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The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) has released an updated report on quantum computing progress in the past five years, based on a workshop held in the spring 2023. While the CCC report doesnt break new ground its a good overview.

CCC posted a blog this week by Catherine Gill on the report that notes:

Quantum Computing is in the Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) era currently, meaning that Quantum Computers are still prone to high error rates and are able to maintain few logical qubits. The work being done in Quantum Error Correction, however, is enabling Quantum Computing to transition towards a Fault-tolerant future. There has been remarkable progress in quantum computer hardware in the last five years, says Kenneth Brown, Professor of Engineering at Duke University, but challenges remain in terms of reducing errors and scaling systems. We thought it was critical to bring together experts in quantum computing, computer architecture, and systems engineering to plan for the next ten years.

The workshop and subsequent report focused on five areas:

The infographic list of qubit types below is a nice primer. Its necessarily incomplete as the number of qubit types seems to grow daily.

The report concludes Quantum computing is at a historic and pivotal time, with substantial engineering progress in the past 5 years and a transition to fault-tolerant systems in the next 5 years. Taking stock of what we have learned from NISQ systems, this report examined 5 key areas in which computer scientists have an important role in exploring.

Among the reports interesting findings is a recommendation to standardize QC benchmarking. We recommend exploring standardized benchmarking frameworks to identify a set of benchmarks which would enable us to evaluate quantum platforms, algorithms, and potential domain problems. For example, an end-to-end quantum machine learning benchmark would allow us to evaluate not only the general performance of a quantum device, but also the algorithms noise resilience and data sensitivity. More work on widely accepted benchmarks with input from other communities (computer scientists, machine-learning communities) may also lead to increased collaboration and interest from other domain experts.

(CCC is the NSF-created entity in 2007 The CCC operates as a programmatic committee of CRA under CRAs bylaws: its membership only slightly overlaps the CRAs Board of Directors; it has significant autonomy; and it has a great deal of synergistic mutual benefit with CRA. The CCC Council meets three times every calendar year, including at least one meeting in Washington, D.C., and has biweekly conference calls between these meetings. Also, the CCC leadership has biweekly conference calls with the leadership of NSFsDirectorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE).)

Link to CCC blog, https://cccblog.org/2024/01/25/ccc-releases-the-5-year-update-to-the-next-steps-in-quantum-computing-workshop-report/

Link to CCC report, https://cccblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/5-Year-Update-to-the-Next-Steps-in-Quantum-Computing.pdf

*The report authors include: Kenneth Brown, Duke University Fred Chong, University of Chicago Kaitlin N. Smith, Northwestern University and Infleqtion Thomas M. Conte, Georgia Institute of Technology and Community Computing Consortium Austin Adams, Georgia Institute of Technology Aniket Dalvi, Duke University Christopher Kang, University of Chicago Josh Viszlai, University of Chicago

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CCC Releases Updated Report on Quantum Computing Progress - HPCwire

The prototype system will be based on the same silicon MOS platform used throughout the consumer electronics industry today, while the test bed forms part of NQCCs vision to enable the UK to solve some of the most complex and challenging problems by harnessing the potential of quantum computing, according to London-based Quantum Motion.

As well as a cryogenic CMOS IC-based prototype, the project includes cryo-electronics and machine learning control to tune the quantum devices.

This is not the only quantum computing hardware being assembled at NQCC. Together with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, it has announced 30m for prototypes that it aims to have by March 2025.

There is a growing realisation across the industry that quantum developers need access to the hardware to engineer scalable solutions for a full-stack quantum computer, said NQCC director Michael Cuthbert. Once built, these system-level prototypes will help the NQCC and its collaborators to understand the unique characteristics of different hardware approaches, establish appropriate metrics for each qubit architecture, and explore the types of applications that benefit most from each technological approach.

Results will feed into UK academia, industry and government to develop use-cases for early-stage quantum computers, and to identify gaps that will need to be filled before adoption.

Quantum Motion was founded by Professor John Morton of University College London and Professor Simon Benjamin of the University of Oxford. Now with 50 staff, the company claims to have qubits with typical dimensions below 100nm and expertise in fault-tolerant computer architectures and error mitigation, on top of the machine learning algorithms mentioned above.

Other companies sharing the 30m to produce prototypes are: Aegiq (Sheffield), Cold Quanta UK (Warwick), Orca Computing (London), Oxford Ionics (Oxford), QuEra Computing (Exeter) and Rigetti UK (London).

