chance of delivering a result, or they want to experiment for themselves what a quantum computer can do.

People are on a journey, starting to learn, but some organisations are already on that journey, as Microsoft has been for 20 years, IBM has been for decades, and Google has for ten years. CQC is a member of partnership organisations for all three.

It looks like a win-win-win situation for Cambridge Quantum Computing.

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Cambridge Quantum Computing's entanglements are at the heart of a new technological era - Cambridge Independent