Category Archives: Quantum Computing

As we head into 2022, forecasts for Israels bubbling tech sector are big, optimistic, and showing no signs of slowing down. Industry experts and tech investors are looking ahead with eyes wide open and faith in the countrys entrepreneurs that the year to come will be strong with stable growth.

We continue to be really excited about Israel as a focus area, Nicole Priel, partner at Ibex Investors, tells NoCamels. Weve been really active in Israel and we dont see that slowing downWe see so much promise in this ecosystem across enterprise software and other sectors.

The outgoing year has been one of record-breaking funding, turning crises into opportunity, globally recognized groundbreaking inventions, a surge in valuations of Israeli tech firms, big acquisitions, and maturation into a scale-up nation.

We really are transitioning from startup nation to scale-up nation and this is just attracting so much capital, says Jonathan Medved, founder, and CEO of OurCrowd.

Israeli innovation is everywhere, touching numerous tech sectors simultaneously. In 2021, local tech companies continued to take the lead in cybersecurity, agriculture technologies, financial technologies, mobility, data, and digital privacy, among other fields.

The big question: Where will Israel make its mark in 2022?

With so many booming sectors within the high-tech arena, its a tough call to make. So, NoCamels asked the experts to share their predictions for the next 12 months.

If the pundits are right, these are the 7 tech trends where Israel will make an impact in 2022:

E-commerce has exploded throughout 2021, in large part due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to market reports, 66 percent of customers choose what to buy based on convenience. So, it is no surprise that e-commerce is a booming industry.

Theres a couple of spaces that we think Israel is really going to excel in, anda couple of them are around e-commerce. We are thinking a lot about how companies are going to chip away at Amazons monopoly, including around logistics and warehousing Priel told NoCamels.

Israeli companies are looking for solutions to rapid shipping and the online returns space, among other areas. Priel says Ibex Investors are taking a look at the online returns space and thinking about how startups can help mitigate online returns to create a stronger online shopping experience overall.

In addition to changing the way users shop, sellers need strong e-commerce tools for their online stores.

More focus and emphasis is going to be placed on customer success as a driver within SaaS organizations, so we are excited to see what technologies will pop up to support CS organizations and help drive revenue, says Priel.

It is more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain a previous customer, Priel explains. It is because of this principle of marketing that customer satisfaction will become a more dominant indicator and marketing metric for SaaS-based companies which could allow sales teams to more accurately serve their clientele.

And, its not just in the traditional e-commerce space that well see new solutions.

Medved believes the next 10 years will see huge growth in immersive e-commerce.

We are looking at all kinds of AR, VR, more immersive interactions [in general] will become more normal over the coming years, he says, noting investments in ByondXR, an Israeli software company that creates immersive virtual stores where people can pick out goods, and ZipIt, which can turn any store into a touchless, personless Amazon-like store.

More advanced logistics, last-mile delivery, and shipment innovations are going to be a popular trend in tech in 2022, says Priel, citing dark kitchens food producers with no physical location and dark warehouses spaces used to deliver orders to shorten the distance to the consumer as examples.

We are also very excited about the idea of dark kitchens and dark warehouses for delivering items to consumers, whether its merchandise or food, says Priel.

While these unique distribution methods are important for last-mile delivery, the COVID-19 pandemic put the spotlight on supply chain logistics in general.

Supply chain is critical [and] Israel is very strong in terms of optimization and planning. There are a lot of unmet needs that we are busy working on, says Medved.

Blue-and-white solutions include Freightos, which streamlines the shipping industry through an international freight marketplace; BionicHive, which deploys easily portable and autonomously machines around warehouses; and Trellis which predicts the yield, cost, and quality of produce while using AI to accurately move goods.

Semiconductors are found in every piece of hardware we use from personal computers, cars, databases, toasters to rocket ships, and more.

Israel has a global name for its hardware innovation. With an ever-increasing need for processing power thanks to big data and AI its no surprise that in 2021, this country continued its rule as a global powerhouse in semiconductor and computer chip R&D.

Intel announced in May that it will be investing $10 billion in a new processing center in Kiryat Gat in addition to investing $600 million in its centers in Haifa and Jerusalem.

