Written by Colin Wood Aug 14, 2020 | STATESCOOP

Blockchain, a technology that a handful of state and local governments have been prodding curiously the past several years with few major developments, will get another push in Massachusetts, the states economic development arm announced earlier this month.

The Massachusetts Technology Collaboratives Innovation Institute will begin by exploring how blockchain, which is best known for its role as the technological scaffolding in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, could be adopted within municipal governments to improve transparency and reliability in recordkeeping.

In search of the next big thing, institute director Patrick Larkin told StateScoop, the agency considered various emerging technologies, such as autonomous vehicles, quantum computing and artificial intelligence. But it settled on blockchain as a field that the region, home to universities like Harvard and MIT, could best use to drive new research and business development. So far, he said, his group has contacted the Boston Blockchain Association and is now planning an education series for municipal leaders on how blockchain can support their operations.

In order to have functioning markets and to promote growth in a technology sector, people need a fundamental understanding about what those technologies and what that sector represent, Larkin said. We focused on municipalities because we find that theyre more inclined to be early adopters, more nimble, able to make decisions in an easier way than other levels of government.

Several state governments have established exploratory commissions or ran pilot projects testing the capabilities of blockchain in recent years, usually to track land transactions, permits and licenses or financial records. Larkin said monitoring federal reimbursements at the end of the fiscal year is especially nightmarish for municipalities, a task where blockchain might find a niche.

It is about efficiency and it is about cost containment, he said. If you can create efficiencies that wring out costs and scale it on a regional basis, instead of individual municipalities, removing layers of review or redundant paperwork because of the security and the transparency, here is a value proposition that needs to be developed.

Most state blockchain laws in recent years were passed either to remove regulatory barriers that might have prevented the private sector from innovating or to rewrite antique statutes requiring that various documents be recorded on paper. The legal framework has so far been in anticipation of a coming technology and seldom erected in response to existing widespread use of blockchain within a government organization.

Some have tried to nudge along the technologys adoption within government, like North Dakota State Rep. Nathan Toman, who last year commissioned a study exploring how blockchain might be used to shield the state against economic turbulence.

In Massachusetts, Larkin said the state may showcase some demonstration projects after research and collaboration with local governments is further along.

Were got a strength in the state, he said. Lets look in our own backyard to create awareness and exposure, and if theres some pilots that could help get the flywheel going in the state around blockchain technology, wed love to be able to do that.

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Massachusetts is training local governments on blockchain - StateScoop

The race for quantum supremacy heated up in June, when Honeywell brought to market the worlds highest performing quantum computer. Honeywell claims it is more accurate (i.e., performs with less errors) than competing systems and that its performance will increase by an order of magnitude each year for the next five years.

Inside the chamber of Honeywells quantum computer

The beauty of quantum computing, says Tony Uttley, President of Honeywell Quantum Solutions, is that once you reach a certain level of accuracy, every time you add a qbit [the basic unit of quantum information] you double the computational capacity. So as the quantum computer scales exponentially, you can scale your problem set exponentially.

Tony Uttley, President, Honeywell Quantum Solutions

Uttley sees three distinct eras in the evolution of quantum computing. Today, we are in the emergent erayou can start to prove what kind of things work, what kind of algorithms show the most promise. For example, the Future Lab for Applied Research and Engineering (FLARE) group of JPMorgan Chase published a paper in June summarizing the results of running on the Honeywell quantum computer complex mathematical calculations used in financial trading applications.

The next era Uttley calls classically impractical, running computations on a quantum computer that typically are not run on todays (classical) computers because they take too long, consume too much power, and cost too much. Crossing the threshold from emergent to classically impractical is not very far away, he asserts, probably sometime in the next 18 to 24 months. This is when you build the trust with the organizations you work with that the answer that is coming from your quantum computer is the correct one, says Uttley.

The companies that understand the potential impact of quantum computing on their industries, are already looking at what it would take to introduce this new computing capability into their existing processes and what they need to adjust or develop from scratch, according to Uttley. These companies will be ready for the shift from emergent to classically impractical which is going to be a binary moment, and they will be able to take advantage of it immediately.

