While researchers don't understand everything about the quantum world, what they do know is that quantum particles hold immense potential, in particular to hold and process large amounts of information.

Quantum computing exploits the puzzling behavior that scientists have been observing for decades in nature's smallest particles think atoms, photons or electrons. At this scale, the classical laws of physics ceases to apply, and instead we shift to quantum rules.

While researchers don't understand everything about the quantum world, what they do know is that quantum particles hold immense potential, in particular to hold and process large amounts of information. Successfully bringing those particles under control in a quantum computer could trigger an explosion of compute power that would phenomenally advance innovation in many fields that require complex calculations, like drug discovery, climate modelling, financial optimization or logistics.

As Bob Sutor, chief quantum exponent at IBM, puts it: "Quantum computing is our way of emulating nature to solve extraordinarily difficult problems and make them tractable," he tells ZDNet.

Quantum computers come in various shapes and forms, but they are all built on the same principle: they host a quantum processor where quantum particles can be isolated for engineers to manipulate.

The nature of those quantum particles, as well as the method employed to control them, varies from one quantum computing approach to another. Some methods require the processor to be cooled down to freezing temperatures, others to play with quantum particles using lasers but share the goal of finding out how to best exploit the value of quantum physics.

The systems we have been using since the 1940s in various shapes and forms laptops, smartphones, cloud servers, supercomputers are known as classical computers. Those are based on bits, a unit of information that powers every computation that happens in the device.

In a classical computer, each bit can take on either a value of one or zero to represent and transmit the information that is used to carry out computations. Using bits, developers can write programs, which are sets of instructions that are read and executed by the computer.

Classical computers have been indispensable tools in the last few decades, but the inflexibility of bits is limiting. As an analogy, if tasked with looking for a needle in a haystack, a classical computer would have to be programmed to look through every single piece of hay straw until it reached the needle.

There are still many large problems, therefore, that classical devices can't solve. "There are calculations that could be done on a classical system, but they might take millions of years or use more computer memory that exists in total on Earth," says Sutor. "These problems are intractable today."

At the heart of any quantum computer are qubits, also known as quantum bits, and which can loosely be compared to the bits that process information in classical computers.

Qubits, however, have very different properties to bits, because they are made of the quantum particles found in nature those same particles that have been obsessing scientists for many years.

One of the properties of quantum particles that is most useful for quantum computing is known as superposition, which allows quantum particles to exist in several states at the same time. The best way to imagine superposition is to compare it to tossing a coin: instead of being heads or tails, quantum particles are the coin while it is still spinning.

By controlling quantum particles, researchers can load them with data to create qubits and thanks to superposition, a single qubit doesn't have to be either a one or a zero, but can be both at the same time. In other words, while a classical bit can only be heads or tails, a qubit can be, at once, heads and tails.

This means that, when asked to solve a problem, a quantum computer can use qubits to run several calculations at once to find an answer, exploring many different avenues in parallel.

So in the needle-in-a-haystack scenario about, unlike a classical machine, a quantum computer could in principle browse through all hay straws at the same time, finding the needle in a matter of seconds rather than looking for years even centuries before it found what it was searching for.

What's more: qubits can be physically linked together thanks to another quantum property called entanglement, meaning that with every qubit that is added to a system, the device's capabilities increase exponentially where adding more bits only generates linear improvement.

Every time we use another qubit in a quantum computer, we double the amount of information and processing ability available for solving problems. So by the time we get to 275 qubits, we can compute with more pieces of information than there are atoms in the observable universe. And the compression of computing time that this could generate could have big implications in many use cases.

Quantum computers are all built on the same principle: they host a quantum processor where quantum particles can be isolated for engineers to manipulate.

"There are a number of cases where time is money. Being able to do things more quickly will have a material impact in business," Scott Buchholz, managing director at Deloitte Consulting, tells ZDNet.

The gains in time that researchers are anticipating as a result of quantum computing are not of the order of hours or even days. We're rather talking about potentially being capable of calculating, in just a few minutes, the answer to problems that today's most powerful supercomputers couldn't resolve in thousands of years, ranging from modelling hurricanes all the way to cracking the cryptography keys protecting the most sensitive government secrets.

And businesses have a lot to gain, too. According to recent research by Boston Consulting Group (BCG),the advances that quantum computing will enable could create value of up to $850 billion in the next 15 to 30 years, $5 to $10 billion of which will be generated in the next five years if key vendors deliver on the technology as they have promised.

Programmers write problems in the form of algorithms for classical computers to resolve and similarly, quantum computers will carry out calculations based on quantum algorithms. Researchers have already identified that some quantum algorithms would be particularly suited to the enhanced capabilities of quantum computers.