In March, Google announced that it will be doubling down on Israeli computer chip design and production. They hired former senior Intel executive, Uri Frank as VP of Engineering of Server Chip Design to build a world-class team in Israel.

Market reports show 2022 demand for computer chips is meant to rise. And this will only benefit Israel.

The increasing importance of semiconductors will only be good for Israel. We have situations like Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon all talking about setting up semiconductor activities here, says Medved.

Technology can only move as fast as the computer chips its built on. So how is Israel making them faster?

The answer is quantum computing.

Quantum Computing is a type of computing that harnesses the properties of quantum states to create calculations. Naturally, computers can only compute information as fast as physics will allow the particles to move. But, utilizing quantum properties, information can move much, much faster than currently possible.

The Israeli government is making a strong effort to push Israel forward in the field.

In 2019, the Knesset committed roughly $400 million to a five-year National Quantum Initiative which included $60 million towards the effort of producing a quantum computer. Physics Today reported in October that over the last two years, there has been a leap from five to 30 quantum-based companies in Israel.

Earlier this month, Hebrew University Physicist, Dr. Shlomi Kotler, won Physics Worlds 2021 Breakthrough of the Year award, presented by the UK-based Institute of Physics to two research teams who advanced the understanding of quantum systems.

His team successfully quantum-mechanically entangles two drumheads that can be used as quantum sensors or nodes in a quantum network.

Physics World editors chose this years winners from nearly 600 published research articles and wrote the winners demonstrated important work for scientific progress and/or the development of real-world applications.

CEO and co-founder of Israeli-based, Quantum Machines, Itamar Sivan told Physics Today that he has no doubt that quantum computing will become influential and its ultimately a question of When?. He credits his companys success to the easy accessibility to funding for quantum based-firms. He said, There are great engineers and amazing talent in Israel. We can find people here who are both experts in quantum but also have some engineering background.

SEE ALSO: On Yom Haatzmaut, A Look At Israels Innovation Contributions To The World

Talking about the upcoming year, Medved says, 2022 will see Quantum Computing attract continued strong interest from investors. I expect that global Quantum VC investment will more than double from 2021s $1 billion and that revenues of Quantum companies will near $500 million in 2022. While this is impressive growth, we havent seen anything yet. In a decade from now, Quantum will be ubiquitous, and will be an order of magnitude larger in investment and revenues. While the mainstream adoption of quantum computing is still a decade away, the technological advances that are coming out of Israel will definitely make waves in the coming year and beyond.

The blockchain industry has come a long way. It started 12 years ago as a payment method and store of value. The technology slowly evolved to be a solution for supply chain management, digital security, voting applications, financial applications, and digital ownership in the form of tokens called NFTs and much more.

In 2021, blockchain technology became much more mainstream not only with the explosion of the NFT ecosystem but it gained adoption or is being explored by companies like Nike, Adidas, Facebook (Meta), PayPal, Visa, Ubisoft, and Shopify.

I think its going to flourish like crazy, Medved says of blockchain. Were starting to make investments in those types of companies. We have not been big players or players at all in ICOs or cryptocurrencies but we believe in DeFi and that theres going to be a lot of business applications utilizing the blockchain and now is the time.

The blockchain industry is set to be worth $67.8 billion by 2026, according to market reports.

Blockchain is expected to continue being a strong and emerging sector into 2022, especially in Israel.

In November, American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase acquired Unbound Security for a believed $150 million, according to a report. Coinbase not only gains access to some of the worlds most sophisticated cryptographic security experts but also a presence in Israel Weve long recognized Israel as a hotbed of strong technology and cryptography talent, reads a press release.

According to data compiled by Start-Up Nation Finder, cryptocurrency-tagged companies raised, for the first time ever, over $1 billion in funding for 2021. While a big milestone for the Israeli Web3 ecosystem, the global acceleration of the cryptocurrency markets crossing $2 trillion leaves a lot of room for Israels growth within this sector.

The pandemic accelerated the need for digital health solutions such as telemedicine, at-home medical devices, and personalized treatments.

