Category Archives: Quantum Computing

Making Encryption Harder, Better, Faster and Stronger

In response, the industry is advancing encryption on several fronts. Some efforts are focused on increasing key sizes to protect against brute-force decryption. Other efforts are looking at new cryptographic algorithms. For example, the National Institute of Standards and Technology isevaluating a next-generation public key algorithm intended to be quantum safe.

The trouble is that most quantum-safe algorithms arent efficient in classical computer architectures. To address this problem, the industry is focused on developing accelerators to speed up algorithms on x86 platforms.

A third area of research ishomomorphic encryption, an amazing concept that allows users to perform calculations on encrypted data without first decrypting it. So, an analyst who needs to can query a database containing classified information without having to ask an analyst with higher clearance to access the data or request that the data be declassified.

A big advantage of homomorphic encryption is that it protects data in all its states at rest (stored on a hard drive), in motion (transmitted across a network) or in use (while in computer memory). Another boon is that its quantum safe, because its based on some of the same math as quantum computing.

A downside is that homomorphic encryption performs very poorly on traditional computers, because its not designed to work with them. The industry is collaborating to develop x86-style instructions to make these new cryptosystems operate at cloud speeds. Practical applications are still a few years away, but were confident well get there.

EXPLORE:How can agencies combat encrypted attacks on government traffic?

In the interim, a new encryption capability has emerged that organizations can take advantage of right now:confidential computing. Confidential computing safeguards data while its being acted upon in computer memory; for example, while a user is conducting analytics on a database.

Confidential computing works by having the CPU reserve a section of memory as a secure enclave, encrypting the memory in the enclave with a key unique to the CPU. Data and application code placed in the enclave can be decrypted only within that enclave, on that CPU. Even if attackers gained root access to the system, they wouldnt be able to read the data.

With the latest generation of computer processors, a two-CPU server can create a 1 terabyte enclave. That enables organizations to place an entire database or transaction server inside the enclave.

The functionality is now being extended with the ability to encrypt all of a computers memory with minimal impact on performance. Total memory encryption uses a platform-specific encryption key thats randomly derived each time the system is booted up. When the computer is turned off, the key goes away. So even if cybercriminals stole the CPU, they wouldnt be able to access the memory.

Confidential computing transforms the way organizations approach security in the cloud, because they no longer have to implicitly trust the cloud provider. Instead, they can protect their data while its in use, even though its being hosted by a third party.

One major cloud provider already offers a confidential computing service to the federal government, and more will surely follow. Agencies can now build enclave-based applications to protect data in use in a dedicated cloud that meets government security and compliance requirements.

The need for strong data encryption wont go away, and the encryption challenges will only increase as quantum computing emerges over the next several years. In the meantime, innovative new encryption capabilities are delivering tighter cybersecurity to agencies today, and the industry is investing in the next generation of cryptosystems to protect government information for the next 25 years.

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The Future of Data Encryption: What You Need to Know Now - FedTech Magazine

Nissans Sunderland plant was affected as workers were pinged by the over zealous NHS app

UK COVID-19 test and trace app isolation warnings are on the verge of shutting factories across Britain, labour body, Unite told Just Auto this week.Reports were flooding in across the UK of multiple industries particularly manufacturing seeing significant numbers of staff having to isolate at home following the National Health Service app telling them they had been in contact with a COVID-19-hit person.The issue seemed to have hit the automotive sector especially hard, according to the union, and yesterday (15 July), media speculation was focusing on up to 900 Nissan staff having to stay at home after being pinged by the health app. We also heard of a similar effect at BMWs Rolls-Royce. Production in certain areas of the plant has been adjusted as we manage a number of staff being required to self-isolate following close contact with COVID-19, Nissan said in a statement. Unite reckoned some sites were struggling to operate due to hundreds of staff being off at once with one major engine supplier telling the union delays to orders were so severe, work might be permanently moved to China. English authorities say those who have received double vaccinations wont need to self-isolate after 16 August but major pressure is now being brought to bear on the government to bring that date forward.

TomTom has launched Virtual Horizon, which it said was the only map-based all-in-one ADAS software from a single company that helps passenger and commercial vehicles anticipate the road ahead.The software for automakers provides a connection between digital maps and ADAS functionality, allowing vehicles to see beyond the range of their sensors.The supplier maintains the new product is designed to democratise ADAS by supporting vehicles without embedded navigation, as well as the most technologically advanced automated vehicles.The software translates map data into actionable information for drivers and vehicles.For example, if there is a sharp bend in the road or a change in the speed limit ahead, it will warn drivers in non-automated vehicles to prepare to take action, while the software in automated vehicles will enable more informed and intelligent decision making without the involvement of the driver.

BMW and Amazon have combined to set a challenge for researchers, startups and pioneering companies from the global quantum computing community aimed at solutions for specific industrial challenges. The BMW Group Quantum Computing Challenge will be run in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS).The challenge encourages entrants to come up with innovative quantum algorithms and test their solutions on real quantum computing technologies. Quantum computing holds potential to address challenging problems in the automotive sector in complex optimisation, materials research, and in the form of quantum machine learning automated driving.

Toyota and CaetanoBus, the Portuguese bus manufacturing company, announced co-branding of the e.City Gold battery electric city bus and the H2.City Gold fuel cell electric bus.Since 2019, TME, has integrated Toyotas fuel cell technology into the hydrogen city buses manufactured by CaetanoBus, supplying fuel cell stacks, hydrogen tanks and other key components. More recently, in December 2020, Toyota Caetano Portugal (TCAP) became the direct shareholder of CaetanoBus, to support rapid expansion from its core business to the development and sales of zero-emission buses.