The last stage of the quantum evolution will be classically impossible"you couldnt in the timeframe of the universe do this computation on a classical best-performing supercomputer that you can on a quantum computer, says Uttley. He mentions quantum chemistry, machine learning, optimization challenges (warehouse routing, aircraft maintenance) as applications that will benefit from quantum computing. But what shows the most promise right now are hybrid [resources]you do just one thing, very efficiently, on a quantum computer, and run the other parts of the algorithm or calculation on a classical computer. Uttley predicts that for the foreseeable future we will see co-processing, combining the power of todays computers with the power of emerging quantum computing solutions.

You want to use a quantum computer for the more probabilistic parts [of the algorithm] and a classical computer for the more mundane calculationsthat might reduce the number of qbits needed, explains Gavin Towler, vice president and chief technology officer of Honeywell Performance Materials Technologies. Towler leads R&D activities for three of Honeywell's businesses: Advanced Materials (e.g., refrigerants), UOP (equipment and services for the oil and gas sector), and Process Automation (automation, control systems, software, for all the process industries). As such, he is the poster boy for a quantum computing lead-user.

Gavin Towler, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Honeywell Performance Materials and ... [+] Technologies

In the space of materials discovery, quantum computing is going to be critical. Thats not a might or could be. It is going to be the way people do molecular discovery, says Towler. Molecular simulation is used in the design of new molecules, requiring the designer to understand quantum effects. These are intrinsically probabilistic as are quantum computers, Towler explains.

An example he provides is a refrigerant Honeywell produces that is used in automotive air conditioning, supermarkets refrigeration, and homes. As the chlorinated molecules in the refrigerants were causing the hole in the Ozone layer, they were replaced by HFCs which later tuned out to be very potent greenhouse gasses. Honeywell already found a suitable replacement for the refrigerant used in automotive air conditioning, but is searching for similar solutions for other refrigeration applications. Synthesizing in the lab molecules that will prove to have no effect on the Ozone layer or global warming and will not be toxic or flammable is costly. Computer simulation replaces lab work but ideally, you want to have computer models that will screen things out to identify leads much faster, says Towler.

This is where the speed of a quantum computer will make a difference, starting with simple molecules like the ones found in refrigerants or in solvents that are used to remove CO2 from processes prevalent in the oil and gas industry. These are relatively simple molecules, with 10-20 atoms, amenable to be modeled with [todays] quantum computers, says Towler. In the future, he expects more powerful quantum computers to assist in developing vaccines and finding new drugs, polymers, biodegradable plastics, things that contain hundred and thousands of atoms.

There are three ways by which Towlers counterparts in other companies, the lead-users who are interested in experimenting with quantum computing, can currently access Honeywells solution: Run their program directly on Honeywells quantum computer; through Microsoft Azure Quantum services; and working with two startups that Honeywell has invested in, Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC) and Zapata Computing, both assisting in turning business challenges into quantum computing and hybrid computing algorithms.

Honeywell brings to the quantum computing emerging market a variety of skills in multiple disciplines, with its decades-long experience with precision control systems possibly the most important one. Any at-scale quantum computer becomes a controls problem, says Uttley, and we have experience in some of the most complex systems integration problems in the world. These past experiences have prepared Honeywell to show what quantum computing can do for the world and to rapidly scale-up its solution. Weve built a big auditorium but we are filling out just a few seats right now and we have lots more seats to fill, Uttley sums up this point in time in Honeywells journey to quantum supremacy.

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Honeywell Wants To Show What Quantum Computing Can Do For The World - Forbes

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ResearchAndMarkets.com published a new article on the quantum computing industry "Quantum Computers Have the Potential to be Faster and More Powerful Than Classical Computers"

Quantum computing startup Rigetti Computing announced that it has closed a $79 million Series C funding round. The company currently offers cloud based access to its quantum machines. Quantum computers are built around the concept of quantum bits or qbits which give them the potential to be much faster and much more powerful than classical computers. While quantum computers may not yet be ready for real world use cases, the industry has made significant progress in recent years.

Microsoft and ETH Zurich recently developed a quantum algorithm that can simulate catalytic processes extremely quickly which could help to develop an efficient method for carbon fixation. This process reduces carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by turning it into useful compounds. IBM has joined with the University of Tokyo to create the Quantum Innovation Initiative Consortium (QIIC) to accelerate quantum computing research and development in Japan. QIIC members will have cloud access to the IBM Quantum Computation Center as well as access to a dedicated quantum system planned for installation in Japan in 2021.