Theres no slowing [digital health] down because people will get healthier, it will become much more efficient and it will reduce medical costs, says Medved.

Israel has long been a powerhouse in the health-tech space and COVID-19 has only upped its innovation. Israel has over 1,400 digital health startups, according to Start-Up Nation Finder.

On a global level, telehealth has increased 38 times from pre-COVID-19 levels, according to market reports. Global healthcare spending is set to hit over $10 trillion in 2022, and Fortune Business Insight predicts telehealth to be a $397 billion industry by 2027.

Israeli companies are all over the digital health space, with artificial intelligence for drug discovery, molecular diagnostics for personalized treatments, and VR-based FDA compliant telehealth meetings.

Among the companies to hit the news in 2021, are the likes of air filter companies like Aura Air, which this past week won the approval of the health and education ministries to be installed in 700 Jerusalem classrooms, and Tadiran which says it removes 99.9% of COVID-19 particles from the air. Additionally, SaNOtize, invented a nasal spray to kill the virus with a spritz and MigVax, claims to have an oral effective booster against the virus.

Also earlier this month, eight Israeli startups werenamedto the prestigiousDigital Health 150, an annual global ranking by New York-based research firm CB Insights of the 150 most promising companies using digital technology to transform the healthcare industry.

On health care technology, Medved told NoCamels, The most important word today in venture capital seems to be velocity. There seems to be a speed at which funding is getting done, companies are growing much faster than before and thats happening in healthcare too which is one of the slower moving areas because of the need for approval and you even see the FDA, because of the changes made in the pandemic just moving a lot faster.

Food tech conquered the headlines in 2021, with a wide range of jaw-dropping innovations.

And Israel is taking part in this revolution of what we eat, how we eat it, what its wrapped in, and how it gets from farm to our plate.

In September, Margalit Startup City Galil the International Foodtech Center, developed in conjunction with the Jewish National Fund (JNF), opened its doors. The center is dedicated to the application of food science and food technologies.

Lab-grown meat was a buzzword in 2021 and is likely going to continue to demand solutions that tackle the harmful effects of livestock systems and reduce the populations reliance on livestock in 2022. Earlier this year, NoCamels reported on the Israeli FoodTech incubator The Kitchen Hub and how its using its resources to cultivate sustainable innovations in the food industry.

Indeed, the Food and Agriculture Organizations of the UN found that the livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems.

In November, the worlds first lab-grown meat factory opened in Israel.

Future Meat Technologies, a cell-grown meat developer, raised the most in the sectors history with a Series B investment of $347 million. This investment broke records as the biggest single investment in a cultured meat company to date.

Beyond the lab-grown meat trend, a slew of companies like Imagindairy develop animal-free dairy, Ukko designs proteins that dont trigger allergic responses, and ZeroEgg produces plant-based eggs that aim to behave and taste like the real thing.

Were (globally) investing broadly in food, a ton of money, in next generation milk, eggs, fish, and reduced sugar. Were investing in agriculture tech in terms of data collection and sensors, but not for one year, says Medved.

Read the original post:
7 Tech Trends Where Israel Could Make An Impact In 2022 - NoCamels - Israeli Innovation News

November 25, 2019 | Written by: Jan Lillelund

Categorized: Innovation | Quantum Computing

Share this post:

Quantum computing is buzzing these days. However, it is a very complex topic to understand even for experienced tech professionals, professors and the brightest students. I have experienced this myself during the last few years when speaking about quantum computing at several conferences and universities. But there is a way we can understand the complex implications of how we can utilize quantum computing and how remarkably it improves our lives.

The technology will for sure solve complex problems in the future that even classical super-computers will never be able to. In life sciences, supply chain management, chemistry research and much more. Therefore, it is also crucial that our generation of IT enthusiasts and even our kids get familiar with quantum computing. If more people get excited about the fascinating opportunities the technology offers, it will hopefully help to push the development of quantum computing to new heights in the future.

In this way, we can solve the unsolvable problems society faces today and eventually make the world that we live in a better place.

DID YOU READ:What Angela Merkel and IBMs CEO have in common

Are you new to quantum computing? Or just curious to learn more about it? Then check out this video from WIRED with Dr. Talia Gershon, Senior Manager of Q Experiences at IBM Research.