Uwe Hochgeschurtz, currently CEO, Renault Germany, Austria and Switzerland, was this week named Opel brand CEO from 1 September, 2021, at a time when the unique German brand of Stellantis is expanding its commercial activities, including in China, and entering the electrification era. The new chief will replace Michael Lohscheller who has decided to pursue a new challenge outside Stellantis. Hochgeschurtz will report directly to Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. He started his auto industry career in 1990 at Ford before joining VW in 2001 and Renault in 2004.

Foxconn has said it was talking with state officials about building electric vehicles in Wisconsin, part of the major Apple suppliers move to diversify income streams. Foxconn and Fisker said in May they had finalised a vehicle assembly deal. They did not identify a location, but Fiskers CEO said Foxconns Wisconsin site was a possibility. Last April, Foxconn drastically scaled back a planned $10bn factory in Wisconsin, confirming its retreat from a project that former US president Donald Trump once called the eighth wonder of the world and was supposed to build cutting-edge flat-panel display screens.A month earlier, Foxconns chairman said it might make electric vehicles (EVs) at the Wisconsin site, though could decide on Mexico, and would make a decision this year.

Chinas new vehicle market declined by a further 12.4% to 2.015m units in June 2021 from 2.3m in the same month of last year, according to passenger car and commercial vehicle wholesale data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).This was the second consecutive monthly decline for the market which local analysts blamed on continued shortages of semiconductors affecting output among some of the countrys key automakers.Overall vehicle production fell by 16.5% year-on-year last month, according to the association. Underlying demand for vehicles in the country remained strong with the market having already recovered to pre-pandemic levels driven by strong pent-up demand and low interest rates.

Knorr-Bremse said it had stopped pursuing a potential acquisition of a majority stake in Hella.Following what the supplier described as careful analysis, the executive board determined the possible transfer of key technologies and products to its own product portfolio would not result in the realisation of expected synergies.Knorr-Bremse maintained the primary focus remained organic growth and it continued to explore opportunities to increase the value of the company through acquisitions or partnerships.We have always considered opportunities for value-enhancing transactions with leading international companies, which is why we looked at Hella, said CEO, Jan Mrosik.However, we did not see the necessary synergies in the potential transfer of competencies, particularly in the commercial vehicle sector. As a result, we determined this acquisition would not create sufficient additional value for our shareholders.

As Nissan launched its latest Qashqai in Europe, we spoke to Andrew Humberstone, Nissan Motors GB managing director. The new Qashqai also brings the first deployment of Nissans e-POWER drive system to Europe, sales of which are scheduled to start following those of the mild-hybrid version. To meet the typical needs of European consumers and their daily drive, the e-POWER system has been upgraded for the new Qashqai with the adoption of Nissans world-first variable compression ratio petrol engine as the dedicated electricity generating unit. The result, Nissan says, is a compact, high-output electrified system that, thanks also to the high combustion efficiency of the engine, delivers more efficiency. Sales will start with the mild-hybrid version, while the e-POWER version will follow later.

The proliferation of electric vehicles over the last decade, combined with Teslas rise to prominence has brought with it a new wave of electric vehicle startups. With investors keen to splash the cash to find the next Tesla, many innovative companies are springing up, each claiming to be a revolution in the electric vehicle market. Canoo is yet another EV startup aiming to carve out a slice of the market, but what sets it apart from the rest?

As volumes rise rapidly, the supply of precious metals for EV batteries is emerging as an issue for the long-term. Is there a solution of abundance on the ocean floor?

In the latest guest article written exclusively for Just Auto, Dato Madani Sahari, the CEO of Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii), outlines the importance of efforts to develop Malaysias advanced technology platforms alongside its human capital.

Have a nice weekend.

Graeme Roberts, Deputy Editor, Just Auto, GlobalData

GlobalData can provide actionable insights to drive your company forward

GlobalData can provide actionable insights to drive your company forward

28 Aug 2020

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Covid isolation hits auto, Tom Tom's Virtual Horizon, BMW/Amazon quantum computing - the week - just-auto.com

image: Dolev Bluvstein (from left), Mikhail Lukin, and Sepehr Ebadi have developed a special type of quantum computer known as a programmable quantum simulator. Evadi is adjusting the devices that make them possible to see More

Credits: Rose Lincoln / Harvard Staff Photographer

A team of physicists at the Harvard MIT Ultra-Cryogenic Atomic Center and other universities have developed a special type of quantum computer known as a programmable quantum simulator that can operate at 256 qubits or qubits.

The system sheds light on the host of complex quantum processes, ultimately helping to bring real-world breakthroughs in materials science, communications technology, finance, and many other areas. It shows a big step towards building. Overcome research hurdles beyond the capabilities of todays fastest supercomputers. Qubits are the basic building blocks of quantum computers and are the source of their enormous processing power.

This moves the field to a new territory that no one has ever been to, said Mikhail Lukin, a professor of physics at George Vasmer Leverett, co-director of the Harvard Quantum Initiative and one of the senior authors of the study. Stated.Published in the journal today Nature.. We are entering a whole new part of the quantum world.

According to Sepehr Ebadi, a physics student at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard and the lead author of the study, the unprecedented combination of size and programmability of the system is at the forefront of the quantum computer competition. The mysterious nature of the substance on a very small scale greatly improves its processing power. Under the right circumstances, increasing the cue bit means that the system can store and process more information exponentially than the traditional bits on which a standard computer runs.

The number of quantum states possible with just 256 qubits exceeds the number of atoms in the solar system, Evadi explained the vast size of the system.

