Category Archives: Quantum Computer
Precision Is Natures Gift to Technology – The Wall Street Journal
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Frank Wilczek explores the secrets of the cosmos. Read previous columns here.
Precision is a powerful tool, but it can be hard to come by. That theme, with variations, is a leitmotif of science, organic life and modern technology. It is sounding again today, at the frontier of quantum computing.
Consider biology. Complex organisms store their essential operating systemsinstructions for how to build cells and keep them goingwithin long DNA molecules. Those basic programs must be read out and translated into chemical events. Errors in translation can be catastrophic, resulting in defective, dysfunctional proteins or even in cancers. So biology has evolved an elaborate machinery of repair and proofreading to keep error rates lowaround one per billion operations. A series of complicated molecular machines examine the progress and correct mistakes, in a process aptly called proof-reading. The creation of this machinery is one of evolutions greatest achievements.
Many applications of computers also need precision. (For instance, in bank transactions its important to get passwords and transfers exactly right!) Modern computer technology came into its own when small, reliable solid-state transistors became available. Here, the basic distinction between 0 and 1 gets encoded in two alternative locations for buckets of electrons. When there are many electrons per bucket, errors in the position of one or a few dont spoil the message.
But in doing computations the computer must move the buckets around. Making those buckets of electrons smaller makes the job of moving them around easier. Indeed, the computer industrys spectacular record of ever-faster speed is largely the story of lowering the number of electrons used to make a bit; nowadays were approaching ten or fewer. Unfortunately, at this frontier the near error-immunity that stems from having many redundant electrons is less automatic. To maintain nearly error-free, precise operation, new tricks will be necessary.
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Precision Is Natures Gift to Technology - The Wall Street Journal
Protecting Powerlines And Pipelines: The Quantum Solution – Forbes
America dodged a major cyber bullet this past weekend, although the end-result of the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline has been disruptive enough, producing economic shock across the country and gas lines in the Northeast.
Still, if the still-unidentified hackers had wanted to break into the technology operating the pipeline, instead of looking for easy blackmail money; the attack could have been catastrophic with effects lasting for months, even years. Instead, operators shut down the pipeline themselves to prevent such an occurrence from happening: a clear admission of how vulnerable our energy grid is, just like our power grid, even after a decade or more of warnings.
Taken together with the weather-related Texas power outage I wrote about in this space more than a month ago, the pipeline attack is a clear and present warningwith trillions of dollars in losses at stake. Unless we get serious about protecting our power and energy infrastructure, attacks like this weekends will become more disastrous and more disruptive, until we face the worst of alla future quantum computer attack that breaks the back of the entire United States economy.
FILE: A Colonial Pipeline Co. sign at the Pelham junction and tank farm in Pelham, Alabama, U.S., on ... [+] Monday, Sept. 19, 2016. Fuel suppliers are growing increasingly nervous about the possibility of gasoline and diesel shortages across the eastern U.S. almost two days after a cyberattack knocked out a massive pipeline. Colonial Pipeline said on Sunday, May 9, 2021, that it was still developing a plan for restarting the nations largest fuel pipeline -- a critical source of supply for the New York region -- and would only bring it back when safe to do so, and in full compliance with the approval of all federal regulations. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
The government says it is really committed to action this time.But weve been here before.In 2007 we had the sweeping cyberattack on the U.S. government, including the Defense Department; an attack so comprehensive that I and others dubbed it a Cyber Pearl Harbor.More recently we had the hacking raid on OPM in 2015, affecting the records of at least 20 million federal employees.That was followed by the revelations about the Solar Winds hacks last year.
Yet here we are, still vulnerable, still exposed.Its as if after the bombs were dropped on Pearl Harbor that Sunday morning in December 1941, Americans had read about the crippling of the U.S. fleet, then rolled over and went back to sleep.
Sleeping through cyber disasters is no longer an option.Fortunately, the emerging technologies of the quantum revolution offer solutions both long-term and short-term to our worst infrastructure threatsincluding a future quantum computer attack itself.
The first solution are software algorithms that are specifically designed to protect against future quantum computer assault.Under the rubric of post-quantum cryptography (PQC), these algorithms are also insurance against conventional cyberattacks. At the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) scientists and engineers are diligently preparing national standards for PQC, which are slated to be finished by 2024 and will then be ready to deploy to protect all public encryption. These algorithms will be eagerly awaited since they will provide protection against classical hackers, as wellindeed there are companies like Canadas ISARA Corp. which have been deploying PQC algorithms already.