At the same time as announcing that funding, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology also announced where its 15m Quantum Catalyst Fund (funded byDSITand Innovate UK) would be distributed, with the aim of accelerating the adoption of quantum solutions by the public sector, it said.

Winners here are: Cambridge Quantinuum (London), MoniRail (West Midlands), Cerca Magnetics (Nottingham), Delta g (Birmingham), Q-Ctrl UK (London) andPhasecraft (London).

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30m for prototypes at the UK National Quantum Computing Centre - Electronics Weekly

Quantum computing will be a massive game-changer. With it, the world may be able to solve problems far too complex for typical computers within minutes, or even seconds. All while creating massive opportunities for quantum computing stocks.

It could even be used to discover new drugs, quicker than even imagined. For example,according to ZDNet.com, the discovery of new drugs relies on molecular simulation, which is complex and time-consuming with all of the calculations needed. Its expected thatmodeling a molecule with only 70 atoms would take a classical computer up to 13 billion years,they added. Meanwhile, a quantum computer may be able to figure it all out in minutes.

Quantum computing may even be able to help advance artificial intelligence, machine learning, financial modeling, cybersecurity, batteries, and even help with the green energy boom.

No wonder governments all over the world are heavily investing in quantum computing.

In fact, according tothe State of Quantum 2024,more than 30 governments have already made commitments of more than $40 billion to quantum technologies over the next 10 years. Even better, some analysts say the quantum computing market could eventually be worth about $850 billion by 2040,noted Forbes.

With that, investors may want to invest in quantum computing stocks, such as:

Source: Shutterstock

Shares ofIonQ(NYSE:IONQ) exploded from a low of about $3.05 to a high of $21.60. Now back to $10.27, it could have another explosive year ahead. For one, investors are just starting to wake up to the opportunity in quantum computing stocks.

Two, the company just boosted itsfull-year revenue guidanceto a range of $21.2 million to $22 million from its prior range of $18.9 million to $19.3 million. It also boosted its full-year bookings to a new range of $60 million to $63 million from a prior range of $49 million to $56 million. Helping, IONQ wasawarded a $25.5 million deal with the U.S. Air Force Research Lab for barium-based trapped ion quantum computing systems.

The company is also working with major cloud providers, includingAmazon(NASDAQ:AMZN) Bracket,Microsoft(NASDAQ:MSFT) Azure, and Alphabets (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google Cloud.

In addition, the company just revealed details of a #AQ (algorithmic qubits) 64. That,according to IONQwould far exceed what can be simulated with classical computers and GPUs, and provide a computational space 536 million times larger than even IonQ Forte Enterprise, an astonishing leap in computational power.

Source: Amin Van / Shutterstock.com

D-Wave Quantum(NYSE:QBTS), which claims to be the worlds first commercial supplier of quantum computers, is helping clients unlock the power of quantum computing with logistics, artificial intelligence, drug discovery, and even cybersecurity issues.

Most recently, it inked a deal with Deloitte to speed up quantum computing adoption for governments and companies all over Canada. Its even been working with Deloitte on transportation and national security issues in the U.S., too.

Even better, the company isseeing quarter-over-quarter, and year-over-year growthin revenue, and customer bookings. For example, in its third quarter, company revenue improved by 51% year over year, and 50% quarter over quarter. Third-quarter bookings were up 53% year over year, which was the companys sixth straight quarter of year-over-year bookings growth. Plus, year-to-date bookings came in at $8.4 million, a 125% jump year over year.

Source: SHUN_J / Shutterstock

Another way to unlock the potential of quantum computing is with an exchange-traded fund (ETF), like theDefiance Quantum ETF(NYSEARCA:QTUM). Investors seem to like it, having sent it from a low of about $45 to a recent high of $56. Of course, thatll happen when some of its biggest holdings are inNvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA),Marvell Technology(NASDAQ:MRVL), andAdvanced Micro Devices(NASDAQ:AMD).

With an expense ratio of 0.40%, the ETF is exposed to companies at the forefront of machine learning, quantum computing, cloud computing, and other transformative computing technologies, as noted by DefianceETFs.com. It also tracks the BlueStar Quantum Computing and Machine Learning Index, with about 71 holdings.

On the date of publication, Ian Cooper did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.