In the video, she explains quantum computing to make kids, a teenager, a college student and a graduate student understand, and then discusses quantum computing myths and challenges with Professor Steve Girvin from Yale University:

Whether you are a child, student or professional, I hope the video helped you to understand more about the fascinating capabilities of quantum computing. If you are hooked, you can actually try a real quantum computer via the IBM Cloud. This is done through the IBM Q Experience platform.

If you have any further questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me at janl@dk.ibm.com (Jan Lillelund). Furthermore, you can also check out the IBM Q homepage for much more information about quantum computing at IBM.

More here:
Quantum computing explained so kids understand - IBM ...

IEEE Quantum Week the IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering (QCE) is bridging the gap between the science of quantum computing and the development of an industry surrounding it. As such, this event brings a perspective to the quantum industry different from academic or business conferences. IEEE Quantum Week is a multidisciplinary quantum computing and engineering venue that gives attendees the unique opportunity to discuss challenges and opportunities with quantum researchers, scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, developers, students, practitioners, educators, programmers, and newcomers.

IEEE Quantum Week 2021 received outstanding contributions from the international quantum community forming anexceptional programwithexciting exhibitsfeaturing technologies from quantum companies, start-ups and research labs.QCE21, the second IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering, provides over 300 hours of quantum and engineering programming featuring10 world-class keynote speakers,19 workfoce-building tutorials,23 community-building workshops,48 technical papers,30 innovative posters,18 stimulating panels, andBirds-of a Feather sessions. The QCE21 program is structured into 10 parallel tracks over six days, October 17-22, 2021 and is available on-demand for registered participants until the end of the year.

The QCE conference grew out of theIEEE Future Directions Quantum Initiativein 2019 and held itsinaugural IEEE Quantum Week event in October 2020.IEEE Quantum Week 2020was tremendous success with over 800 attendees from 45 countries and 270+ hours of quantum computing and engineering programming in nine parallel tracks over five days.

With your contributions and your participation, together we are building a premier meeting of quantum minds to help advance the fields of quantum computing and engineering. As a virtual event, Quantum Week provides ample opportunities to network with your peers and explore partnerships with industry, government, and academia.Quantum Week 2021 aims to bring together quantum professionals, researchers, educators, entrepreneurs, champions and enthusiasts to exchange and share their experiences, challenges, research results, innovations, applications, pathways and enthusiasm on all aspects of quantum computing and engineering.

IEEE Quantum Week aims to showcase quantum research, practice, applications, education, and training including programming systems, software engineering methods & tools, algorithms, benchmarks & performance metrics, hardware engineering, architectures, & topologies, software infrastructure, hybrid quantum-classical computing, architectures and algorithms, as well as many applications including simulation of chemical, physical and biological systems, optimization problems, techniques and solutions, and quantum machine learning.

Link:
QCE21 Home IEEE Quantum Week

Atom Computing

Atom Computing describes itself as a company obsessed with building the worlds most scalable quantum computers out of optically trapped neutral atoms. The companyrecently revealed it had spent the past two years secretly building a quantum computer using Strontium atoms as its units of computation.

Headquartered in Berkeley, California, Benjamin Bloom and Jonathan King founded the company in 2018 with $5M in seed funds. Bloom received his PhD in physics from the University of Colorado, while King received a PhD in chemical engineering from California Berkeley.

Atom Computing received $15M in Series A funding from investorsVenrock, Innovation Endeavors, and Prelude Ventures earlier this year. The company also received three grants from the National Science Foundation.

Atom Staff

Rob Hays, a former Intel, and Lenovo executive was recently named CEO of the company. Atom Computingsstaff of quantum physicists and design engineers fully complements quantum-related disciplines and applications.This month Atom Computing signaled its continued momentum by adding twoquantum veterans to key positions within the company:

Qubit technologies

While traditional computers use magnetic bits to represent a one or a zero for computation, quantum computers usequantum bits or qubits to represent a one or a zero or simultaneously any number in between.

