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ICT

Quantum computing could propel us

light years into the future

By Rudeon Snell, Global Senior Director: Industries and For example in 2019, Google’s
Customer Advisory at SAP quantum computer attempted a calculation
that would have taken our current
oes quantum computing hold the key to unlocking the supercomputers roughly 10 000 years to
secrets of the universe, to defeating climate change, do. Their quantum computer completed
Dhelping humanity explore the stars or even preventing the calculation in four minutes. This is the
the next global pandemic? Could it help us accelerate the essence of what’s possible with a viable
discovery of new drugs that combat incurable diseases, or quantum computer.
help discover new materials, new ways of encryption or new Applications such as drug design and
weather prediction models? Perhaps it could help Wall Street development, weather forecasting, climate
simulate more accurate economic forecasts, optimise global change modelling and traffic optimisation
portfolios and produce complex, in-depth risk analysis. could see quantum computing gaining
Or is it destined to always be the technology of the future, mainstream use in the near future. For
never the present, similar to the promise of nuclear fusion? cybersecurity professionals, quantum
The obscure and sometimes magical-sounding world of quantum computing is cryptography holds the promise of total
considered by some to be the most important computing technology of the century. information security. While quantum
Amazon, Google, IBM and Microsoft, plus a host of smaller companies such as D-Wave computers could arguably be used to
and Rigetti, are in a race to develop a commercially viable quantum computer. China has also easily crack encryption codes due to
invested vast amounts of resources into developing their own quantum computing capabilities, their hyper-fast computing capabilities,
with Origin Quantum pushing hard to catch up with leading global players in the field. using quantum encryption could make it
But what are quantum computers? How could they benefit humanity? And what real- absolutely impossible to break the code.
world applications could we expect from this next-generation technology? In financial services, quantum
computing is expected to transform
Crash course in quantum computing financial modelling. JPMorgan Chase
The computers we use today use bits, which are like tiny little switches that can either block is part of IBM’s Q Network, and aims to
or open the way for information to come through, essentially a binary structure of on and use quantum computing to improve risk
off. All data is made up of these bits, which are represented by ones and zeroes. And every modelling as a start.
photo, website, app and computer game is essentially made up of these ones and zeroes. Beyond risk assessment, practical
However, as our knowledge of physics has expanded, scientists have discovered that applications of quantum computing in
‘on’ or ‘off’ isn’t really how the universe works. In the natural world, most things are in a state finance beckon to be explored, with
of uncertainty, especially as you go down to a really small scale. Our present computers are researchers noting that “the entire
not well equipped to deal with this level of uncertainty. financial market can be modelled as a
In contrast, quantum computers are designed to handle this uncertainty. It uses qubits, quantum process”. Simulating economic
which can be ‘on’ or ‘off’, or both at the same time. Qubits allow computers to consider vast, forecasts and optimising global portfolios
previously unthinkable volumes of information, all at once. Instead of a normal computer are just a few of the untapped areas
considering each potential solution to a problem one-by-one, a quantum computer can worth exploring.
consider all possible paths and outcomes at the same time. Quantum computing is not only a next
This allows quantum computers to process information a lot faster, a lot more efficiently step in our technological development, it
and at a scale previously unimagined. More importantly, however, because they use quantum will accelerate the power and maturity of
mechanics, which are the foundation to physics and chemistry, quantum computers can our current next-generation technologies,
analyse and effeciently process even the most complicated scenarios, something that including artificial intelligence and
remains outside the realm of possibility for even our most powerful supercomputers. advanced analytics.
People often consider quantum computers to just be better computers, but they are as Today’s intelligent enterprises
profoundly different to normal or even supercomputers, as a lightbulb is different to a candle. use cloud computing and intelligent
technologies - such as AI and IoT - to
Practical applications of quantum computing accelerate productivity and enable real-
It’s unlikely we will ever have quantum computing chips in our smartphones or home time decision making. With quantum
computers. Quantum computers are incredibly sensitive to interference, and have to be computing, intelligent enterprises would
kept isolated and at near-zero temperatures (that’s -273 degrees Celsius, colder than outer be able to consider all possibilities at the
space). However, as researchers get ever closer to quantum supremacy - the point at which same time, allowing decision-makers
a quantum computer can regularly outperform normal computers - we are likely to see more to manage any uncertainty in ways
widespread adoption for a broad range of use cases. previously unimagined. n

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