Ian Cooper, a contributor to InvestorPlace.com, has been analyzing stocks and options for web-based advisories since 1999.

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3 Stocks to Unlock the Incredible Potential of Quantum Computing - InvestorPlace

Accelerating the use of quantum technology to improve healthcare, energy, transport and more has received a major boost as Science Minister Andrew Griffith announces 45 million of investment today (Monday 5 February).

The projects receiving funding include the development of a high-tech brain scanner using quantum technology, aiming to improve the diagnosis of disorders such as epilepsy and dementia, and a smart navigation system for trains, using quantum sensors to save costs and enhance safety in tunnels. These initiatives represent cutting-edge advancements, being developed here in the UK, that could revolutionise healthcare and transport.

Quantum technologies hold the potential to tackle intricate problems that currently surpass the capacities of even the most advanced classical computers and will allow us to reach new frontiers in sensing, timing, imaging, and communications.

During a visit to Cerca Magnetics, a University of Nottingham spin-out company supported through the National Quantum Technologies Programme, Minister Griffith will outline how this 45 million funding supports the governments vision to transform into a quantum-enabled economy by 2033.

The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Technology Missions Fund and the UKs National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) have invested 30 million through a competition to develop and deliver world-leading quantum computing hardware prototypes. Another 15 million from the Quantum Catalyst Fund is set to accelerate use of quantum in government. Both initiatives will enable quantum technologies to be used in real-life applications, both in the private and public sector.

Science Minister, Andrew Griffith MP, said:

As we steer towards an economy benefitting from quantum, this further 45 million in funding underscores our commitment to support bright UK innovators who are pushing boundaries and seizing the potential of this technology to transform our public services.

Cutting-edge work on a quantum enabled brain scanner, which will be a beacon of hope for those battling neurological conditions, is just one example.

The UK is already one global leader in quantum and to maintain that position this government will continue to invest in this transformational technology propelling the UK into a new era of technological prowess and economicgrowth.

Quantum technologies are recognised as one of the governments five critical technologies as set out in the UK Science and Technology Framework. They already offer possible solutions to some of societys greatest challenges and provide future capabilities that are yet to be explored.

Over the next ten years, quantum technologies are expected to revolutionise many aspects of life in the UK and bring enormous benefits such as helping to grow our economy and create well-paid jobs across the country one of the Prime Ministers five priorities.

UKRI, in partnership with NQCC, is investing in projects to create world-leading quantum computing testbeds based on various technologies. These testbeds will speed up the development of scalable quantum computers and provide a practical way to test and validate their performance, moving beyond just theoretical approaches.

By running quantum algorithms on different hardware, the projects aim to identify which technology is most effective for specific types of problems. The winning companies will gain direct access to the expertise within the NQCC and its user community. Seven projects will set up testbeds using different quantum computing platforms, including trapped-ion, superconducting, photonics, and neutral atoms.

The 15 million Quantum Catalyst Fund aims to fast-track the integration of quantum solutions in the public sector, strategically positioning the UK Government to leverage the diverse advantages of quantum technologies across different policy areas from healthcare where quantum sensors could be used to look for the signs of dementia, to energy where quantum computers could help manage the electricity grid.

During an initial 3-month phase 1 of the competition, feasibility studies were conducted to explore the application of quantum technologies in addressing governmental challenges. The six most promising concepts selected for phase 2 will now receive funding to develop prototypes and demonstrate their solutions.

The competition is being delivered by Innovate UK, part of UKRI, in conjunction with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). It is part of the UKs National Quantum Technologies Programme which has been running since 2014 to put the UK at the forefront of quantum technologies globally.

Dr Michael Cuthbert, Director of the National Quantum Computing Centre, said:

My congratulations to the lead providers of our seven awarded quantum testbeds. Over the coming 15 months these prototype quantum computing platforms will be deployed into the newly established NQCC facility providing us with a valuable insight into the maturity, characteristics and capabilities available across a range of hardware architectures.

This next phase of the NQCC will be one of huge promise establishing a unique state of the art facility with on-premises access to a range of qubit modalities at scale.

Dr Kedar Pandya, Executive Director, Cross-Council Programmes at UKRI, said:

We are on the brink of a quantum technology revolution that is poised to transform diverse industries from the financial sector to healthcare, and UKRI is committed to ensuring the UKs place at the forefront of this.