The second quantum solution is even closer at hand.It uses the same scientific phenomenon that makes quantum computing possiblethe entanglement of sub-atomic particlesto provide hack-proof keys for communication between end-to-end users.
Some of these quantum-based cryptographic systems use quantum random number generators to produce quantum encryption keys.Another company, Qubitekk, produces entangled photons to generate identical symmetric keys at both ends of the communication link. In either case any unauthorized intrusion into the communication immediately severs the linkand everyone knows instantly theres been an attack.
Operator at work place in the system control room
These quantum-based solutions are especially suited for the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems that control and monitor field devices from a central command center.Utilities and infrastructure companies have used SCADA for years to administer power stations and pipelines.These rely heavily on point-to-point communications for their operations, while communication protocols continually transfer data from sensors to SCADA servers, and back to the sensors.Quantum-based cryptography can offer tamper-proof protections for these protocols.Scientists at both at Oak Ridge Laboratories and Los Alamos have been working on quantum key distribution (QKD) capabilities to secure the energy sector. A range of American and European companies have successfully deployed similar quantum key networks for their clients.
Taken together, then, quantum solutions can secure systems now and in the future against quantum computer attacks.It simply doesnt make sense to spend billions on classical cyber protections that will be obsolete in 3-4 years as hackers inevitably find their way around those safeguards, instead of investing in quantum-based hack-proof protections that will last for decades.
Thanks to our on-going cyber vulnerabilities, America has become like a bank vault with the door wide open.Were simply inviting attackers, and when a truly determined predator like Russia or China steps in, it could mean ruin for the U.S. economy, not just for a few months or a year, but for good.Quantum technology may not offer all the answers, but it may be the ultimate firewall weve all been waiting forand that state and non-state hackers have been hoping we wouldnt discover.
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Protecting Powerlines And Pipelines: The Quantum Solution - Forbes
Quantum Blockchain Technologies could help transform the digital economy as we know it – Proactive Investors UK
() recently changed its name from Clear Leisure, which was more than a cosmetic alteration. Our investment programme is focused on selecting the most innovative and out-of-the-box start-ups in the blockchain and cryptocurrencies sector, with whom we will work alongside to develop exciting synergies, it said.
Below is an abridged transcript from a recent conversation with chairman Francesco Gardin, which provides a flavour of what is planned. After that is a brief explainer on quantum computing.
Let's focus on quantum [computing] first. There are few things that changed the course of mankind. Recently we witnessed the digital revolution; in the early 60s, computers were basically invented thanks to the transistor. And we are now very close to a similar revolution. [Quantum computers] could do something which are orders of magnitude superior to our digital computers. So, when you have this unlimited amount of computing power, you have no more boundaries to what you can do.
We are building a new team. If you want to use an analogy, then Formula 1 is a good one. We are trying to build the number-one car. So, we need a workshop, excellent engineers, and excellent drivers. And that is exactly what we're doing. We're setting up a workshop. Of course, it will not be a physical one, but a very well-protected data centre. We are setting up a team of experts; former students from the UCL in London and physicists from Milan University. So, we are putting together an excellent team of experts to work on our R&D. We are already working in the direction of using quantum computers and deep learning to explore mega terabytes of data related to, for example, cryptocurrencies and designing new ASIC chips. So, I mean the amount of R&D that we're going to pour into this company is massive.
Our strategy is one where we will deliver intermediate results that are very attractive not only for our own use but might also be useful for other companies too. So, some of our research will be medium- and long-term. Other parts of our research will be short-term that can be exploited with the right partner.
The mechanical and electrical interaction of a traditional computer can be distilled down to an on-off switch; or the ones and zeros that make up the binary code that powers the digisphere. These are called bits. Quantum computers use quantum bits or qubits and tap into the unique ability of subatomic participles to exist in more than one state at the same time. Insert exploding head emoji here. Long story short, using superposition (the aforementioned ability to exist in multiple states) and a process called entanglement (really, dont ask theres a link here), quantum computers can handle exponentially more data than the current supercomputers.
Quantum computers are exceedingly difficult to engineer, build and programme, an article in the Scientific American says.
As a result, they are crippled by errors in the form of noise, faults and loss of quantum coherence, which is crucial to their operation and yet falls apart before any nontrivial program has a chance to run to completion.
Its the point at which the quantum computer outperforms a traditional supercomputer.
Google in 2019 claimed it had passed the supremacy milestone one identified as early as the 1980s. This is a wonderful achievement. The engineering here is just phenomenal, Peter Knight, a physicist at Imperial College London to the NewScientist magazine. It shows that quantum computing is really hard but not impossible. It is a stepping-stone toward a big dream.