Todays quantum computers use several different technologies for qubits. But regardless of the technology, a common requirement for all quantum computing qubits is that it must be scalable, high quality, and capable of fast quantum interaction with each other.

IBM uses superconducting qubits on its huge fleet of about twenty quantum computers. Although Amazon doesnt yet have a quantum computer, it plans to build one using superconducting hardware. Honeywell and IonQ both use trapped-ion qubits made from a rare earth metal called ytterbium. In contrast, Psi Quantum and Xanadu use photons of light.

Atom computing chose to use different technology -nuclear-spin qubits made from neutral atoms.Phoenix, the name of Atoms first-generation, gate-based quantum computer platform, uses 100 optically trapped qubits.

Atom Computings quantum platform

First-Generation Quantum Computer, Phoenix, Berkeley,

The Phoenix platform uses a specific type of nuclear-spin qubits created from an isotope of Strontium, a naturally occurring element. Strontium is a neutral atom. At the atomic level, neutral atoms have equal numbers of protons and electrons. However, isotopes of Strontium have varying numbers of neutrons. These differences in neutrons produce different energy levels in the atom. Atom Computing uses the isotope Strontium-87 and takes advantage of its unique energy levels to create spin qubits.

Qubits need to remain in a quantum state long enough to complete computations. The length of time that a qubit can retain its quantum state is its coherence time. Since Atom Computings neutral atom qubits are natural rather than manufactured, no adjustments are needed to compensate for differences between qubits. That contributes to its stability and relatively long coherence time in a range greater than 40 seconds compared to a millisecond for superconducting or a few seconds for ion-trapping systems. Moreover, a neutral atom has little affinity for other atoms, making the qubits less susceptible to noise.

Neutral atom qubits offer many advantages that make them suitable for quantum computing. Here are just a few:

How neutral atom quantum processors work

Atom Computing

The Phoenix quantum platform uses lasers as proxies for high-precision, wireless control of the Strontium-87 qubits. Atoms are trapped in a vacuum chamber using optical tweezers controlledby lasers at very specific wavelengths, creatingan array of highly stable qubits captured in free space.

First, a beam of hot strontium moves the atoms into the vacuum chamber. Next, multiple lasers bombard each atom with photons to slow their momentum to a near motionless state, causing its temperature to fall to near absolute zero. This process is called laser cooling and it eliminates the requirement for cryogenics and makes it easier to scale qubits.

Then, optical tweezers are formed in a glass vacuum chamber, where qubits are assembled and optically trapped in an array. One advantage of neutral atoms is that the processors array is not limited to any specific shape, and it can be either 2D or 3D. Additional lasers create a quantum interaction between the atoms (called entanglement) in preparation for the actual computation. After initial quantum states are set and circuits are established, then the computation is performed.

The heart of Phoenix, showing where the Atom Computings qubits entangle. (First-Generation Quantum ... [+] Computer, Phoenix - Berkeley, California)

Going forward

Atom Computing is working with several technology partners. It is also running tests with a small number of undisclosed customers. The Series A funding has allowed it to expand its research and begin working on the second generation of its quantum platform. Its a good sign that Rob Hays, CEO, believes Atom Computing will begin generating revenue in mid-2023.

Atom Computing is a young and aggressive company with promising technology. I spoke with Denise Ruffner shortly after she joined Atom. Her remarks seem to reflect the optimism of the entire company:

"I am joining the dream team - a dynamic CEO with experience in computer development and sales, including an incredible Chief Product Officer, as well as a great scientific team. I am amazed at how many corporations have already reached out to us to try our hardware. This is a team to bet on."

Analyst notes

Note: Moor Insights & Strategy writers and editors may have contributed to this article.