Already, the simulator allows researchers to observe some exotic quantum states that have never been experimentally realized, and is accurate enough to serve as an example in a textbook showing how magnetism works at the quantum level. Quantum phase transition research can be performed.

These experiments provide powerful insights into the quantum physics that underlie material properties and help scientists show how to design new materials with exotic properties.

The project uses a significantly upgraded version of the platform developed by researchers in 2017 that was able to reach a size of 51 qubits. The old system allowed researchers to capture ultra-low temperature rubidium atoms and place them in a particular order using a one-dimensional array of individually focused laser beams called optical tweezers.

This new system allows atoms to be assembled into a two-dimensional array of optical tweezers. This increases the achievable system size from 51 qubits to 256 qubits. Tweezers allow researchers to arrange atoms in a defect-free pattern and create programmable shapes such as squares, honeycombs, or triangular grids to design different interactions between cubits.

The flagship product of this new platform is a device called the Spatial Light Modulator, which is used to form the light wave front and generate hundreds of individually focused optical tweezers beams, Ebadi said. Mr. says. These devices are essentially the same as those used in computer projectors to display images on the screen, but we have adapted them as an important component of quantum simulators.

The initial loading of atoms into optical tweezers is random, and researchers need to move the atoms to place them in the shape of the target. Researchers use a second set of moving optical tweezers to drag the atom to the desired position, eliminating the initial randomness. Lasers give researchers complete control over the placement of atomic cubits and their coherent quantum manipulation.

Other senior authors of this study include Professors Svil Sachidef and Marcus Greiner of Harvard University, Stanford University, University of California Berkeley, and Insbrook University of Austria, who worked on the project with Professor Vladin Vretti of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Includes scientists. Austrian Academy of Sciences and QuEra Computing Inc. in Boston.

Our work is part of a very fierce, highly visible global competition to build larger, better quantum computers, said Harvard University Physics Researcher. Tout Wang, one of the authors of the paper, said. Overall effort [beyond our own] There are leading academic research institutes involved and major private sector investments from Google, IBM, Amazon, and many others.

Researchers are currently working on improving the system by improving laser control over qubits and making the system more programmable. They are also actively exploring how systems can be used in new applications, from exploring the exotic forms of quantum materials to solving challenging real-world problems that can be naturally encoded into qubits. doing.

This study enables a huge number of new scientific directions, Evadi said. We are far from the limits of what we can do with these systems.

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Harvard-led physicists have taken a major step in the competition with quantum computing

Source link Harvard-led physicists have taken a major step in the competition with quantum computing

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Harvard-led physicists have taken a major step in the competition with quantum computing - Illinoisnewstoday.com

In a moment of triumph thats being hailed as equivalent to the move from room-scale silicon technology down to desk-sized machines, quantum computing has now gone chip-scale down from the room-scale contraptions you might have seen even in science fiction.

The development has been spearheaded by Cambridge-based quantum specialist Riverlanes work with New York and London-based digital quantum company Seeqc; theyve been the first to deploy a quantum computing chip that has an integrated operating system for workflow and qubit management (qubits are comparable to classical computings transistors, but capable of pairing between themselves, instantly share information via quantum states, and also capable of representing both a 0 and a 1). The last time we achieved this level of miniaturization on a computing technology, we started the computing revolution. Now, expectations for a quantum revolution are on the tables as well, and the world will have to adapt to the new reality.

The new chip ushers in scalable quantum computing the companies hope to scale the design by increasing surface area and qubit count. The aim is to bring qubits up to millions a far cry from their current deployed maximum of (comparatively puny, yet still remarkably complex) 76-qubit system that enabled China to claim quantum supremacy. There are, of course, other ways to scale other than qubit count increase deployment of multiple chips in a single self-contained system or through multiple, inter-connectable systems should provide easier paths to quantum coherency. And on that end, a quantum OS is paramount. Enter Deltaflow.OS.

Deltaflow.OS is a hardware and platform-agnostic OS (think Linux, which populates anything from smartphones, IoT, to supercomputers), meaning that it can serve as the control mechanism for various quantum deployment technologies currently being pursued around the globe. And even as multiple independent companies (such as Google, Microsoft, and IBM, to name a few) pursue the holy grail of quantum supremacy, Riverlanes Deltaflow.OS is an open-source, Github-available OS its taking the open approach for market penetration. And this makes sense, since the more than 50 quantum computers already built around the world all operate on independently-developed software its such a nascent field still that there are no standards regarding the deployment and control systems. An easily-deployable, quantum hardware-agnostic OS will undoubtedly accelerate development of applications that take advantage of quantum computings strengths which at the 76 qubit system of China, already enables certain workloads to be crunched some millions of times faster than the fastest classical, Turing-type supercomputer could ever hope to achieve.

To achieve this, Riverlane has effectively created a layered Digital Quantum Managament (DQM) SoC (System-On-Chip) which pairs classical computing capabilities with quantum mechanics. The companys diagrams demonstrate what it calls an SFQ (Single Flux Quantum) co-processor as the base layer of the design, which enables the OS to be exposed to developers with a relatively familiar interface for interaction with the qubits. This offers the capability to perform digital qubit control, readout and classical data processing functions, as well as being a platform for error correction. There are numerous advantages to be taken from this approach, as the SFQs resources are (...) proximally co-located and integrated with qubit chips in a cryo-cooled environment to drastically reduce the complexity of input/output connections and maximize the benefits of fast, precise, low-noise digital control and readout, and energy-efficient classical co-processing. Essentially, some tenets of classical computing still apply, in that the closer the processing parts are, the more performant they are. This enables the OS to run, and is layered next to an active qubit sheet that actually performs the calculations.