We are providing our world-leading businesses and institutions the resources and tools needed to build a strong foundation in quantum computing with the potential to scale their activities for long-term competitive advantage.

This investment will help our researchers and innovators develop the blueprint for quantum computing hardware and software and secure the UKs place in this developing field.

Professor Will Drury, Executive Director, Digital and Technologies at Innovate UK said:

Quantum technologies have the potential to meet some of the greatest challenges society faces. By unleashing computing power that goes far beyond existing digital technology, we can reach new frontiers in sensing, timing, imaging, and communications.

This could be transformative for life in the UK and will create new, well-paid jobs that will boost our future economy.

The National Quantum Strategy, published in March 2023, commits 2.5 billion to developing quantum technologies in the UK over the ten years from 2024 - more than doubling current public investment, which will aim to generate an additional 1 billion of private investment into the programme.

The strategy sets out a bold and ambitious approach to supporting quantum technologies in the UK across the broad spectrum of quantum computing, sensing, timing, imaging and communications. It sets out how the UK will develop its strengths across different hardware platforms, software and components, and reinforce our capabilities throughout the supply chains.

UKRI Technology Missions Fund and the UKs National Quantum Computing Centre are investing 30 million to drive forward projects that will deliver quantum computing testbeds, based on diverse hardware architectures by March 2025. The Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition, delivered by Innovate UK, accelerates the development of scalable quantum computers by enabling detailed characterisation and benchmarking of early-stage machines.

A quantum testbed provides a controlled environment where scientists and engineers can manipulate and study quantum bits (or qubits), which are the basic unit of information in quantum computing. It enables testing and validation of new quantum algorithms, devices, or technologies as a part of the scaling-up process for practical use.

This approach seeks to bridge the gap between academic experimentation and proprietary commercial quantum computers. These testbeds will provide a crucial experimental framework, facilitating the refinement of methodologies for testing, validating, and enhancing the performance of quantum computers.

The 15 million Quantum Catalyst Fund, also delivered by Innovate UK, looks to explore the benefits of using quantum technologies in the governments work across areas like health, transport and net zero. The competition aims to accelerate the adoption of quantum solutions by the public sector and will ensure the UK government is well-placed to fully harness the benefits of using these technologies across a range of policy areas.

The first round of feasibility studies under the fund, 30 projects explored how quantum technology can provide new capabilities in public services, such as quantum-enabled brain imaging in healthcare to tackle epilepsy, concussion, and dementia, or quantum computing that can solve optimisation problems in energy grids, helping us to reach net zero. The winners of the second phase of the competition will receive funding from the SBRI fund to build physical prototypes for their sponsoring government agency/department.

The Quantum Catalyst Fund is funded by DSIT and Innovate UK. SBRI offers organisations the opportunity to work directly with the public sector to develop new technologies and processes, helping to meet efficiency targets and improving public services. It supports the research and development of solutions to solve public sector challenges.

TheUKRITechnology Missions funding is designed to exploit the UKs global leadership in transformative technologies to help solve specific problems, whilst also helping cement that leading position. Overall,UKRIis investing 250 million in Technology Missions to enable new and existing capabilities and capacity in artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and engineering biology in the years 2023-2025 and beyond. With a further 70 million announced to support future telecommunications.

The NQCC is the UKs national centre for quantum computing, dedicated to accelerating the development of quantum computing by addressing the challenges of scaling up the technology. The centre is working with businesses, government, and the research community to deliver quantum computing capabilities for the UK and support the growth of the emerging industry.

The NQCCs programme represents a 93 million investment and is being delivered jointly by the research councils, EPSRC and STFC, as part of UKRI.

The centre will be headquartered in a purpose-built facility on STFCs Rutherford Appleton Laboratory site at the Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire, which is due for completion in 2024.

The NQCC is part of the National Quantum Technologies Programme (NQTP), which involves the delivery of 1 billion of public and private sector investment over 10 years (2014-2024), to develop and deliver quantum technologies across the areas of sensing, timing, imaging, communications and computing.

2024 marks the first decade of the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme (NQTP), a unique partnership between academia, industry, and government.

The 1 billion programme of investment has built leading capabilities in quantum computing, sensors, imaging, communication and quantum position, navigation and timing. It has unlocked new capabilities that are making a real difference to our everyday lives, helping to bring new technologies to market and paving the way for the next generation of a highly skilled quantum workforce.