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Quantum Blockchain Technologies could help transform the digital economy as we know it - Proactive Investors UK
Aehr Test Systems Appoints Technology Industry Veteran Fariba Danesh to its Board of Directors – GlobeNewswire
FREMONT, Calif., May 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ: AEHR),a worldwide supplier of semiconductor test and reliability qualification equipment, today announced it has appointed Fariba Danesh to its board of directors, effective May 10, 2021.
Ms. Danesh is a technology industry veteran, with 30 years of executive-level technology and operating leadership in multiple enterprise and consumer hardware markets, with special emphasis on semiconductor, photonics, telecommunications, and data storage. She is currently COO at PsiQuantum, a quantum computing startup based in Palo Alto, CA that is using silicon photonics to build the world's first useful quantum computer, applying existing semiconductor and photonics manufacturing processes.
Gayn Erickson, President and CEO ofAehr Test Systems, commented, Fariba brings incredible knowledge, experience, and contacts in the compound semiconductor and optical semiconductor spaces. She is intimately aware of the challenges and critical requirements for stabilization and burn-in of these optical semiconductors and the unique value that Aehrs wafer level, singulated die and module test solutions bring to reliability testing. We are excited to have her join our Board.
Ms. Danesh said, I am very excited to be joining the Aehr Test Systems Board. With the unique capabilities of its test and burn-in solutions, particularly for the silicon carbide and silicon photonic markets, Aehr is well positioned to address the significant market opportunities ahead.
Prior to joining PsiQuantum in January 2021, Ms. Danesh served for nine years as CEO of Glo AB, a venture-funded photonics/compound semiconductor company that designs and develops semiconductor light-emitting diodes at levels of brightness suitable for general illumination applications. Prior to that, she was SVP, General Manager Fiber Optics Products Division of Avago Technologies (now Broadcom) for three years, where she had complete P&L responsibility for a $400 million annual revenue photonics business. Previous to that she served in senior executive positions at several leading technology companies, including EVP of Global Operations for Maxtor, a $3 billion annual revenue data storage company, COO of Finisar Corporation,one of the top three fiber optic communication product companies in the world, and CEO/COO of Genoa Corporation, a III-V semiconductor optical amplifier company.
With the appointment of Ms. Danesh, Aehr Test now has seven board members.
About Aehr Test SystemsHeadquartered in Fremont, California, Aehr Test Systems is a worldwide provider of test systems for burning-in and testing logic, optical and memory integrated circuits and has installed over 2,500 systems worldwide. Increased quality and reliability needs of the Automotive and Mobility integrated circuit markets are driving additional test requirements, incremental capacity needs, and new opportunities for Aehr Test products in package, wafer level, and singulated die/module level test. Aehr Test has developed and introduced several innovative products, including the ABTSTM and FOX-PTM families of test and burn-in systems and FOX WaferPakTM Aligner, FOX-XP WaferPak Contactor, FOX DiePak Carrier and FOX DiePak Loader. The ABTS system is used in production and qualification testing of packaged parts for both lower power and higher power logic devices as well as all common types of memory devices. The FOX-XP and FOX-NP systems are full wafer contact and singulated die/module test and burn-in systems used for burn-in and functional test of complex devices, such as leading-edge memories, digital signal processors, microprocessors, microcontrollers, systems-on-a-chip, and integrated optical devices. The FOX-CP system is a new low-cost single-wafer compact test and reliability verification solution for logic, memory and photonic devices and the newest addition to the FOX-P product family. The WaferPak contactor contains a unique full wafer probe card capable of testing wafers up to 300mm that enables IC manufacturers to perform test and burn-in of full wafers on Aehr Test FOX systems. The DiePak Carrier is a reusable, temporary package that enables IC manufacturers to perform cost-effective final test and burn-in of both bare die and modules. For more information, please visit Aehr Test Systems website at http://www.aehr.com.
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Aehr Test Systems Appoints Technology Industry Veteran Fariba Danesh to its Board of Directors - GlobeNewswire
Researchers confront major hurdle in quantum computing – University of Rochester
May 4, 2021
Quantum science has the potential to revolutionize modern technology with more efficient computers, communication, and sensing devices. But challenges remain in achieving these technological goals, especially when it comes to effectively transferring information in quantum systems.
A regular computer consists of billions of transistors, called bits. Quantum computers, on the other hand, are based on quantum bits, also known as qubits, which can be made from a single electron.