For example, quantum systems could tackle optimization algorithms, which help identify the best solution among many feasible options, and could be applied in a wide range of scenarios ranging from supply chain administration to traffic management. ExxonMobil and IBM, for instance, are working together to find quantum algorithmsthat could one day manage the 50,000 merchant ships crossing the oceans each day to deliver goods, to reduce the distance and time traveled by fleets.

Quantum simulation algorithms are also expected to deliver unprecedented results, as qubits enable researchers to handle the simulation and prediction of complex interactions between molecules in larger systems, which could lead to faster breakthroughs in fields like materials science and drug discovery.

With quantum computers capable of handling and processing much larger datasets,AI and machine learning applications are set to benefit hugely, with faster training times and more capable algorithms. And researchers have also demonstrated that quantum algorithmshave the potential to crack traditional cryptography keys, which for now are too mathematically difficult for classical computers to break.

To create qubits, which are the building blocks of quantum computers, scientists have to find and manipulate the smallest particles of nature tiny parts of the universe that can be found thanks to different mediums. This is why there are currently many types of quantum processors being developed by a range of companies.

One of the most advanced approaches consists of using superconducting qubits, which are made of electrons, and come in the form of the familiar chandelier-like quantum computers. Both IBM and Google have developed superconducting processors.

Another approach that is gaining momentum is trapped ions, which Honeywell and IonQ are leading the way on, and in which qubits are housed in arrays of ions that are trapped in electric fields and then controlled with lasers.

Major companies like Xanadu and PsiQuantum, for their part, are investing in yet another method that relies on quantum particles of light, called photons, to encode data and create qubits. Qubits can also be created out of silicon spin qubits which Intel is focusing on but also cold atoms or even diamonds.

Quantum annealing, an approach that was chosen by D-Wave, is a different category of computing altogether. It doesn't rely on the same paradigm as other quantum processors, known as the gate model. Quantum annealing processors are much easier to control and operate, which is why D-Wave has already developed devices that can manipulate thousands of qubits, where virtually every other quantum hardware company is working with about 100 qubits or less. On the other hand, the annealing approach is only suitable for a specific set of optimization problems, which limits its capabilities.

What can you do with a quantum computer today?

Right now, with a mere 100 qubits the state of the art, there is very little that can actually be done with quantum computers. For qubits to start carrying out meaningful calculations, they will have to be counted in the thousands, and even millions.

Both IBM and Google have developed superconducting processors.

Right now, with a mere 100 qubits the state of the art, there is very little that can actually be done with quantum computers. For qubits to start carrying out meaningful calculations, they will have to be counted in the thousands, and even millions.

"While there is a tremendous amount of promise and excitement about what quantum computers can do one day, I think what they can do today is relatively underwhelming," says Buchholz.

Increasing the qubit count in gate-model processors, however, is incredibly challenging. This is because keeping the particles that make up qubits in their quantum state is difficult a little bit like trying to keep a coin spinning without falling on one side or the other, except much harder.

Keeping qubits spinning requires isolating them from any environmental disturbance that might cause them to lose their quantum state. Google and IBM, for example, do this by placing their superconducting processors in temperatures that are colder than outer space, which in turn require sophisticated cryogenic technologies that are currently near-impossible to scale up.

In addition, the instability of qubits means that they are unreliable, and still likely to cause computation errors. This hasgiven rise to a branch of quantum computing dedicated to developing error-correction methods.

Although research is advancing at pace, therefore, quantum computers are for now stuck in what is known as the NISQ era: noisy, intermediate-scale quantum computing but the end-goal is to build a fault-tolerant, universal quantum computer.

As Buchholz explains, it is hard to tell when this is likely to happen. "I would guess we are a handful of years from production use cases, but the real challenge is that this is a little like trying to predict research breakthroughs," he says. "It's hard to put a timeline on genius."

In 2019, Googleclaimed that its 54-qubit superconducting processor called Sycamore had achieved quantum supremacy the point at which a quantum computer can solve a computational task that is impossible to run on a classical device in any realistic amount of time.

Google said that Sycamore has calculated, in only 200 seconds, the answer to a problem that would have taken the world's biggest supercomputers 10,000 years to complete.

More recently,researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China claimed a similar breakthrough, saying that their quantum processor had taken 200 seconds to achieve a task that would have taken 600 million years to complete with classical devices.

This is far from saying that either of those quantum computers are now capable of outstripping any classical computer at any task. In both cases, the devices were programmed to run very specific problems, with little usefulness aside from proving that they could compute the task significantly faster than classical systems.