Quantum computing has long been the holy grail in development for new processing technologies; however, the complexity of this endeavour cant be understated. The physics for quantum computing are essentially being written as we go and while that is true, in a way, for many technological and innovation efforts, nowhere does It happen as much as here. There are multiple questions related to quantum computing and its relationship to classical computing. Thanks to the efforts of Riverlane and Seeqc, the quantum computing ecosystem can now align their needles and collectively problem-solve for deployment and operation of quantum-computing-on-a-chip solutions.

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Quantum Computing on a Chip: Brace for the Revolution - Tom's Hardware

Quantum computing just made a new major headline in the tech world lately. In a report by California News Times, it has been revealed that a team of physicists from Harvard University and other institutions managed to develop a special quantum computer. This machine is powerful enough to help with a host of complex calculations in areas such as material science, communications tech, and even finance.

(Photo : Ethan Miller/Getty Images)LAS VEGAS, NV - JANUARY 08: Intel Corp. CEO Brian Krzanich delivers a keynote address at CES 2018 at Park Theater at Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on January 8, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs from January 9-12 and features about 3,900 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to more than 170,000 attendees.

But for the normal person, the term "quantum computing" likely doesn't even mean anything. To them, it's something that only super-smart scientists mess with and is not a major concern of theirs at all.

In reality, quantum computing affects the entire world a lot more than you realize. And in this article, you'll learn more about this area of technology that not a lot of folks are familiar with, but is extremely important to how modern society functions as a whole, nonetheless.

Think of quantum computers as the "next step up" from classic computers. The latter is what you're familiar with. They're the gaming PCs, office PCs, game consoles, smartphones, and even uber-powerful supercomputers that you know of.

According toForbes, the problem with classic computers is that they're basically calculators that use ones and zeros to make sense of the information we put in them. This level of tech means a typical computer can mostly focus on only one thing at a time. It takes them a long time to do so, no matter how fast they're considered.

Any problem that takes a really long time and more processing power than a classic computer can provide is called a "retractable problem." And that's where quantum computing comes in: the so-called "next level."

Read also:IBM Quantum Computers: Research Shows First Proofs About Advantages, Says it Offers More Value

You've read about supercomputers and how powerful they are, right? Case in point, there isone supercomputer called Perlmutterthat's strong enough to use an artificial intelligence program to map the entirety of the observable universe.

Considering how the observable universe has a radius of over 46.5 billion light-years (i.e. light, the fastest thing in the universe, would take 46.5 billion years to travel from its center to its edge), Perlmutter's computational capability to map all of that is just insane. It's far beyond what a normal desktop computer can do.

But then again, a supercomputer's processing power is still no match for that of a quantum computer. According toIBM, quantum computing deals with incomprehensible amounts of information all at the same time. Despite having tons of hardware processing power at its disposal, a supercomputer can still only deal with a computational problem one after the other. And in modern technological terms, that can take a really long time.

That famous Emperor Palpatine quote from "Star Wars" makes a lot of sense when using it to describe a quantum computer. That's because these machines are capable of incomprehensible levels of processing power that not one, two, or even three supercomputers can match.

(Photo : Bernd Weissbrod/picture alliance via Getty Images)15 June 2021, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Ehningen: The first commercially used quantum computer in Europe. The highly complex and ultra-fast system is presented at the IT company's German headquarters in Ehningen and will be used under the umbrella of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft to further research the technology and application scenarios.

One recent news article revealed that a certainquantum computing machine from Chinaclaims to be the fastest of its kind in the world. According to its developers, the computer can even outpace Google's own Sycamore quantum machine at 66 qubits of theoretical computing performance (Google only clocks 53 qubits).

Sycamore, however, is no pushover of its own. When it launched two years ago, Google showed it completing a certain task a normal supercomputer would need 10,000 years to process in just over 3 minutes.

Quite simply, quantum computing is what powers the modern world. And without it, society might as well be still stuck in the 1800s.

Related: IBM Updated Quantum Computing Software, Promises Faster Machines

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Quantum Computing For Dummies: What Is It Exactly, And Why is It Making A Lot of Headlines? - Tech Times

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Uzabase, the Tokyo-based company that provides business intelligence products to clients around the world, today announces the launch of a first-of-its-kind research platform: SPEEDA Edge.

The SPEEDA Edge emerging industry intelligence platform contains custom profiles and proprietary analysis of more than 2,500 leading companies operating across more than 40 rapidly-growing industries in six main verticals: Sustainability, Commerce & Hospitality, Work, Healthcare & Wellness, Fintech & Insurance, and Education & Media. Industries covered range from AI drug discovery, to quantum computing, and psychedelic medicine. SPEEDA Edge aims to cover 75 industries by the end of 2021.

"Research and analysis is our primary differentiator," said Ian Myers, head of the SPEEDA Edge team. "SPEEDA Edge is the first platform of its kind to deliver curated market maps, competitive analysis across dozens of proprietary data points, custom market sizing, and daily updates about the industries changing the way the world works. We're delivering the type and depth of analysis that's usually done about public companies, but doing so for privately-held companies and emerging industries," he added.

SPEEDA Edge is available to users via subscription, and is primarily targeted at professionals in venture capital, corporate strategy and innovation, mergers and acquisitions, and at funded startups. SPEEDA Edge currently serves about a dozen enterprise customers, and the team is looking to rapidly scale up its business in the coming quarters.