Unlike ordinary transistors, which can be either 0 (off) or 1 (on), qubits can be both 0 and 1 at the same time. The ability of individual qubits to occupy these so-called superposition states, where they are in multiple states simultaneously, underlies the great potential of quantum computers. Just like ordinary computers, however, quantum computers need a way to transfer quantum information between distant qubitsand that presents a major experimental challenge.
In a series of papers published in Nature Communications, researchers at the University of Rochester, including John Nichol, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy, and graduate students Yadav Kandel and Haifeng Qiao, the lead authors of the papers, report major strides in enhancing quantum computing by improving the transfer of information between electrons in quantum systems.
In one paper, the researchers demonstrated a route of transferring information between qubits, called adiabatic quantum state transfer (AQT), for the first time with electron-spin qubits. Unlike most methods of transferring information between qubits, which rely on carefully tuned electric or magnetic-field pulses, AQT isnt as affected by pulse errors and noise.
To envision how AQT works, imagine you are driving your car and want to park it. If you dont hit your brakes at the proper time, the car wont be where you want it, with potential negative consequences. In this sense, the control pulsesthe gas and brake pedalsto the car must be tuned carefully. AQT is different in that it doesnt really matter how long you press the pedals or how hard you press them: the car will always end up in the right spot. As a result, AQT has the potential to improve the transfer of information between qubits, which is essential for quantum networking and error correction.
The researchers demonstrated AQTs effectiveness by exploiting entanglementone of the basic concepts of quantum physics in which the properties of one particle affect the properties of another, even when the particles are separated by a large distance. The researchers were able to use AQT to transfer one electrons quantum spin state across a chain of four electrons in semiconductor quantum dotstiny, nanoscale semiconductors with remarkable properties. This is the longest chain over which a spin state has ever been transferred, tying the record set by the researchers in a previous Nature paper.
Because AQT is robust against pulse errors and noise, and because of its major potential applications in quantum computing, this demonstration is a key milestone for quantum computing with spin qubits, Nichol says.
In a second paper, the researchers demonstrated another technique of transferring information between qubits, using an exotic state of matter called time crystals. A time crystal is a strange state of matter in which interactions between the particles that make up the crystal can stabilize oscillations of the system in time indefinitely. Imagine a clock that keeps ticking forever; the pendulum of the clock oscillates in time, much like the oscillating time crystal.
By implementing a series of electric-field pulses on electrons, the researchers were able to create a state similar to a time crystal. They found that they could then exploit this state to improve the transfer of an electrons spin state in a chain of semiconductor quantum dots.
Our work takes the first steps toward showing how strange and exotic states of matter, like time crystals, can potentially by used for quantum information processing applications, such as transferring information between qubits, Nichol says. We also theoretically show how this scenario can implement other single- and multi-qubit operations that could be used to improve the performance of quantum computers.
Both AQT and time crystals, while different, could be used simultaneously with quantum computing systems to improve performance.
These two results illustrate the strange and interesting ways that quantum physics allows for information to be sent from one place to another, which is one of the main challenges in constructing viable quantum computers and networks, Nichol says.
Tags: Arts and Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, John Nichol, quantum computing, quantum physics
Category: Science & Technology
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Researchers confront major hurdle in quantum computing - University of Rochester
GCHQ boss is right to be keeping his eye on quantum computing – Verdict
GCHQ Director, Jeremy Fleming, said on Friday 23 April that the UK needs to prioritize advances in quantum computing if the country wants to prosper and remain secure.
Hes right. The vast amounts of data protected by RSA encryption is under threat of theft and forgery should quantum computing live up to promise.
While such peril remains years away at least, companies and governments worldwide are getting to grips with quantum computing, as the technology leaves the realm of physics laboratories and into the inboxes of presidents and prime ministers.
Classical computers, such as those in our phones, laptops, and even the worlds most powerful supercomputers, conduct computations with ones and zeros binary digits, or bits.
When presented with sufficiently complex problems, classical computers begin to struggle.
Consider this number:
25195908475657893494027183240048398571429282126204032027777137836043662020707595556264018525880784406918290641249515082189298559149176184502808489120072844992687392807287776735971418347270261896375014971824691165077613379859095700097330459748808428401797429100642458691817195118746121515172654632282216869987549182422433637259085141865462043576798423387184774447920739934236584823824281198163815010674810451660377306056201619676256133844143603833904414952634432190114657544454178424020924616515723350778707749817125772467962926386356373289912154831438167899885040445364023527381951378636564391212010397122822120720357
If we were to ask a classical, general-purpose computer which two prime numbers multiply together make this 617-digit number? it would have to essentially guess at each possible combination. Using this method, most estimates suggest it would take around 300 trillion years to crack much longer than the age of the universe. There are ways to speed this up, but this form of encryption is extremely difficult to crack classically.