Without a higher qubit count and better error correction, proving quantum supremacy for useful problems is still some way off.

Organizations that are investing in quantum resources see this as the preparation stage: their scientists are doing the groundwork to be ready for the day that a universal and fault-tolerant quantum computer is ready.

In practice, this means that they are trying to discover the quantum algorithms that are most likely to show an advantage over classical algorithms once they can be run on large-scale quantum systems. To do so, researchers typically try to prove that quantum algorithms perform comparably to classical ones on very small use cases, and theorize that as quantum hardware improves, and the size of the problem can be grown, the quantum approach will inevitably show some significant speed-ups.

For example, scientists at Japanese steel manufacturer Nippon Steelrecently came up with a quantum optimization algorithm that could compete against its classical counterpartfor a small problem that was run on a 10-qubit quantum computer. In principle, this means that the same algorithm equipped with thousands or millions of error-corrected qubits could eventually optimize the company's entire supply chain, complete with the management of dozens of raw materials, processes and tight deadlines, generating huge cost savings.

The work that quantum scientists are carrying out for businesses is therefore highly experimental, and so far there are fewer than 100 quantum algorithms that have been shown to compete against their classical equivalents which only points to how emergent the field still is.

With most use cases requiring a fully error-corrected quantum computer, just who will deliver one first is the question on everyone's lips in the quantum industry, and it is impossible to know the exact answer.

All quantum hardware companies are keen to stress that their approach will be the first one to crack the quantum revolution, making it even harder to discern noise from reality. "The challenge at the moment is that it's like looking at a group of toddlers in a playground and trying to figure out which one of them is going to win the Nobel Prize," says Buchholz.

"I have seen the smartest people in the field say they're not really sure which one of these is the right answer. There are more than half a dozen different competing technologies and it's still not clear which one will wind up being the best, or if there will be a best one," he continues.

In general, experts agree that the technology will not reach its full potential until after 2030. The next five years, however, may start bringing some early use cases as error correction improves and qubit counts start reaching numbers that allow for small problems to be programmed.

IBM is one of the rare companies thathas committed to a specific quantum roadmap, which defines the ultimate objective of realizing a million-qubit quantum computer. In the nearer-term, Big Blue anticipates that it will release a 1,121-qubit system in 2023, which might mark the start of the first experimentations with real-world use cases.

In general, experts agree that quantum computers will not reach their full potential until after 2030.

Developing quantum hardware is a huge part of the challenge, and arguably the most significant bottleneck in the ecosystem. But even a universal fault-tolerant quantum computer would be of little use without the matching quantum software.

"Of course, none of these online facilities are much use without knowing how to 'speak' quantum," Andrew Fearnside, senior associate specializing in quantum technologies at intellectual property firm Mewburn Ellis, tells ZDNet.

Creating quantum algorithms is not as easy as taking a classical algorithm and adapting it to the quantum world. Quantum computing, rather, requires a brand-new programming paradigm that can only be ran on a brand-new software stack.

Of course, some hardware providers also develop software tools, the most established of which is IBM's open-source quantum software development kit Qiskit. But on top of that, the quantum ecosystem is expanding to include companies dedicated exclusively to creating quantum software. Familiar names include Zapata, QC Ware or 1QBit, which all specialize in providing businesses with the tools to understand the language of quantum.

And increasingly, promising partnerships are forming to bring together different parts of the ecosystem. For example, therecent alliance between Honeywell, which is building trapped ions quantum computers, and quantum software company Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC), has got analysts predicting that a new player could be taking a lead in the quantum race.

The complexity of building a quantum computer think ultra-high vacuum chambers, cryogenic control systems and other exotic quantum instruments means that the vast majority of quantum systems are currently firmly sitting in lab environments, rather than being sent out to customers' data centers.

To let users access the devices to start running their experiments, therefore, quantum companies have launched commercial quantum computing cloud services, making the technology accessible to a wider range of customers.

The four largest providers of public cloud computing services currently offer access to quantum computers on their platform. IBM and Google have both put their own quantum processors on the cloud, whileMicrosoft's Azure QuantumandAWS's Braketservice let customers access computers from third-party quantum hardware providers.

The jury remains out on which technology will win the race, if any at all, but one thing is for certain: the quantum computing industry is developing fast, and investors are generously funding the ecosystem. Equity investments in quantum computing nearly tripled in 2020, and according to BCG, they are set to rise even more in 2021 to reach $800 million.