Moor Insights & Strategy, like all research and tech industry analyst firms, provides or has provided paid services to technology companies. These services include research, analysis, advising, consulting, benchmarking, acquisition matchmaking, or speaking sponsorships. The company has had or currently has paid business relationships with 88,A10 Networks,Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon,Ambient Scientific,AnutaNetworks,Applied Micro,Apstra,Arm, Aruba Networks (now HPE), AT&T, AWS, A-10 Strategies,Bitfusion, Blaize, Box, Broadcom, Calix, Cisco Systems, Clear Software, Cloudera,Clumio, Cognitive Systems, CompuCom,CyberArk,Dell, Dell EMC, Dell Technologies, Diablo Technologies,Dialogue Group,Digital Optics,DreamiumLabs, Echelon, Ericsson, Extreme Networks, Flex, Foxconn, Frame (now VMware), Fujitsu, Gen Z Consortium, Glue Networks, GlobalFoundries, Revolve (now Google), Google Cloud,Graphcore,Groq,Hiregenics,HP Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Honeywell, Huawei Technologies, IBM,IonVR,Inseego, Infosys,Infiot,Intel, Interdigital, Jabil Circuit, Konica Minolta, Lattice Semiconductor, Lenovo,Linux Foundation,Luminar,MapBox, Marvell Technology,Mavenir, Marseille Inc, Mayfair Equity, Meraki (Cisco),Mesophere, Microsoft, Mojo Networks, National Instruments, NetApp, Nightwatch, NOKIA (Alcatel-Lucent), Nortek,Novumind, NVIDIA,Nutanix,Nuvia (now Qualcomm), ON Semiconductor, ONUG, OpenStack Foundation, Oracle, Panasas,Peraso, Pexip, Pixelworks, Plume Design, Poly (formerly Plantronics),Portworx, Pure Storage, Qualcomm, Rackspace, Rambus,RayvoltE-Bikes, Red Hat,Residio, Samsung Electronics, SAP, SAS, Scale Computing, Schneider Electric, Silver Peak (now Aruba-HPE), SONY Optical Storage,Springpath(now Cisco), Spirent, Splunk, Sprint (now T-Mobile), Stratus Technologies, Symantec, Synaptics, Syniverse, Synopsys, Tanium, TE Connectivity,TensTorrent,TobiiTechnology, T-Mobile, Twitter, Unity Technologies, UiPath, Verizon Communications,Vidyo, VMware, Wave Computing,Wellsmith, Xilinx,Zayo,Zebra,Zededa, Zoho, andZscaler.Moor Insights & Strategy founder, CEO, and Chief Analyst Patrick Moorhead is a personal investor in technology companiesdMYTechnology Group Inc. VI andDreamiumLabs.

Read more from the original source:
Atom Computing: A Quantum Computing Startup That Believes It Can Ultimately Win The Qubit Race - Forbes

The French ambition to become a world leader in deeptech is one of Europes worst-kept secrets.

Not only does the country have one of the biggest deeptech funds in Europe, Bpifrance,but more importantly it has the people and the pipeline of talent through a best-in-breed university system, which is helping the country become a hotbed for innovation.

Quantum is one segment of deeptech where the French are leaving the rest of Europe, and in fact most other nations, far behind. The ambition to set up a quantum hub in the Paris region, linking large corporations and startups, is truly impressive and far-reaching.

Not only is the region focusing on nurturing homegrown talents, but they are also actively scouting for overseas companies to set up European headquarters in the cluster. How would we know? Well, we were one of the very few UK companies targeted.

France has always been at the forefront of cryptography and has one of the richest ecosystems for quantum pioneers. That history includes individuals ranging from the winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Albert Fert and Serge Haroche, to French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) Gold Medallist Alain Aspects pioneering research on quantum entanglement and quantum simulators.

To build on this, earlier this year the French government announced a 1.8bn strategy to boost research in quantum technologies over five years. This will see public investment in the field increase from 60m to 200m a year.

Not only is investment increasing, but the often overlooked part is that funding is being funnelled into various fields of quantum computing.France recognises that quantum computing is not a homogenous industry and that various aspects require attention outside the development of actual quantum computers.

France is building a frameworkto make the country a key player across the entire quantum ecosystem

For example, one such area is security. Once a functioning quantum computer emerges, the cryptography that is used to secure all data and communications will become obsolete overnight.

Compounding this risk is the harvest now, decrypt later threat. Nefarious hackers might intercept data today and then hold onto it until quantum computers are advanced enough to decrypt it. To tackle this, new encryption methods are being developed that can stand against these new powerful computers, also known as post-quantum cryptography (PQC).