This is vital for protecting important data and is the kind of problem that underpins RSA encryption which is used to protect vast amounts of data on the internet.
A quantum computer, on the other hand, could figure out the answer in seconds.
While researchers agree that you would need around a few thousand qubits to conduct such a calculation (were only around the 100-qubit mark right now), it is not beyond the realms of possibility for such a feat to be achieved this decade.
With vast use cases, ranging from artificial intelligence (AI) to weather forecasting, quantum computings potential encryption-cracking capabilities should put the technology firmly on the priority list for world leaders and security chiefs.
In the Vincent Briscoe Lecture, Fleming made frequent mention of quantum computing.
He highlighted that a small percentage of technologies must be truly sovereign to retain the UKs strategic technical advantage, and quantum computing is no doubt a core part of this. The elements of cryptographic technology that are a part of these technologies was no doubt an allusion to quantum computing. The country, or corporation, that possess the first full-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer will be the biggest threat to cryptography the world has ever seen.
Fleming will undoubtably be aware of Chinas quantum supremacy announcement in December 2020, in which a team at the University of Science and Technology of China performed a calculation with a photonic quantum computer 100 trillion times the speed of classical supercomputers.
While photonic devices are so far unprogrammable, in that each can only perform one specific calculation, the progress in China is a wake-up call for Western powers to get to grips with the technology.
The UK is among the leaders in the West, in both spending and academic prowess, but Chinas $15bn of investments into quantum technologies dwarfs the rest of the pack President Biden will no doubt be keeping a close eye on developments in this nascent industry.
Quantum computing is no doubt going to develop significantly as a theme over the coming years, as recent developments indicate. Governments and corporations alike must now take steps to engage, or risk falling behind.
Integer factorization is just one of the applications of quantum computing, in what is becoming a rich ecosystem of research and development. GlobalDatas quantum computing value chain sets out the segments of this growing industry.Related Report Download the full report from GlobalData's Report StoreGet the Report
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GCHQ boss is right to be keeping his eye on quantum computing - Verdict
IonQ Announces Full Integration of its Quantum Computing Platform with Qiskit – CIO Applications
IonQ is the only company that provides access to its quantum computing platform via both the Amazon Braket and Microsoft Azure clouds, as well as through direct API access.
FREMONT, CA: IonQ announced full integration of its quantum computing platform with Qiskit, an open-source quantum software development kit, or SDK. Qiskit users can now submit programs directly to IonQ's platform without writing any new code. Through the Qiskit Partner Program, this new integration makes IonQ's high-connectivity high-fidelity 11 qubit system available to the 275,000+ enterprise, government, startup, partner, and university members already using Qiskit to create and run quantum programs.
As part of the announcement, IonQ has released an open-source provider library that integrates seamlessly with Qiskit, which can be found on the Qiskit Partners GitHub organization or downloaded via The Python Package Index. Qiskit users with an IonQ account will be able to run their quantum programs on IonQ's cloud quantum computing platform with little to no modificationsimply change the code to point to the IonQ backend and run as usual.
"IonQ is excited to make our quantum computers and APIs easily accessible to the Qiskit community," said IonQ CEO & President Peter Chapman. "Open source has already revolutionized traditional software development. With this integration, we're bringing the world one step closer to the first generation of widely-applicable quantum applications."
This integration builds on IonQ's ongoing success. IonQ recently entered into a merger agreement with dMY Technology Group, Inc. III to go public at an expected valuation of approximately $2 billion. IonQ also recently released a product roadmap setting out its plans to develop modular quantum computers small enough to be networked together in 2023, which could pave the way for broad quantum advantage by 2025. Last year, the company unveiled a new $5.5 million, 23,000 square foot Quantum Data Center in Maryland's Discovery District and announced the development of the world's most powerful quantum computer, featuring 32 perfect atomic qubits with low gate errors and an expected quantum volume greater than 4,000,000.
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IonQ Announces Full Integration of its Quantum Computing Platform with Qiskit - CIO Applications
Meet the Barclays MD working to transform finance through distributed ledgers and quantum computing – Business Insider
Dr. Lee Braine has spent the past seven years working across Barclays' wealth management, markets, and corporate and investment banking divisions but his job couldn't be further from that of your typical City of London broker or trader.