To see the full article and a list of related reports on the market, visit "Quantum Computers Have the Potential to be Faster and More Powerful Than Classical Computers"

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

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Quantum Computers Have the Potential to be Faster and More Powerful Than Classical Computers - ResearchAndMarkets.com - Business Wire

C-Level View | Feature

A Q&A with Travis Humble

Travis Humble is a distinguished scientist and director of the Quantum Computing Institute at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The institute is a lab-wide organization that brings together all of ORNL's capabilities to address the development of quantum computers. Humble is also an academic, holding a joint faculty appointment at the University of Tennessee, where he is an assistant professor with the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education. In the following Q&A, Humble gives CT his unique perspectives on the advancement of quantum computing and its entry into higher education curricula and research.

"It's an exciting area that's largely understaffed. There are far more opportunities than there are people currently qualified to approach quantum computing." Travis Humble

Mary Grush: Working at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a scientist and at the University of Tennessee as an academic, you are in a remarkable position to watch both the development of the field of quantum computing and its growing importance in higher education curricula and research. First, let me ask about your role at the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education. The Bredesen Center draws on resources from both ORNL and UT. Does the center help move quantum computing into the realm of higher education?

Travis Humble: Yes. The point of the Bredesen Center is to do interdisciplinary research, to educate graduate students, and to address the interfaces and frontiers of science that don't fall within the conventional departments.

For me, those objectives are strongly related to my role at the laboratory, where I am a scientist working in quantum information. And the joint work ORNL and UT do in quantum computing is training the next generation of the workforce that's going to be able to take advantage of the tools and research that we're developing at the laboratory.

Grush: Are ORNL and UT connected to bring students to the national lab to experience quantum computing?

Humble: They are so tightly connected that it works very well for us to have graduate students onsite performing research in these topics, while at the same time advancing their education through the university.

Grush: How does ORNL's Quantum Computing Institute, where you are director, promote quantum computing?

Humble: As part of my work with the Quantum Computing Institute, I manage research portfolios and direct resources towards our most critical needs at the moment. But I also use that responsibility as a gateway to get people involved with quantum computing: It's an exciting area that's largely understaffed. There are far more opportunities than there are people currently qualified to approach quantum computing.

The institute is a kind of storefront through which people from many different areas of science and engineering can become involved in quantum computing. It is there to help them get involved.

Grush: Let's get a bit of perspective on quantum computing why is it important?

Humble: Quantum computing is a new approach to the ways we could build computers and solve problems. This approach uses quantum mechanics that support the most fundamental theories of physics. We've had a lot of success in understanding quantum mechanics it's the technology that lasers, transistors, and a lot of things that we rely on today were built on.

But it turns out there's a lot of untapped potential there: We could take further advantage of some of the features of quantum physics, by building new types of technologies.

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Quantum Computing for the Next Generation of Computer Scientists and Researchers - Campus Technology

The exciting QCE20 conference programfeatures over 270 hours of programming. Each day the QCE20 conference, also known as IEEE Quantum Week, will virtually deliver 9-10 parallel tracks ofworld-class keynotes, workforce-building tutorials, community-building workshops, technical paper presentations, innovative posters, and thought-provoking panels through a digital combination of pre-recorded and live-streamed sessions. Attendees will be able to participate in live Q&A sessions with keynote speakers and panelists, paper and poster authors, as well as tutorial and workshop speakers. Birds of a Feather, Networking, and Beautiful Coloradosessions spice up the program between technical sessions. The recorded QCE20 sessions will be available for on-demand until November 30.

"With our expansive technical program and lineup of incredible presentations from thought-leaders all over the globe, this is shaping up to be the quantum event of the year," said Hausi Mller, QCE20 General Chair, IEEE Quantum Initiative Co-Chair. "I encourage all professionals and enthusiasts to become a quantum computing champion by engaging and participating in the inaugural IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing & Engineering (QCE20)."

Workshops and tutorials will be conducted according to their pre-determined schedule in a live, virtual format. The QCE20 tutorials program features 16 tutorials by leading experts aimed squarely at workforce development and training considerations, and 21 QCE20 workshopsprovide forums for group discussions on topics in quantum research, practice, education, and applications.

Ten outstanding keynote speakers will address quantum computing and engineering topics at the beginning and at the end of each conference day, providing insights to stimulate discussion for the networking sessions and exhibits.