Government investment is even more significant: the US has unlocked $1.2 billion for quantum information science over the next five years, while the EU announced a 1 billion ($1.20 billion) quantum flagship. The UKalso recently reached the 1 billion ($1.37 billion) budget milestonefor quantum technologies, and while official numbers are not known in China,the government has made no secret of its desire to aggressively compete in the quantum race.

This has caused the quantum ecosystem to flourish over the past years, with new start-ups increasing from a handful in 2013 to nearly 200 in 2020. The appeal of quantum computing is also increasing among potential customers: according to analysis firm Gartner,while only 1% of companies were budgeting for quantum in 2018, 20% are expected to do so by 2023.

Although not all businesses need to be preparing themselves to keep up with quantum-ready competitors, there are some industries where quantum algorithms are expected to generate huge value, and where leading companies are already getting ready.

Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are two examples of financial behemoths investing in quantum computing. That's because in banking,quantum optimization algorithms could give a boost to portfolio optimization, by better picking which stocks to buy and sell for maximum return.

In pharmaceuticals, where the drug discovery process is on average a $2 billion, ten-year-long deal that largely relies on trial and error, quantum simulation algorithms are also expected to make waves. This is also the case in materials science: companies like OTI Lumionics, for example,are exploring the use of quantum computers to design more efficient OLED displays.

Leading automotive companies including Volkswagen and BMW are also keeping a close eye on the technology, which could impact the sector in various ways, ranging from designing more efficient batteries to optimizing the supply chain, through to better management of traffic and mobility. Volkswagen, for example,pioneered the use of a quantum algorithm that optimized bus routes in real time by dodging traffic bottlenecks.

As the technology matures, however, it is unlikely that quantum computing will be limited to a select few. Rather, analysts anticipate that virtually all industries have the potential to benefit from the computational speedup that qubits will unlock.

There are some industries where quantum algorithms are expected to generate huge value, and where leading companies are already getting ready.

Quantum computers are expected to be phenomenal at solving a certain class of problems, but that doesn't mean that they will be a better tool than classical computers for every single application. Particularly, quantum systems aren't a good fit for fundamental computations like arithmetic, or for executing commands.

"Quantum computers are great constraint optimizers, but that's not what you need to run Microsoft Excel or Office," says Buchholz. "That's what classical technology is for: for doing lots of maths, calculations and sequential operations."

In other words, there will always be a place for the way that we compute today. It is unlikely, for example, that you will be streaming a Netflix series on a quantum computer anytime soon. Rather, the two technologies will be used in conjunction, with quantum computers being called for only where they can dramatically accelerate a specific calculation.

Buchholz predicts that, as classical and quantum computing start working alongside each other, access will look like a configuration option. Data scientists currently have a choice of using CPUs or GPUs when running their workloads, and it might be that quantum processing units (QPUs) join the list at some point. It will be up to researchers to decide which configuration to choose, based on the nature of their computation.

Although the precise way that users will access quantum computing in the future remains to be defined, one thing is certain: they are unlikely to be required to understand the fundamental laws of quantum computing in order to use the technology.

"People get confused because the way we lead into quantum computing is by talking about technical details," says Buchholz. "But you don't need to understand how your cellphone works to use it."

"People sometimes forget that when you log into a server somewhere, you have no idea what physical location the server is in or even if it exists physically at all anymore. The important question really becomes what it is going to look like to access it."

And as fascinating as qubits, superposition, entanglement and other quantum phenomena might be, for most of us this will come as welcome news.

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What is quantum computing? Everything you need to know about the strange world of quantum computers - ZDNet

When crypto investors discuss quantum computing, they invariably worry about its potential to undermine encryption. Quantum computers alone do not pose such a mortal threat, however. Its their capacity to exploit Shors algorithm that makes them formidable.

Thats because Shors algorithm can factor large prime numbers, the security behind asymmetric encryption.

Another quantum algorithm can potentially undermine the blockchain as well. Grovers algorithm helps facilitate quantum search capabilities, enabling users to quickly find values among billions of unstructured data points at once.

Unlike Shors algorithm, Grovers algorithm is more of a threat to cryptographic hashing than encryption. When cryptographic hashes are compromised, both blockchain integrity and block mining suffer.

Collision Attacks

One-way hash functions help to make a blockchain cryptographically secure. Classical computers cannot easily reverse-engineer them. They would have to find the correct arbitrary input that maps to a specific hash value.

Using Grovers algorithm, a quantum attacker could hypothetically find two inputs that produce the same hash value. This phenomenon is known as a hash collision.

By solving this search, a blockchain attacker could serendipitously replace a valid block with a falsified one. Thats because, in a Proof-of-Work system, the current blocks hash can verify the authenticity of all past blocks.