SPEEDA Edge is the latest addition to the portfolio of products offered by Uzabase, said SPEEDA Edges head of go-to-market strategy Sho Tsuchiya. We have a well-established brand in Japan, and were excited to expand our offerings to the North American and European markets. Well continue to build the best resource for business decision-makers to discover whats next.

Uzabases other product and service offerings include financial data portal SPEEDA, news aggregator and business media platform NewsPicks, B2B marketing platform FORCAS, Japan-focused startup database Initial, corporate consultancy AlphaDrive, and an expert network called Mimir. The company is publicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

About Uzabase, Inc.

Uzabase was established in 2008 under the mission "We guide business people to insights that change the world". It looks to drive change in the world by leveraging the combined power of technology and human expertise to organise global business information, increasing the productivity of business people and unleashing their creativity. In addition to its core businesses, company and industry information platform SPEEDA and social business media NewsPicks, Uzabase operates four other businesses including one of Japan's largest startup databases INITIAL Enterprise and B2B marketing platform FORCAS.Visit: https://www.uzabase.com/

Company Overview

Company Name: Uzabase, Inc.Established: April 1, 2008Representatives: Co-CEO Yusuke Inagaki / Co-CEO Taira SakumaSecurities Code: TSE Mothers 3966Headquarters: Level 13, Tri-Seven Roppongi 7-7-7 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032

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Uzabase Launches SPEEDA Edge, a New Kind of Emerging Technology Research Platform - Business Wire

Sierra Leone's minister of education and chief innovation officer David Moinina Sengeh is a man of many talents. He's using mobile phone technology to improve daily life, he invented a way to make a prosthetic limb with a computer-assisted technique and he's a singer and rapper and a clothing designer, too. Jason Beaubien/NPR hide caption

Sierra Leone's minister of education and chief innovation officer David Moinina Sengeh is a man of many talents. He's using mobile phone technology to improve daily life, he invented a way to make a prosthetic limb with a computer-assisted technique and he's a singer and rapper and a clothing designer, too.

David Moinina Sengeh is not your typical education minister. The 34-year-old with a Ph.D. from MIT not only oversees the public schools in Sierra Leone, he's also the nation's chief innovation officer. And that's in addition to being a recording artist, a clothing designer and an inventor. A Ted Talk he gave about his innovative, computer-assisted technique to make personalized prosthetic limbs has garnered almost a million views.

Now Sengeh is on a mission to digitize government on a continent notorious for paper-laden bureaucracy and in a country where only a quarter of the population has access to electricity.

His efforts have been met with a fair amount of skepticism.

"In Sierra Leone and in many poor countries, the largest part of resistance that I got was, 'We are hungry and you tell us innovation,' " he says of early criticism of his drive to bring a digital revolution to Sierra Leone. "We don't have water, and you tell us, technology. There is no power. And you want us to think about science."

Sengeh talks in a calm, patient tone. He hears his critics but then insists that yes, he does wants to talk about the possibility of a Sierra Leonean space program.

"Someday we will send people to space," he says. "That's not where we are now. But we're looking at how we can use space technology or AI [artificial intelligence] or the mobile solutions to solve our immediate problems."

In his office at the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Sengeh wears a black collarless shirt he designed himself. A gold embroidered strip stretches down his breastbone. His dreadlocks are tied behind his back.

"It took a long time for people to understand that actually, yes, you need science, technology and innovation to make sure you can eat better food and get more food and increase your yields," he says.

"And yes, you need better technology to make sure that you have water. And yes, you need better science and innovation to make sure you have better access to justice."

He says the key is to bring in digital solutions that solve the problems faced by Sierra Leoneans.

Sengeh pushed to make key info from the government website like the national calendar so people know when offices are closed for holidays available on a standard cell phone. Then it's accessible even to people who don't own a smart phone. And he's lobbied for digitizing what have been cumbersome public services.

"There's no reason why people need to come to Freetown to apply for a passport or to access for government services," he says. If technology can be leveraged to make government more effective, "we should use it," he says. "That's the vision."

For students his department launched a free dictionary available by text message. The word search works even on old-school cell phones in a country where the majority of people don't have smart phones.

Even though most of his 11,000 schools lack electricity, he's issuing tablets to administrators to track grades, teacher absenteeism and budgets. Sengeh argues that if the staff can figure out how to charge their cellphones every day, they'll manage to charge the tablets. "They'll figure it out with the solar solutions or mini-grids in their communities," he says. And a single tablet is just the beginning. He adds, "We also have a plan to have all of our schools be connected [to the internet]."

These innovative programs are being rolled out all across the country. Koidu in the east of the country is 5 hours away from Freetown if you have a good car or a 4X4. It's a full day's journey by bus.

At a COVID vaccination site, health-care workers, police officers and support staff from the local hospital are getting their injections. They each get a blue cardboard COVID vaccination card to track which vaccine they got and when. Francis Lebbie, one of the vaccinators, fills out the card and an accompanying immunization form.

Lebbie notes each vaccination by hand in a thick paper ledger that looks like a large hotel guest registration book. Then he also enters each immunization into an app on an Android tablet.

"We use this [tablet] to tally the information, collect the information and send the information to national on a daily basis," Lebbie says.

At the end of the day, the data uploads over the cell phone network so officials at the ministry of health in the capital can tally how many people were vaccinated and how many doses of which vaccine were used. And more important for the individuals who got vaccinated: They get an official text message notifying them when they're fully vaccinated. COVID test results can also be sent out via text, saving people from having to travel potentially long distances back to a health clinic to get results.

These are the kinds of changes Sengeh is advocating as Sierra Leone's first Chief Innovation Officer.