We now have quantum computer applications which can develop new products and medicines; alternative solutions to GPS to tackle current navigation challenges; quantum-enhanced imaging devices for more accurate and speedier diagnosis of tumours; more sensitive quantum sensors for scanning brains and detecting underground infrastructure and quantum communication networks which enable faster and more efficient transfers of information.

Backed by the Governments 2.5 billion National Quantum Strategy, the next phase of the NQTP will build on a decade of experience to deliver a quantum-enabled economy which will boost business growth, accelerate quantum skills development and elevate research leadership by 2033.

Originally posted here:
Unlocking the potential of quantum: 45 million investment to drive breakthroughs in brain scanners, navigation ... - GOV.UK

Research looking at the development of quantum computing has found there has been continued investment in the technology, thanks in part to government initiatives.

The State of quantum 2024 report from venture capital firm OpenOcean, technology investor Lakestar and quantum computer specialist IQM reported that over 30 governments have committed to more than $40bn in public funding commitments to quantum technologies that will be deployed in the next 10 years.

The study also noted that national labs and quantum computing centres have accelerated practical applications with dedicated quantum computing centres and hubs emerging.

The reports authors stated: In 2023, quantum technologies continued their advance beyond their theoretical statements to initial practicality, seeing startups transitioning from the lab to the market, whilst we also saw physical full-stack deliveries of quantum computers emerging in national labs and quantum centres.

Although the insights for 2023/2024 show a doubling of the number of enterprise users interested in or pursuing quantum technologies, global quantum industry private investment declined 50%. This was mainly due to an 80% drop in investment in the America Europe, the Middle East and Africa actually saw an increase in quantum computing investment of 3%.

The report recognised the gap between current business needs and the immediate capabilities of many quantum computing systems. End users are looking for transparency in quantum computing roadmaps, and continued delivery of milestones is essential for building confidence and managing expectations, the reports authors noted.

They also believe the adoption barriers to quantum computing will evolve beyond fault-tolerance and scalability into challenges such as data security and cost per functional computation hour, andurged the industry to develop more primitives and practical algorithms to help businesses explore quantum computation beyond theories and research questions.

There have been a number of recent developments that point to improvements in error correction. These pave the way to quantum computing that could eventually be used to solve computationally challenging problems that cannot be realistically run on a classical computing architecture.

For instance, in January, QuEra Computing announced a strategic roadmap for a series of error-corrected quantum computers, starting in 2024 and culminating in a system with 100 logical error-corrected qubits in 2026. Quantum hardware developer Alice & Bob, in collaboration with the research institute Inria, has also unveiled a quantum error-correction architecture.

Building on previous research based on LDPC code, a class of efficient error correction codes that reduce hardware requirements to correct errors occurring in information transfer and storing, the theoretical research found that 100 high-fidelity logical qubits could be achieved using 1,500 physical cat qubits, designed to reduce so-called bit-flip errors in quantum computing.

The researchers cited previous calculations that showed the factorisation of RSA-2048 integers could be theoretically done in four days using 350,000 cat qubits. We estimate that, under the same hardware assumptions, the improvements proposed in this paper would reduce this number to less than 100,000 cat qubits, and seven days of computation, they said.

Alice & Bob said the results indicate that the combination of cat qubits with classical LDPC codes produces a viable architecture for a large-scale quantum computer. The company said the architecture could be further improved by optimising protocols for implementing logical gates or by continuing to improve the design of cat qubits at the hardware level.

Over 90% of quantum computing value depends on strong error correction, which is currently many years away from meaningful computations, said Jean-Franois Bobier, partner and director at the Boston Consulting Group. By improving correction by an order of magnitude, Alice & Bobs combined innovations could deliver industry-relevant logical qubits on hardware technology that is mature today.

The State of quantum report also highlighted cost as a potential barrier. The high cost of quantum computing time compared with other high-performance computing systems poses a barrier to widespread adoption, the reports authors noted.

Jan Goetz, CEO and co-founder of IQM Quantum Computers, said: 2023 was a year of steady technological progress resulting in larger qubit counts and initial error correction, as companies successfully published and followed quantum roadmaps.

However, the algorithmic side remains less predictable. While scaling processors is largely an engineering challenge, estimating timelines for software improvements is more dependent on hardware progress.

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Quantum computing in 2024: What are the challenges? - ComputerWeekly.com