This kind of attack remains a distant threat, however. Indeed, achieving a cryptographic collision is far more challenging than breaking asymmetric encryption.

Mining Threats

A somewhat easier attack to pull off using Grovers algorithm involves proof-of-work mining.

Using Grovers search algorithm, a quantum miner can mine at a much faster rate than a traditional miner. This miner could generate as much Proof-of-Work as the rest of the network combined. Consequently, the attacker could effectively take over the blockchain and force consensus on any block they selected.

Story continues

A quantum miner might also use Grovers search algorithm to help facilitate the guessing of a nonce. The nonce is the number that blockchain miners are solving for, in order to receive cryptocurrency. Thats because Grovers algorithm provides a quadratic speedup over a classical computer (for now, ASIC-based mining remains considerably faster).

How fast is a quadratic speedup? Roughly stated, if a classical computer can solve a complex problem in the time of T, Grovers algorithm will be able to solve the problem in the square root of T (T).

Thus, any miner who can solve the nonce faster than other miners will be able to mine the blockchain faster as well.

Grovers algorithm could also be used to speed up the generation of nonces. This capability would allow an attacker to quickly reconstruct the chain from a previously modified block (and faster than the true chain), .In the end, a savvy attacker could substitute this reconstructed chain for the true chain.

Grovers algorithm may ultimately help make Proof-of-Work obsolete. Thats because there is no possible PoW system that is not susceptible to Grover speed-up. In the end, quantum actors will always have an advantage over classical ones in PoW-based blockchains. (allowing them) to either mine more effectively or (instigate) an attack (source).

Proof-of-Work Weaknesses

As bitcoin matures, the weaknesses inherent within PoW become ever-more evident. Miners are pitted against each other as if in a never-ending arms race This arms race is incentivized by the ability of larger mining pools to achieve economies of scale, a cost advantage that quickly erodes the capacity of individual miners to survive.

Of course, Proof-of-Stake is not without flaws. For instance, critics assert that it favors larger stakeholders (hence the claim that it enables the rich to get richer). These critics neglect to note that PoW is amenable to the same strategy (albeit with miners).

As this arms race comes to a head, any miner with the resources to do so will use quantum computing to achieve a competitive advantage. Combined with Grovers algorithm, a quantum-based miner would outperform other miners (most likely, small-and medium-sized miners). .

With access to quadratic speedup, any PoW coin will inevitably fall under the control of mega-cap institutions and governments. If so, regular investors and mid to large-cap enterprises risk getting priced out of the market. In particular, their devices will be either too expensive or prone to excessive regulation (much the same way that PGP encryption once was).

Summary

Shors algorithm undoubtedly poses the most immediate threat to bitcoin (namely, the potential to break ECDSA, its digital signature algorithm). Grovers algorithm is a distant second in this respect.

Grovers algorithm may someday pose a formidable challenge to PoW mining, however. And it could conceivably threaten cryptographic hashing as well. Any algorithm powerful enough to reverse engineer hash values would invariably undermine PoW itself.

Quantum Resistant Ledger (QRL) will ultimately offer protection against both.

For instance, a quantum-safe digital signature scheme named XMSS safeguards the coin from Shors algorithm.

Likewise, the QRL team will rely on Proof-of-Stake to head off mining-based attacks using Grovers search algorithm.

As you can see, the QRL team is thoroughly preparing for a post-quantum future. Their mission is an increasingly urgent one, as quantum computing continues to advance by leaps and bounds.

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2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Is Bitcoin (BTC) Safe from Grover's Algorithm? - Yahoo Finance

KINGSTON, R.I. July 22, 2021 The University of Rhode Island will host more than a dozen international experts in the growing field of quantum information science in October for the inaugural Frontiers in Quantum Computing conference in celebration of the launch of URIs new masters degree program in quantum computing.

The conference, which will take place Oct. 18-20 on URIs picturesque Kingston Campus amid fall foliage, will feature daily talks and a panel focusing on the future of quantum computing, current developments and research, and educational initiatives for future leaders in the field.

We are bringing key quantum information science leaders from all sectorsgovernment, academia and industryto URI to present the latest developments and frontiers in the theoretical and experimental aspects of quantum computing, said Vanita Srinivasa, assistant professor of physics and director of URIs new Quantum Information Science Program. This is not only the inaugural event for our new degree. This will mark the first major conference on quantum computing for the region, and we want to establish Rhode Island as a center of quantum information science.