Its clear France recognises this threat, with plans to put 150 million directly to R&D in the field of PQC. This is in addition to the 780 million that is being devoted to developing computing alone, and the 870 million that is being set aside for sensor research, quantum communications and other related technologies.

Taken together, France is building a framework for industrial and research forces to make the country a key player across the entire quantum ecosystem, from computing development to post-quantum security.

So how does the rest of Europe compare? The short answer is that its lagging far behind.

Frances closest competitor is Germany, with its government recently pledging to invest 2bn in quantum computing and related technologies over five years. Thats a larger number than Frances commitment but it appears the scope is to only build a competitive quantum computer in five years while growing a network of companies to develop applications.

France is well on its way to protecting itself against the very real security threats quantum computers will pose

Investments by other individual governments across the rest of Europe are minimal, with many relying on the EUs Quantum Technologies Flagship programme to lead the way. However, with $1.1bn earmarked to cover 27 countries, little attention is being placed beyond computing R&D into adjacent fields like quantum security and communications.

Even if we focus on the security side of the coin, France is well on its way to protecting itself against the very real security threats quantum computers will pose, with the rest of Europe leaving themselves vulnerable.

It is also the case that France, in my opinion, is keeping pace with the traditional leaders the US, China and Canada and even pushing ahead in some areas.

While the US, Canadian and Chinese governments have committed impressive amounts to quantum, much of the focus in these countries is on developing a functioning computer, without recognising that a successful quantum strategy needs to be much broader. For example, although it has now developed a broad security roadmap, the US Department of Homeland Securitys budget for next year makes scant reference to quantum computing and the technology that is going to underpin post-quantum security.

If we measure success in quantum by not only how quickly we can develop such computers, but also how effectively they can be applied and how robust our protection is against the darker side of the technology, then Id argue that France has the worlds most balanced and systemic approach.

France is firmly Europes trailblazing nation; the rest of the continent ought to take note.

Andersen Cheng is CEO of Post-Quantum and Nomidio

More here:
What Europe can learn from France when it comes to quantum computing - Sifted

Nov. 15, 2021 During a press conference on Nov. 15, 2021, German Federal Minister for Education and Research Anja Karliczek announced the beginning of the Q-Exa consortium, an ambitious project aimed at accelerating European quantum computing technologies with the assistance of traditional high-performance computing (HPC).

Q-Exa brings together experts from academia and industry to deploy a 20-qbit quantum demonstrator at the end of 2023 and integrate it into the Leibniz Supercomputing Centres (LRZs) HPC ecosystem. LRZ, one of the 3 centers comprising the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing, is partnering with quantum computer hardware company IQM, software developer HQS, and supercomputer manufacturer Atos. The project is funded with 40 million and will run for 3 years.

LRZ Director Prof. Dr. Dieter Kranzlmller indicated that in addition to developing applications for quantum computing, Q-Exa also serves as an important milestone on the path to exascale computingthe next major milestone is traditional HPC, representing a 40-fold increase in supercomputing power from LRZs current flagship computer, SuperMUC-NG.

At LRZ, we are focused on more than just faster computerswe are looking at new ways of computing, and have been developing and implementing our integrated supercomputing architecture, he said. The Q-Exa project fits in perfectly with our goals in that regard, and also serves as a foundational piece to our Quantum Integration Centre and the Munich Quantum Valley. With Q-Exa, we are able to enhance our current large-scale computing resources with this quantum demonstrator.

Kranzlmller also emphasized that by participating in a co-design project with IQM and HQS, LRZ would be able to bring its decades of experience in bringing new computing technologies to science and industry to a new disruptive computing technology, ensuring that these systems are designed with users from academia and industry in mind and that applications can be ported and scaledto take advantage of the promise of quantum computers.

For more information on the Q-Exa project, read the BMBFpress release(in German) or watch thelivestreamof the event.

Source: Gauss Centre for Supercomputing

Go here to read the rest:
On the Path to Exascale, Q-Exa Consortium Tightens the Bonds Between Quantum Computers and Traditional Supercomputing - HPCwire