QCE20 panel sessionswill explore various perspectives of quantum topics, including quantum education and training, quantum hardware and software, quantum engineering challenges, fault-tolerant quantum computers, quantum error correction, quantum intermediate language representation, hardware-software co-design, and hybrid quantum-classical computing platforms. Visit Enabling and Growing the Quantum Industryto view the newest addition to the lineup.

Over 20 QCE20 exhibitors and sponsors including Platinum sponsors IBM, Microsoft, and Honeywell, and Gold sponsors Quantropi and Zapatawill be featured Monday through Friday in virtual exhibit rooms offering numerous opportunities for networking.

QCE20 is co-sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society, IEEE Communications Society, IEEE Photonics Society, IEEE Council on Superconductivity,IEEE Electronics Packaging Society, IEEE Future Directions Quantum Initiative, and IEEETechnology and Engineering Management Society.

Register to be a part of the highly anticipated virtual IEEE Quantum Week 2020.

Visit qce.quantum.ieee.org for all program details, as well as sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities.

About the IEEE Computer SocietyThe IEEE Computer Society is the world's home for computer science, engineering, and technology. A global leader in providing access to computer science research, analysis, and information, the IEEE Computer Society offers a comprehensive array of unmatched products, services, and opportunities for individuals at all stages of their professional career. Known as the premier organization that empowers the people who drive technology, the IEEE Computer Society offers international conferences, peer-reviewed publications, a unique digital library, and training programs. Visit http://www.computer.orgfor more information.

About the IEEE Communications Society The IEEE Communications Societypromotes technological innovation and fosters creation and sharing of information among the global technical community. The Society provides services to members for their technical and professional advancement and forums for technical exchanges among professionals in academia, industry, and public institutions.

About the IEEE Photonics SocietyTheIEEE Photonics Societyforms the hub of a vibrant technical community of more than 100,000 professionals dedicated to transforming breakthroughs in quantum physics into the devices, systems, and products to revolutionize our daily lives. From ubiquitous and inexpensive global communications via fiber optics, to lasers for medical and other applications, to flat-screen displays, to photovoltaic devices for solar energy, to LEDs for energy-efficient illumination, there are myriad examples of the Society's impact on the world around us.

About the IEEE Council on SuperconductivityThe IEEE Council on Superconductivityand its activities and programs cover the science and technology of superconductors and their applications, including materials and their applications for electronics, magnetics, and power systems, where the superconductor properties are central to the application.

About the IEEE Electronics Packaging SocietyThe IEEE Electronics Packaging Societyis the leading international forum for scientists and engineers engaged in the research, design, and development of revolutionary advances in microsystems packaging and manufacturing.

About the IEEE Future Directions Quantum InitiativeIEEE Quantumis an IEEE Future Directions initiative launched in 2019 that serves as IEEE's leading community for all projects and activities on quantum technologies. IEEE Quantum is supported by leadership and representation across IEEE Societies and OUs. The initiative addresses the current landscape of quantum technologies, identifies challenges and opportunities, leverages and collaborates with existing initiatives, and engages the quantum community at large.

About the IEEE Technology and Engineering Management SocietyIEEE TEMSencompasses the management sciences and practices required for defining, implementing, and managing engineering and technology.

SOURCE IEEE Computer Society

http://www.computer.org

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IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering (QCE20) Transitions to All-Virtual Event - PRNewswire

That could help with the design of quantum computers

Aug 15th 2020

IN RAY BRADBURYs science-fiction story A Sound of Thunder, a character time-travels far into the past and inadvertently crushes a butterfly underfoot. The consequences of that minuscule change ripple through reality such that, upon the time-travellers return, the present has been dramatically changed.

The butterfly effect describes the high sensitivity of many systems to tiny changes in their starting conditions. But while it is a feature of classical physics, it has been unclear whether it also applies to quantum mechanics, which governs the interactions of tiny objects like atoms and fundamental particles. Bin Yan and Nikolai Sinitsyn, a pair of physicists at Los Alamos National Laboratory, decided to find out. As they report in Physical Review Letters, quantum-mechanical systems seem to be more resilient than classical ones. Strangely, they seem to have the capacity to repair damage done in the past as time unfolds.

To perform their experiment, Drs Yan and Sinitsyn ran simulations on a small quantum computer made by IBM. They constructed a simple quantum system consisting of qubitsthe quantum analogue of the familiar one-or-zero bits used by classical computers. Like an ordinary bit, a qubit can be either one or zero. But it can also exist in superposition, a chimerical mix of both states at once.