URIs new Master of Science in Quantum Computing is a meaningful step not only for our regions quantum workforce developmentbut also for the U.S. and global quantum ecosystem, said Christopher Savoie 92, founder and chief executive officer of Zapata Computing, who is a member of the conference steering committee and will be one of the speakers at the conference. This inaugural conference is a pioneering effort on the Universitys part to launch a regional center for quantum computingand its amazing to return to campus with some of our fields greatest contributors.

The list of speakers includes U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, who will deliver an address on the opening day of the conference, along with pioneers from across the U.S. as well as from Canada, Europe, and Australia. They will provide a look into different areas of quantum computing. They include:

With the launch of URIs masters program in quantum computing, education will be a focus of the conference, and college and high school students are encouraged to attend to learn more about the opportunities in the field and to make professional connections. Among the speakers focusing on education will be Professor Chandralekha Singh, president of the American Association of Physics Teachers. Also, students and postdoctoral scientists are invited to present their own work through research posters.

Leonard Kahn, chair of the URI Physics Department, says given the interdisciplinary nature of quantum computing, the conference will be of interest to a wide audience.

The future of quantum computing will impact us all as we go forward. People will come away from this conference with a far broader understanding of the topic, said Kahn. We hope to encourage the full URI community and all the high schools to attend. Well have talks on education, and our round-table discussion on the future of quantum computing will present a diverse group of people describing their views of the future. I think that will be enlightening to the general community. This is not just for people in physics. This not only affects the STEM disciplines, but also philosophy and the humanities.

The conference is planned as a primarily in-person event. But given the uncertainty of the pandemic and its impact on travel, some speakers may be virtual, and plans for a hybrid format are in place.

Along with Zapata Computing, sponsors for Frontiers in Quantum Computing include IBM and D-Wave both pioneers in the development of quantum computers. Sponsorship opportunities are still available. For more information, contact Leonard Kahn at lenkahn@uri.edu.

New masters program

The 38-credit Master of Science in Quantum Computing program, which starts in the fall as part of the Physics Departments new Quantum Information Science Program, aligns with the goals of the National Quantum Initiative Act. The act highlights the need for researchers, educators and students and for the growth of multidisciplinary curricula and research opportunities in quantum-based technologies.

The program, which builds on URIs strengths in quantum information science, optics and nanophysics, is geared toward students with a bachelors degree in physics or a closely related discipline and a basic understanding of quantum mechanics.

What makes the program unique in the U.S. is that a student can come in as a freshman and in five years graduate with both a bachelors degree in physics and a Master of Science in Quantum Computing, Kahn said.

Students graduating from the program can either use the degree as a direct route into the quantum computing industry or as preparation for doctoral studies. The non-thesis program includes specialized coursework in quantum computing and complementary graduate-level coursework in physics. The program also allows students the flexibility to tailor their studies to pursue interests in mathematics, computer science, and engineering through the programs interdisciplinary curriculum.

In addition, the program has established partnerships with industrial firms, such as Zapata Computing, as well as national labs and institutes that will help students take part in collaborative research projects and internships to ensure they are prepared to enter the workforce or to pursue further studies in the rapidly advancing field.

There are several major quantum computing efforts in New England, and students will have access to that, said Srinivasa. They will have access to industry and government internships that will give them hands-on, experiential learning, along with opportunities to pursue research with University faculty and their collaborators in this field.

Frontiers in Quantum Computing, lectures and the panel discussion on the future of quantum computing are free and open to the public but registration is required. To learn more about the conference or to register, go to the Frontiers in Quantum Computing webpage. For more information on the masters program, email Leonard Kahn at lenkahn@uri.edu or Vanita Srinivasa at vsriniv@uri.edu.

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URI to host international experts for conference on future of quantum computing - URI Today

Futuristic Technology and Disruptive Technologies Worldwide as Concept

Earlier this summer, the Atlantic Councils GeoTech Center published a new bipartisan report of Commission on the Geopolitical Impacts of New Technologies and Data (www.atlanticcouncil.org/geotechreport). Fourteen months in the making, the bipartisan recommendations highlight that the technological revolution is advancing at such speed and enormity that it is reshaping both societies globally and the geopolitical landscape.

We are now entering a new era of emerging connected technologies that blend engineering, computing algorithms, and culture. Along with connected computing comes new capabilities enabled by machine learning and artificial intelligence. This technology convergence will be immensely impactful. Human/computer interface will extend our human brain capacities, memories, and capabilities, and that the power of computing doubles, on average, every two years. These connected technology tools can be stepping-stones to a new world in diverse areas such as genetic engineering, augmented reality, robotics, renewable energies, big data, digital security, quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

If you think about the transformative role that technology is already playing in our lives, it is easy to envision how emerging technologies can proceed in effecting societal change. We are in the early stages of profound technological innovation namely the digital revolution, the Internet of Things, health and medicine, and manufacturing. It is no exaggeration to say we are on the cusp of scientific and technological advancements that will change the human condition. Incredibly, technology continues to evolve at a pace we could not have envisioned even two decades ago, and these advancements can greatly improve our lives if we harness them properly.