A managing director in the bank's chief technology office, London-based Braine is responsible for research and engineering across corporate, investment, and retail banking. He has a special focus on distributed ledger technology, like blockchain, as well as quantum computing.
Insider sat down for a virtual chat with Braine who was named one of Business Insider's 100 Transformers to discuss what he's working on and where the industry is going next.
Transcript has been edited for clarity and length:
Insider: You're not an average banker. You're a computer scientist by training. Can you tell me a bit more about your background?
Braine: I have a PhD from University College London in computer sciencethe particular topic was object-oriented functional programming. I used that research knowledge in banking, and that included, for example, working with financial market infrastructures when I was in my twenties to produce new architectures and new optimization algorithms. In this case, it was for securities settlement. After that, I spent quite a few years working in technology management.
Within Barclays, for these last 7 years, I've been working on technology innovation. The typical thing I've been working on is responsibility for advanced technologies that Barclays needs to be up to speed on. We work closely with a variety of stakeholders, not just [technology] vendors, but also very closely with official institutions, including central banks, regulators, and the government on the potential of these new technologies, and the risks and any issues that may lie with them.
Insider: Let's talk about distributed ledgersyou lead Barclays' efforts there. Why is Barclays interested in distributed ledgers like the blockchain?
Braine: Interest was initially sparked about 5-6 years ago when we were looking at bitcoin from a technology perspective. That means not as an investable asset, but at other interesting, novel technologies underlying bitcoin that could be repurposed in more traditional financial services. There are several features of bitcoin that inspire a different way of working: at the lowest level, there may be things such as consensus algorithms, hashing technique, the chain of blocksall of those types of low-level technical things that everybody learned about in the last few years from blockchain. But higher up, there are new ways of working, almost new market models that get inspired by cryptocurrency.
For example, currently, financial market infrastructures are centralized financial institutions, and their technology is centralizedthey've got centralized databases and centralized processing. The decentralized nature of something like bitcoin has inspired people. Could we have a different model of the market? Could we imagine decentralizing, not just the technology, but also some of the rights and obligations of participating in such a network? So to make that abstract idea a bit more concrete: imagine if you've got a clearing house, and currently we send all our trades to the clearing house, it performs the processing and sends us back the result. Imagine if, instead, each of the participants formed a network, they operated peer-to-peer, and that peer-to-peer model then gets translated down into the technical solution. So that's a different way of workingyou can call that a distributed financial market infrastructure.
It's a big infrastructure change to the marketso why bother? What we see is quite a few potential benefits. These include radical simplification and rationalization. Another thread is you're able to speed up settlement times.
Insider: Tell me about Utility Settlement Coin and the Fnality investment.
Braine: The consortium was originally called Utility Settlement Coin, and then, about 2 years ago, a group of financial institutions so 14 banks and one exchange strategically invested to create the new entity, which was Fnality International. They're building a new payment system, and this is going to offer peer-to-peer settlements using an underlying blockchain platform. The money that moves on it will be one-to-one backed by funds that have been pre-deposited at a central bank, so it's effectively a pre-funding model. It allows a number of benefits in terms of settlement.
For example, you could continue operating outside of the window when the real time gross settlementRTGSis closed at the central bank. You could, for example, connect to other tokenized assets to allow atomic swap between them. If you had Fnality representing the payment leg on a payment blockchain, you could imagine a security leg on a security blockchain and the two of them could do instant settlement with the appropriate interconnect between the two. A key point here is that the money being backed by funds at the central bank means that there's lower risks associated with such payments.
Insider: You also work with the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), right?
Braine: Yes. One of the things we've been progressing for a few years relates to a new standard for data and processing, and it's called the ISDA Common Domain Model. This model effectively provides a standard industry representation for events in the lifecycle of a trade. Currently, each institution builds their own solutions, so effectively, there's variation in how you code itsome may code in Java and others may code in C++, so different programming languages. They may store the data in different types of databases, and they may enrich the data with extra fields. So you've got variation there. Then, over time, each institution must manage and maintain its data stores. So across the industry, the same high-level functionality is implemented slightly differently on slightly different data sets. And each time there's a lifecycle event, they all need to sync up and reconcile to make sure that, yes, what's been affected in terms of an event, the before and after, is consistent.
