2019 saw Google finally demonstrate quantum supremacy. Competitors such as IBM reminded us that this was just an opening skirmish in what will be a long campaign. In 2020 we will see paths divide as competing companies and technologies face-up to the quantum chasm blocking the way to large scale quantum computers. The hard road…
Contrary to many reports there are set to be immediate applications even for early devices. Some will be controversial. However in other areas timelines look over-hyped. 2020 will be a key year to prove the naysayers wrong. Will clients see early value? Despite all the fuss, quantum processors actually run more slowly than conventional processors.…
Google claims quantum supremacy – the ability to perform a calculation beyond the reach of conventional computers. This is a landmark scientific, mathematical and technical achievement. But as many such as IBM point out we should all beware of hype. The road to general purpose quantum computing remains a long one. Google has published a…
Quantum computers can only realise their full potential by defeating the noise that plagues their delicate qubits. The field of quantum error correction offers some increasingly mature solutions. But it is also still a rapidly evolving discipline, and innovation here, as much as in hardware, will shape the future quantum computing roadmap. If 50-70 qubits are…
Right from the conception of quantum computers it was realised that controlling the build-up of errors in quantum computations is a key problem. Theoretical progress over the last 25 years has led to the development of techniques ready to meet this challenge. This introduction is for readers interested in the terminology of quantum error correcting…
The advantages a quantum computer can offer depend on the quantum algorithms it can run and also how easily we can get data in and out of the system. Today’s hardware is still well short of the universal quantum dream and, in truth, the most often discussed benefits are still many years away. However the…
The focus of the EU’s €1b Quantum Flagship programme is not basic science, nor is it simply about bringing new technologies to market. The end-goal is driving wealth creation, jobs and societal benefits in Europe. This requires kick-starting the competitive position of European industry in this sector and making Europe the region of choice for…
We are about to enter a new transitional phase in the development of quantum technology. Behind the headlines there are a diversity of strategies available for those wanting to get on board. In 2012 Caltech professor John Preskill coined the term quantum supremacy for the quest to demonstrate a calculation on a quantum device that…
Excitement mounts as we approach a demonstration of quantum supremacy. However a very long road remains to build a fault tolerant quantum computer Quantum hardware announcements continue to come at speed: Google has just announced Bristlecone, a 72 superconducting qubit device (though it remains to be seen if it can maintain the high fidelity performance of its…
An immediate challenge for the interested business observer is how to interpret the true state of progress against a background of hype and corporate spin. All conventional computing is ultimately based on data stored as digital bits, each a 1 or 0, and their manipulation via logic gates. The great power of modern computing comes…