The GeoTech Commission Report poignantly states that the world must now start to understand how technology and data interact with society and how to implement solutions that address these challenges and grasp these opportunities. For example, data analytics has the potential to improve healthcare by identifying the best pathways in treatments and administration of patient medicines, as well as predicting the spread of the flu. In commerce and trade, data analytics can predict when and what consumers are buying. The mathematical applications used in analyzing large data sets can be used to predict societal change at almost every level of human interaction.

Collaboration is Key:

A thematic takeaway from the Commission co-chaired by John Goodman and Teresa Carlson was the urgent need for collaboration and that governments, industries and other stakeholders must work together to remain economically competitive, sustain social welfare and public safety, protect human rights and democratic processes, and preserve global peace and stability.

Success in these cooperative public private partnerships is dependent on information sharing,planning,investment in emerging technologies,and allocation of resources coordinated by both the public and private sectorsinspecial workingpartnerships.

The result of such collaboration will both keep us apprised of new paradigms and contribute to a seismic shift in breakthrough discoveries. Such cooperation could speed up the realization of the next industrial revolution and bring benefits beyond our expectations.

Personal information concept. Group of engineer.

Technologies can impact society across many industry verticals. For example

Health & Medicine

Abstract luminous DNA molecule. Doctor using tablet and check with analysis chromosome DNA genetic ... [+] of human on virtual interface. Medicine. Medical science and biotechnology.

*Health- Implantable devices, (bionic eyes, limbs)

*DNA nanomedicines

*Genomic techniques gene therapy (Gene therapy to enhance strength, endurance and lifespan Gene therapy to enhance human intelligence

*Remote sensing tech (Wearables)

*Medicine for longevity, enhancement

*Real-time biomarker tracking and monitoring

*Artificially grown organ

*Human regeneration Human cells interfaced with nanotech

*Cybernetics

*Exoskeletons for mobility

*Telemedicine

Transportation:

Global business logistics import export background and container cargo freight ship transport ... [+] concept

*Sustainability of infrastructure

* Converged transportation ecosystems and monitoring

*Autonomous and connected cars

*Predictive analytics (parking, traffic patterns)

* Smart Cities

Ecology concept. Hand holding light bulb against nature on green leaf with icons energy sources for ... [+] renewable, sustainable development, save energy.

Energy & Environment:

*New Materials for stronger construction and resilience

*Solar power

*Converting waste to biofuels

*Protecting the Electrical Grid

*Batteries (long lasting)

*Renewables

*Energy efficiency.

*Instrumenting the planet to respond to crises faster

Professional policemen tracing group of bandits in room of video monitoring watching movements on ... [+] city map while other colleagues working

Public Safety:

*Instrumenting the planet to respond to crises faster

*Better situational awareness for emergency management (chemical and bio sensors, cameras, drones)

*License plate readers

*Non-lethal public safety technologies

*Advanced forensics, both physical and digital

*Interoperable and secure communications

future technologies

Please also see: GovCon Expert Chuck Brooks: A Guide to Emerging Technologies Impacting Government in 2021 and Beyond GovCon Expert Chuck Brooks: A Guide for Emerging Technologies Impacting Government in 2021 and Beyond - GovCon WireFour Emerging Technology Areas Impacting Industry 4.0 Advanced Computing, Artificial intelligence, Big Data & Materials Science COGNITIVE WORLD

In the GeoTech Commission report there are several areas of specialized cooperation that get attention, including two of the biggest threats that society faces today, pandemics, and cyber-attacks.

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Mitigating Pandemics:

As we are now acutely aware of the implications of a global pandemic from Covid19, The Commission suggested that government should launch a global pandemic surveillance and warning system and develop rapid and automated treatments for unknown pathogens. It should also build a digital infrastructure that includes, among other systems, emerging biosensors and autonomous sequencers deployed in water systems, air filtration systems and other public infrastructureto integrate their diverse data for analysis and modeling with protocols for activating rapid analysis of new pathogens, including new strains of extant pathogens to evaluate ongoing vaccine efficacy,

Cyber Security and Digital Data Protection Concept. Icon graphic interface showing secure firewall ... [+] technology for online data access defense against hacker, virus and insecure information for privacy.