Having established the system, the authors prepared a particular qubit by setting its state to zero. That qubit was then allowed to interact with the others in a process called quantum scrambling which, in this case, mimics the effect of evolving a quantum system backwards in time. Once this virtual foray into the past was completed, the authors disturbed the chosen qubit, destroying its local information and its correlations with the other qubits. Finally, the authors performed a reversed scrambling process on the now-damaged system. This was analogous to running the quantum system all the way forwards in time to where it all began.

They then checked to see how similar the final state of the chosen qubit was to the zero-state it had been assigned at the beginning of the experiment. The classical butterfly effect suggests that the researchers meddling should have changed it quite drastically. In the event, the qubits original state had been almost entirely recovered. Its state was not quite zero, but it was, in quantum-mechanical terms, 98.3% of the way there, a difference that was deemed insignificant. The final output state after the forward evolution is essentially the same as the input state before backward evolution, says Dr Sinitsyn. It can be viewed as the same input state plus some small background noise. Oddest of all was the fact that the further back in simulated time the damage was done, the greater the rate of recoveryas if the quantum system was repairing itself with time.

The mechanism behind all this is known as entanglement. As quantum objects interact, their states become highly correlatedentangledin a way that serves to diffuse localised information about the state of one quantum object across the system as a whole. Damage to one part of the system does not destroy information in the same way as it would with a classical system. Instead of losing your work when your laptop crashes, having a highly entangled system is a bit like having back-ups stashed in every room of the house. Even though the information held in the disturbed qubit is lost, its links with the other qubits in the system can act to restore it.

The upshot is that the butterfly effect seems not to apply to quantum systems. Besides making life safe for tiny time-travellers, that may have implications for quantum computing, too, a field into which companies and countries are investing billions of dollars. We think of quantum systems, especially in quantum computing, as very fragile, says Natalia Ares, a physicist at the University of Oxford. That this result demonstrates that quantum systems can in fact be unexpectedly robust is an encouraging finding, and bodes well for potential future advances in the field.

This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline "A flutter in time"

Excerpt from:
Quantum mechanics is immune to the butterfly effect - The Economist

The Indiana University Board of Trustees has approved six new degrees, four of which are graduate level.

All of the new graduate degrees are on the Bloomington campus:

Also approved were a Bachelor of Arts in theater, film and television at IUPUI and a Bachelor of Science in accounting at IU East.

The master's and doctoral degrees in biostatistics are offered by the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the School of Public Health-Bloomington. They will focus on rural public health issues and specialized areas in public health research, such as the opioid epidemic.

Biostatistics is considered a high-demand job field. Both degrees are intended to meet the labor market and educational and research needs of the state, which is trying to reduce negative health outcomes. Biostatisticians typically are hired by state and local health departments, federal government agencies, medical centers, medical device companies and pharmaceutical companies, among others.

The Master of Science in quantum information science will involve an intensive, one-year, multidisciplinary program with tracks that tie into physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, engineering and business. It's offered through the Office of Multidisciplinary Graduate Programs in the University Graduate School. The degree was proposed by the College of Arts and Sciences, the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, and the Kelley School of Business.

Most of the faculty who will teach the classes are members of the newly established IU Quantum Science and Engineering Center.

Students who earn the Master of Science in quantum information science can pursue careers with computer and software companies that are active with quantum computation, and national labs involved in quantum information science, among other opportunities.

The Master of International Affairs is a joint degree by the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Hamilton-Lugar School of Global and International Studies. The degree is the first of its kind offered by any IU campus and meets student demand for professional master's programs having an international focus.

Featured components of the degree include the study of international relations and public administration. Graduates can expect to find employment in the federal government, such as the Department of State, the Department of Treasury or the U.S. intelligence community, or with private-sector firms in fields such as high-tech, global trade and finance.

The Bachelor of Arts in theater, film and television combines existing programs and provides them a more visible home in the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. The degree features three distinct concentrations:

Applied theater is a growing field that emphasizes and works with organizations around issues of social justice, social change, diversity and inclusion.

IU East's Bachelor of Science in accounting degree, offered through the School of Business and Economics, helps meet projected high demand in the accounting industry. It also will prepare students to take the certified public accountant or certified managerial accountant exams, or enter graduate programs in accounting or business.

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6 new degrees approved, including graduate degrees in biostatistics and quantum information science: News at IU - IU Newsroom