That's incredibly inefficient as a solution. Imagine we had a browser for the internet, and each bank built their own browser, right? Of course we don't do that. We have a common browser, Chrome or Internet Explorer, we download it, we use it. So that same philosophy is being applied here. A distributed ledger de facto defines the common data structure that you all must use. And smart contract technology is a common process that they must all follow.
You then start getting the opportunity to transform the industry, and all the participants. And those opportunities don't come up very often. So I think we're living in interesting times where this technology is just reaching the right degree of maturity, and there's also appetite from the market participants to reduce costs.
Insider: Ok, tell me more about smart contracts, which I know you also research.
Braine: There are many, many business processes that could benefit from the rigor and standardization that smart contracts would bring. To give one example, interest rate swaps. So a few years ago, about 4 years ago, my team prototyped an interest rate swap from end to end. Complete end-to-end processing naturally fits with the idea of a smart contract, meaning the data that you construct at the beginning just flows throughyou don't transform it, you don't switch it into completely different systems.
The way I like to view it is, smart means automatable, and contract means enforceable. Other good use-cases include trade finance, loans, bonds, and syndicated loans. It's easy to identify 101 use cases for smart contracts; the challenge is identifying viable business cases where the industry can move together in concert, given that these are consortium plays, so you need your peers to be similarly motivated at the same time to grasp at the same propositions.
Insider: What sort of work are you doing in quantum computing?
Braine: Barclays started exploring quantum computing back in summer 2017. We did that by partnering with IBM. We set up a joint development project, and our goal initially was to learn more about quantum computing. It's a phenomenally complex topic, where even those that have quantitative research backgrounds find it challenging to understand the details.
We decided for our first proof of concept that we would look at a settlement optimization problem. This is a particular challenge where a market infrastructure looks to optimize the settlement of a batch of securities transactions. A typical batch may have 50,000 transactions, you've got many potential combinations that you could settle, and you need to work out what is the best combination. It's a problem that you typically can't solve perfectly, so you often run an optimization algorithm for long enough in order to solve it well enough, and then you repeat the batch later.
We were inspired by [the question]: could a quantum algorithm on a quantum computer solve that problem perfectly, or perhaps better than the classical ones? We looked at candidate quantum algorithms, we worked with IBM to implement an algorithm, we constructed candidate scenarios to run through test data, and we got the results. The key takeaway is that, for the first time, an algorithm has been run for settling securities transactions on a quantum computer. Obviously, it's only just test data and very small scale, so it's more of a proof of concept, but we've demonstrated that the proof of concept works.
In terms of next steps, we're currently exploring quantum machine learning. How many more buzzwords could you get into one conversation, right? We've run our first experiment comparing quantum and classical versions, and in the next couple of months, we'll be looking to publicly release our initial findings.
Insider: In real terms, what benefits might quantum computing bring to Barclays? And when?
Braine: We need to extrapolate for when we think the hardware will be sufficiently mature to be able to run real-world use cases. For perspective, we think that will be in the range of 4-8 years from now.
In terms of the type of benefits, it's almost like adding a special maths co-processor, and it's able to perform a number of functionsit's able to perform an optimization process faster than a traditional classical computer, or it's able to perform the process and get a higher-quality result. So this could be optimizing which assets you put in a portfolio, or running a number of Monte Carlo optimizations as part of a risk model. These types of things often require huge compute resources.
And that's why we're exploring this for researchnot because we think it could be perfectly used in the next year or two, but because we're learning, building a foundation. I would almost call it quantum awareness, where we're raising our awareness so that we could leverage it when the powerful machines come along in a few years' time that we could use for real world use cases.
Insider: Where is financial technology going next? How does that fit with traditional banking?
Braine: There are a number of key themes, one being machine learning and artificial intelligence. So the application of that technology, we've seen it deployed with fantastic effect, whether that's search or shopping or similar. There's great opportunity for those technologies to also be applied within financial services, particularly to further improve the customer experience.
Other key technologies include cloud computing.
Insider: Are you worried about disruption from tech startups?
Disruption is at the heart of my day job. We're often looking to see what technologies have potential for disruption, and to see how we could leverage or partner with third parties that have such potentially disruptive technologiesand also to understand the risks and potential issues that are associated with themso that we're able to have a sensible position in order to be able to advise the business.
Often if we're going to pick certain technologies, it may well be the case that what's viewed as a potential disruptor to Barclays could also be viewed as a potential partnership opportunity in terms of optimizing and improving some of our own internal processes.
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Meet the Barclays MD working to transform finance through distributed ledgers and quantum computing - Business Insider
These Emerging Technologies Interest Developers the Most – Dice Insights
Which emerging technologies interest developers the most? Thats a key question, since technologies need that kind of developer momentum in order to break into the mainstream.