Implementing Cybersecurity:

Cybersecurity is a big focus area of the report. Cybersecurity, information assurance, and resilience are the glues that will keep our world of converged sensors and algorithms operational. This has become one of the largest areas of both public and private sector spending and is consistently ranked the top priority among CIOs, CTOs, and CISOs.

The commission urged for strengthening the National Cyber Strategy Implementation Plan, developing a geopolitical cyber deterrence strategy for critical digital assets and hardening the security of commercial space capabilities. To advance security, the government should increase its oversight of supply chain assurance, organize data on critical resources, and with allied partners, evaluate the physical and digital information technology supply chain.

Furthermore, the report highlighted that Governments, especially democratic governments, must work to build and sustain the trust in the algorithms, infrastructures and systems that could underpin society, the commission noted. The world must now start to understand how technology and data interact with society and how to implement solutions that address these challenges and grasp these opportunities. Maintaining both economic and national security and resiliency requires new ways to develop and deploy critical and emerging technologies, cultivate the needed human capital, build trust in the digital fabric with which our world will be woven and establish norms for international cooperation.

We have entered a new renaissance of accelerated technological development that is exponentially transforming our civilization. Yet with these benefits come risks. The Atlantic Council Commission Report provides a working roadmap on the Geopolitical Impact of emerging technology and the correct paths to follow.

Please see the Report of the Commission on the Geopolitical Impacts of New Technologies and Data atReport of the Commission on the Geopolitical Impacts of New Technologies and Data - Atlantic Council

Atlantic Council Report of the Commission on the Geopolitical Impacts of New Technologies and Data

Dr. David A. Bray has served in a variety of leadership roles in turbulent environments, including bioterrorism preparedness and response from 2000-2005, time on the ground in Afghanistan in 2009, serving as the non-partisan Executive Director for a bipartisan National Commission on R&D, and providing leadership as a non-partisan federal agency Senior Executive. He accepted a leadership role in December 2019 to incubate a new global Center with the Atlantic Council.

David also provides strategy to both Boards and start-ups espousing human-centric principles to technology-enabled decision making in complex environments. Business Insider named him one of the top 24 Americans Who Are Changing the World under 40 and he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum for 2016-2021. From 2017 to the start of 2020, David served as Executive Director for the People-Centered Internet coalition Chaired by Internet co-originator Vint Cerf, focused on providing support and expertise for community-focused projects that measurably improve peoples lives using the internet. He also was named a Marshall Memorial Fellow and traveled to Europe in 2018 to discuss Trans-Atlantic issues of common concern including exponential technologies and the global future ahead. Later in 2018, he was invited to work with the U.S. Navy and Marines on improving organizational adaptability and to work with U.S. Special Operation Commands J5 Directorate on the challenges of countering misinformation and disinformation online. He has received both the Joint Civilian Service Commendation Award and the National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medal.

Dr. David Bray LinkedIn Profile:

AC GeoTech Center on Twitter:@ACGeoTech

Chuck Brooks, President of Brooks Consulting International, is a globally recognized thought leader and subject matter expert Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies. LinkedIn named Chuck as one of The Top 5 Tech People to Follow on LinkedIn. He was named by Thompson Reuters as a Top 50 Global Influencer in Risk, Compliance, and by IFSEC as the #2 Global Cybersecurity Influencer. He was featured in the 2020 Onalytica "Who's Who in Cybersecurity" as one of the top Influencers for cybersecurity issues. He was also named one of the Top 5 Executives to Follow on Cybersecurity by Executive Mosaic.He is also a Cybersecurity Expert for The Network at the Washington Post, Visiting Editor at Homeland Security Today, Expert for Executive Mosaic/GovCon, and a Contributor to FORBES. He has also been featured author in technology and cybersecurity blogs & events by IBM, AT&T, Microsoft, Cylance, Xerox, Malwarebytes, General Dynamics Mission Systems, and many others.

Chuck is on the Faculty of Georgetown University where he teaches in the Graduate Applied Intelligence and Cybersecurity Risk Programs. In government, Chuck was a plank holder at The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) serving as the first Legislative Director of The Science & Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security. He served as a top Advisor to the late Senator Arlen Specter on Capitol Hill coveringsecurity and technology issues on Capitol Hill. He has an M.A from the University of Chicago and a B.A. from DePauw University

Chuck Brooks LinkedIn Profile:

Chuck Brooks on Twitter:@ChuckDBrooks

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A Roadmap On The Geopolitical Impact Of Emerging Technologies By Chuck Brooks And Dr. David Bray - Forbes