But he's not just an innovator. He's a musician who connects with young people, and that's key to his appeal. Sierra Leone is a young nation. The median age is just under 20 years old.

The Minister of Education regularly raps and sings on tracks for local artists.

Perfoming with several other well-known Sierra Leonean musicians, he has a new album out called Love Notes to Salone. "Salone" is what Sierra Leoneans informally and affectionately call their country. He says he makes music in part because it brings him closer to youth. "And I invite young people to make music videos with me because I want them to imagine this will be our own future," he says. "And I want all the younger siblings to look up to them and see their work and think, wow, that's cool."

Moinina David Sengeh via YouTube

Sengeh grew up in Sierra Leone amid his country's brutal civil war. He later went to Harvard and eventually got a Ph.D. from MIT. He sees educating young Sierra Leoneans as the key to transforming Sierra Leone. Over the next decade, he wants his country to move from being one of the poorest countries in the world to a middle-income nation.

"That's not going to happen by taking small steps," he says. "In a world where there's cryptocurrency and quantum computing we can't be thinking classically anymore. We have to think quantum. We have to think outside the box."

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African Education Minister Has Big Hi-Tech Dreams And Makes Music Videos Too : Goats and Soda - NPR

Quantum computing is an area of study focused on the development of computer based technologies centered around the principles ofquantum theory. Quantum theory explains the nature and behavior of energy and matter on thequantum(atomic and subatomic) level. Quantum computing uses a combination ofbitsto perform specific computational tasks. All at a much higher efficiency than their classical counterparts. Development ofquantum computersmark a leap forward in computing capability, with massive performance gains for specific use cases. For example quantum computing excels at like simulations.

The quantum computer gains much of its processing power through the ability for bits to be in multiple states at one time. They can perform tasks using a combination of 1s, 0s and both a 1 and 0 simultaneously. Current research centers in quantum computing include MIT, IBM, Oxford University, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. In addition, developers have begun gaining access toquantum computers through cloud services.

Quantum computing began with finding its essential elements. In 1981, Paul Benioff at Argonne National Labs came up with the idea of a computer that operated with quantum mechanical principles. It is generally accepted that David Deutsch of Oxford University provided the critical idea behind quantum computing research. In 1984, he began to wonder about the possibility of designing a computer that was based exclusively on quantum rules, publishing a breakthrough paper a few months later.

Quantum Theory

Quantum theory's development began in 1900 with a presentation by Max Planck. The presentation was to the German Physical Society, in which Planck introduced the idea that energy and matter exists in individual units. Further developments by a number of scientists over the following thirty years led to the modern understanding of quantum theory.

Quantum Theory

Quantum theory's development began in 1900 with a presentation by Max Planck. The presentation was to the German Physical Society, in which Planck introduced the idea that energy and matter exists in individual units. Further developments by a number of scientists over the following thirty years led to the modern understanding of quantum theory.

The Essential Elements of Quantum Theory:

Further Developments of Quantum Theory

Niels Bohr proposed the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory. This theory asserts that a particle is whatever it is measured to be, but that it cannot be assumed to have specific properties, or even to exist, until it is measured. This relates to a principle called superposition. Superposition claims when we do not know what the state of a given object is, it is actually in all possible states simultaneously -- as long as we don't look to check.

To illustrate this theory, we can use the famous analogy of Schrodinger's Cat. First, we have a living cat and place it in a lead box. At this stage, there is no question that the cat is alive. Then throw in a vial of cyanide and seal the box. We do not know if the cat is alive or if it has broken the cyanide capsule and died. Since we do not know, the cat is both alive and dead, according to quantum law -- in a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and see what condition the cat is in that the superposition is lost, and the cat must be either alive or dead.

The principle that, in some way, one particle can exist in numerous states opens up profound implications for computing.

A Comparison of Classical and Quantum Computing

Classical computing relies on principles expressed by Boolean algebra; usually Operating with a 3 or 7-modelogic gateprinciple. Data must be processed in an exclusive binary state at any point in time; either 0 (off / false) or 1 (on / true). These values are binary digits, or bits. The millions of transistors and capacitors at the heart of computers can only be in one state at any point. In addition, there is still a limit as to how quickly these devices can be made to switch states. As we progress to smaller and faster circuits, we begin to reach the physical limits of materials and the threshold for classical laws of physics to apply.

The quantum computer operates with a two-mode logic gate:XORand a mode called QO1 (the ability to change 0 into a superposition of 0 and 1). In a quantum computer, a number of elemental particles such as electrons or photons can be used. Each particle is given a charge, or polarization, acting as a representation of 0 and/or 1. Each particle is called a quantum bit, or qubit. The nature and behavior of these particles form the basis of quantum computing and quantum supremacy. The two most relevant aspects of quantum physics are the principles of superposition andentanglement.

Superposition

Think of a qubit as an electron in a magnetic field. The electron's spin may be either in alignment with the field, which is known as aspin-upstate, or opposite to the field, which is known as aspin-downstate. Changing the electron's spin from one state to another is achieved by using a pulse of energy, such as from alaser. If only half a unit of laser energy is used, and the particle is isolated the particle from all external influences, the particle then enters a superposition of states. Behaving as if it were in both states simultaneously.

Each qubit utilized could take a superposition of both 0 and 1. Meaning, the number of computations a quantum computer could take is 2^n, where n is the number of qubits used. A quantum computer comprised of 500 qubits would have a potential to do 2^500 calculations in a single step. For reference, 2^500 is infinitely more atoms than there are in the known universe. These particles all interact with each other via quantum entanglement.

