Quantum Computing Vol. 2

Writing on the emerging 4IR technologies has been my passion and I have been involved in research on the cost, ethics benefits and factors that we need to be aware of in the digital transformation. This is a follow-up article on Quantum computing, one of the emerging technologies that drive digitalization. 

Looking back and giving a refresher on what Quantum computing is, we will start with traditional computers. These computers use transistors to represent a value and process data using a 0 or a 1, this allows classical computers to store and process data using binary digits, also known as bits. Quantum computers on the other hand process information using quantum bits, also known as Qubits. Qubits can exist in more than one state at the same point in time, this action is called superposition, meaning qubits can assume a value of a 1 or a 0 at the same time. 

This enables quantum computers to process a far higher number of data possible at the same time compared to classical computers. Qubits can also be entangled, meaning the state of one qubit is tied to the state of another. 

Now for the Quantum Pioneers:

The race to claiming quantum supremacy is like reading about the cold war in history as most tech giants have invested millions in developing quantum computers and take part in the quantum computing ecosystem.

• Honeywell Quantum Solitons have announced that they will be partnering up with Cambridge Quantum computing to form the world's largest and most advanced quantum business.
• IBM (International Business Machine) now provides cloud access to a fleet of quantum computers and now offering the system on hardware to selective clients to access quantum computing on their own space.
• In February 2021: IBM published a roadmap to building an open quantum computing ecosystem and most of the quantum pioneers racing toward quantum supremacy will be part of such an ecosystem. The goal of building such an ecosystem is to make quantum hardware available and accessible to traditional programmers
• By early 2021, the largest and most advanced Quantum computer was a 65 Qubit processor called “Hummingbird” by IBM. By June 2021, A team from the University of Science and Technology of China revealed that they have built a 66 Qubit processor called “Zuchongzhi”, currently the most powerful quantum computer yet.

It is visible that the race to space, “Quantum supremacy” is filled with hungry investors with a common goal of changing the world and advancing the digital age. My passion as a 4IR enthusiast and Junior Cloud App Developer is keeping up with such trends and spreading awareness of the changes in technology that we see through our daily lives and how most of these techniques work and affect our daily lives.