SlashDatas State of the Developer Nation, as part of its survey of 19,000 developers in 155 countries, asked which emerging technologies engaged them the most. As you might expect, developers turn out to be an inquisitive group: roughly half of those queried were working on, learning about, or interested in robotics,mini apps, and computer vision (which is a vital component in self-driving cars, drones, and other technologies).
Nearly as many were also engaged with cryptocurrencies, blockchain applications outside of cryptocurrency, drones, biometrics for ID verification, 5G, and quantum computing. Heres the full chart:
Although a majority of developers are fascinated by a range of technologies, though, few have actually adopted them into their current projects. For each of the emerging technologies we have discussed, there are different barriers to widespread adoption, notes the report. For many, the barriers are technologicalthe advances needed to bring quantum or DNA computing to the mainstream are many years away, but there are also social, cultural, and even legislative barriers which will impede progress.
Indeed, a recent analysis of data from Burning Glass, which collects and analyzes millions of job postings from across the country, notes that only avery small percentage of popular technologist jobs require blockchain skillsdespite the rising popularity of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Its a similar story with robotics: Although nifty robotsmake for good headlines at CES, robotics isnt ubiquitous enough to power a huge number of technologist jobs.
That could certainly change, though. LinkedIns Emerging Jobs Report, issued in December 2020, suggested that the demand for robotics and A.I. specialistswill increase dramatically over the next several years. Its also easy to see how the market for mini apps, drones, and other emerging technologies could grow by the end of the decade, especially if a company comes up with a particularly exciting consumer or business application. In technology, it always pays to stay interested in up-and-coming technologies.
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These Emerging Technologies Interest Developers the Most - Dice Insights
Australia and India team up on critical technology – ComputerWeekly.com
Australia and India have joined hands to advance the development of critical and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G networks, the internet-of-things (IoT) and quantum computing through a research grant programme.
Through the programme, the two countries hope to help shape a global technology environment that meets Australia and Indias shared vision of an open, free, rules-based Indo-Pacific region.
The first three projects in the initial round of the programme, which prioritised proposals focused on strengthening understanding of ethical frameworks and developing technical standards for critical technologies, were recently announced by Australias department of foreign Affairs and trade.
This project, led by the Centre for International Security Studies at the University of Sydney and experts such as Rajeshwari Rajagopalan of the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation and quantum physicist Shohini Ghose, aims to develop quantum accords to shape international governance of quantum technologies.
The team will build guiding principles on ethics, best practices and progressive applications of quantum technologies.
But rather than propose a formal set of universal rules, they will seek consensus among key stakeholders on what constitutes ethical or unethical behaviour, good or bad practices, productive or destructive applications for emerging quantum technologies.
The project, spearheaded by La Trobe University and Indian Institute of Technology Kampur, will provide Australian and Indian business with an ethics and policy framework when outsourcing their technology to Indian providers.
It will do by improving the understanding of how they translate being signatories of ethical codes to their actual practice. The project will also analyse the emotions and views of stakeholders expressed in social media on the ethical issues found to be important through business surveys.
In doing so, the project intends to advance knowledge in AI and cyber and critical technology, ethics and sustainability and risk by bringing together disciplines in business management and ethics, computer science and engineering, and AI and business analytics.
The outcomes expected include recommendations on revised ethical codes and practices and a framework for using AI and advanced analytics to review ethical practices of companies.
The explosive growth in wireless network usage and IoT systems is expected to accelerate. While 5G networks offer significant improvements in terms of capacity, data rates, and potential energy efficiency, there is a need to address critical privacy and security challenges.
The work will focus on the issues that arise from wireless tracking systems that rely on detecting variations in the channel state information (CSI) due to the users physical activities and wireless networking.
Based on a series of experiments in Australia and India, the project will develop a comprehensive understanding of the extent of private information and metadata exposed and related inferences. This will be used to engage with standards and regulatory agencies and government bodies to strengthen data protection regimes in Australia, India and globally.
The research will be the basis for a whitepaper detailing the emerging wireless network privacy and security threat landscape. This will be followed up with a workshop in Bangalore with key regulators, standards body officials, policy makers and researchers, with the goal of initiating action to effectively address the emerging threats.
The work will be led the University of Sydney, University of New South Wales, Orbit Australia, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Indian Institute of Technology Madras and Calligo Technologies.
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Australia and India team up on critical technology - ComputerWeekly.com