In comparison to classical, quantum computing counts as trueparallel processing. Classical computers today still only truly do one thing at a time. In classical computing, there are just two or more processors to constitute parallel processing.EntanglementParticles (like qubits) that have interacted at some point retain a type can be entangled with each other in pairs, in a process known ascorrelation. Knowing the spin state of one entangled particle - up or down -- gives away the spin of the other in the opposite direction. In addition, due to the superposition, the measured particle has no single spin direction before being measured. The spin state of the particle being measured is determined at the time of measurement and communicated to the correlated particle, which simultaneously assumes the opposite spin direction. The reason behind why is not yet explained.

Quantum entanglement allows qubits that are separated by large distances to interact with each other instantaneously (not limited to the speed of light). No matter how great the distance between the correlated particles, they will remain entangled as long as they are isolated.

Taken together, quantum superposition and entanglement create an enormously enhanced computing power. Where a 2-bit register in an ordinary computer can store only one of four binary configurations (00, 01, 10, or 11) at any given time, a 2-qubit register in a quantum computer can store all four numbers simultaneously. This is because each qubit represents two values. If more qubits are added, the increased capacity is expanded exponentially.

Quantum Programming

Quantum computing offers an ability to write programs in a completely new way. For example, a quantum computer could incorporate a programming sequence that would be along the lines of "take all the superpositions of all the prior computations." This would permit extremely fast ways of solving certain mathematical problems, such as factorization of large numbers.

The first quantum computing program appeared in 1994 by Peter Shor, who developed a quantum algorithm that could efficiently factorize large numbers.

The Problems - And Some Solutions

The benefits of quantum computing are promising, but there are huge obstacles to overcome still. Some problems with quantum computing are:

There are many problems to overcome, such as how to handle security and quantum cryptography. Long time quantum information storage has been a problem in the past too. However, breakthroughs in the last 15 years and in the recent past have made some form of quantum computing practical. There is still much debate as to whether this is less than a decade away or a hundred years into the future. However, the potential that this technology offers is attracting tremendous interest from both the government and the private sector. Military applications include the ability to break encryptions keys via brute force searches, while civilian applications range from DNA modeling to complex material science analysis.

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What is quantum computing?

The company's 100-qubit gate-based quantum computer, code-named Hilbert, is launching later this year after final tuning and optimization work.

By cooling atoms down to near absolute zero and then controlling them with lasers, a company has successfully created a 100-qubit quantum processor that compares to the systems developed by leading quantum players to date.

ColdQuanta, a US-based company that specializes in the manipulation of cold atoms, unveiled the new quantum processor unit, which will form the basis of the company's 100-qubit gate-based quantum computer, code-named Hilbert, launching later this year after final tuning and optimization work.

There are various different approaches to quantum computing, and among those that have risen to prominence in the last few years featuresuperconducting systems,trapped ions,photonic quantum computersand evensilicon spin qubits.

SEE: Building the bionic brain (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

Cold atoms, on the other hand, haven't made waves in the quantum ecosystem so far. ColdQuanta's 100-qubit quantum processor, however, could seemingly compete against the industry's highest standards: for example, IBM's current quantum system, Hummingbird, supports 65 qubits.

And in the next three years, ColdQuanta is hoping to create a system surpassing 1,000 qubits. This again aligns with IBM's roadmap for quantum hardware,which should see the company releasing a 1,121-qubit quantum computer in 2023.

"We hear a lot about superconducting and trapped ions and in some respects cold atom is the new kid on the block, but we believe it has great promise in terms of scalability," Paul Lipman, president of quantum computing at ColdQuanta, tells ZDNet.

ColdQuanta's approach consists of treating atoms like qubits, and bringing them down to extremely cold temperatures, where their quantum properties can be manipulated with great precision. This is because, in such an isolated environment, atoms are protected from environmental noise and can retain their quantum properties for much longer.

Cooling down particles to exert better control over them is not new to the quantum world: Google and IBM's superconducting processors also require placing qubits in huge dilution refrigerators, where temperatures are brought down to zero kelvin (-273.15C).

But ColdQuanta's cold atoms approach goes one step further. Atoms are cooled down to the microkelvin level that is, a thousand times colder than in the superconducting method.

Rather than using large refrigerators, however, ColdQuanta traps the atoms with lasers to cool them down, before using a combination of lasers and microwave pulses to arrange them into the gates that make up a quantum circuit.

"Because we cool them down with lasers rather than dilution refrigerators, we don't have the same scaling challenges in terms of building enormous fridges that can hold large numbers of qubits," says Lipman. "We cool them down to microkelvin, but we do that in a device that can fit in your hand at room temperature."

What's more: atoms are ten-thousand times smaller than superconducting qubits, according to Lipman, meaning that many cold atom qubits can be packed closely together on a much smaller space. What would require square-meters worth of space for a superconducting quantum processor can sit on a cold atom system the size of a nail, according to the company.

"Cold atoms have this intrinsic scalability that is very attractive," argues Lipman.

Cold atoms' ability to scale rapidly is one of ColdQuanta's key selling points, but there remain some engineering challenges that, for now, still limit Hilbert's size. The company's scientists are looking at how the use of lasers changes when the qubit count increases by orders of magnitude, for instance, and testbeds are already underway in the lab to determine the best path forward.

The fundamental principles of the approach, however, are tested and proven, says Lipman, and cold atoms already perform similarly to leading-edge quantum processors. Not only on qubit count: the company's data also shows thatthe system is comparable to IBM and Google's quantum computerswhen it comes to connectivity, which refers to the number of qubits that can interact with one another, and coherence, which is the duration of time that quantum properties can be maintained.

On fidelity, however, the processor lags slightly behind the devices developed by competitors, meaning that the accuracy of ColdQuanta's system isn't as high. But part of the optimization work going on now, says Lipman, is dedicated to boosting Hilbert's performance on fidelity.

Lipman is confident that these promising results will set ColdQuanta apart in an ecosystem that is growing at pace. New milestones are announced by quantum companies large and small at a rapid pace, and the number of approaches to quantum computing is multiplying fast, each with their own benefits and challenges making it increasingly difficult to distinguish hype from reality.

"It's too early to tell which modality will win the race," admits Lipman. "If you roll the clock forward two or three years, there might even be modalities that we don't even have publicly available information on today, but may come to the forefront."

"We'll learn more once the computer is released, but our focus now is to work with potential customers to deliver tangible near-term value."

ColdQuanta has not publicly announced any customers yet, but the company is working particularly on optimization problems, which could find applications in logistics, material science and telecommunications.

The firm also has a long-standing partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which awarded ColdQuanta a total $7.4 million to develop a scalable cold-atom-based quantum computer for defense applications such as resource allocation, logistics, and image recognition.

Hilbert is expected to launch later this year and will be available over ColdQuanta's private cloud. The company is also in talks with Amazon, Microsoft and Google to eventually make the quantum computer accessible over AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.

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Quantum computing: This new 100-qubit processor is built with atoms cooled down near to absolute zero - ZDNet

Ilana Wisby is the CEO of Oxford Quantum Computing, a spin-out from the University of Oxford in the UK.

A startup in the UK is now offering cloud-based access to its own superconducting quantum computer but with a twist that it hopes could one day help it compete against the processors developed by quantum giants such as IBM and Google.

Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC), a startup that spun out of the University of Oxford, is approaching superconducting quantum computing slightly differently. Leading superconducting quantum systems are typically built in a two-dimensional plane, with each qubit acting like a unit cell that requires intricate wiring for controls and measurements. Increasing the number of qubits means increasing the amount of wiring and on a 2D plane, this comes with a higher risk of creating environmental noise that can damage the quality of the system.

Instead, OQC's researchers use a three-dimensional architecture that moves the control and measurement wiring out of plane. With key componentry off-chip, says OQC, the superconducting quantum processor is a more flexible and engineerable system.

SEE: Building the bionic brain (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

Dubbed the "Coaxmon," this new design approach ultimately has the potential to make it is easier to scale up the number of qubits on the processor without losing coherence, the company said.

"The Coaxmon was designed from principle to meet some of the underlying scaling challenges with superconducting technologies," Ilana Wisby, the CEO of OQC, tells ZDNet. "We've taken all of that wiring which is a really big element to reducing the power of what we can do with a processor off the chip, meaning that the Coaxmon is inherently a lot more scalable."

According to Wisby, the 3D architecture means that it is possible to increase the qubit count on the processor without resorting to complex fabrication steps for extra wiring, and without running the risk of reducing the system's coherence.

Despite the promising pitch, the quantum computer that OQC has just brought online, called Sophia, is only four qubits strong. In comparison, IBM's current quantum processor can support 65 qubits, and the company is working towards launching a 127-qubit system by the end of the year.

Even then, IBM's quantum computer won't be bringing any significant business value for users: quantum technologies are not expected to start showing any real-world usefulness until they are capable of supporting at least 1,000 qubits. In that light, OQC's new quantum computer still seems to have some way to go before it can compete against the services offered by some of the largest corporations dominating the quantum ecosystem.

But Wisby explains that this is just the start. As a University of Oxford spinout, she says, OQC has until recently mostly developed in the context of university labs, where cost efficiency was key and minds were focused on proving the fundamentals of the technology.

In the last year, however, OQC built and opened its own quantum lab, a facility fitted with all of the cryogenic equipment, cleanrooms, power and data supplies, ducted fume cupboards and other exotic quantum essentials that are necessary to building up a quantum system.

Sophia's low qubit count is, therefore, a business problem rather than a technology one, argues Wisby. "But setting up our own independent commercial lab has marked a moment of independence for the company," she says.

"It's only really now that we've changed our company goals to proving the business model, which obviously has more focus on scaling the full system."

The long-term goal, she assures, is to build a universal, fault-tolerant quantum computer an objective that aligns with that of the largest tech giants currently developing quantum technologies.

Of course, there remain many obstacles to scaling. While increasing the number of qubits in the processor is a challenge in itself, it is also key to ensure that the overall system's support infrastructure and architecture can grow in parallel. OQC, therefore, has secured partnerships with companies like Oxford Instruments to start thinking about the future iterations of Sophia.

For now, OQC is focusing on attracting customers to its brand-new cloud service, which it has just launched to provide customers with access to Sophia via a private cloud.

OQC has now invited businesses to join the company's beta list, to test how they could experiment with new quantum approaches. With only four qubits, however, the scope of potential applications will remain very limited.

Among those already signed up, fellow UK-based quantum computing company Cambridge Quantum is already planning to test Sophia with its IronBridge platform a cybersecurity service that leverages the unpredictability of quantum computers to generate un-hackable cryptographic keys.

Wisby also points to a long-standing partnership with software company Riverlane, which has already been using OQC's quantum computer to run a chemical simulation algorithm names alpha-VQE.

Riverlane and OQC have also been working together todevelop a quantum operating system, Deltaflow.OS,which would allow the same quantum software to run on different types of quantum computing hardware.

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This quantum computer with a 3D chip is heading into the cloud - ZDNet