Quantum News Briefs July 14: DC-QNet Director says telecommunications the first industry to be safeguarded against post-quantum tech, ColdQuanta’s momentum, Robinson writes ‘The only mistake for corporate boards in face of quantum revolution is to do nothing’ and MORE

Quantum News Briefs opens with a NextGov interview with Gerald Borsuk, the DC-QNet executive director, who commented that “, , ,the telecommunications sector stands to be the first industry to be safeguarded against post-quantum technologies”. This is followed by news of ColdQuanta’s momentum thus far in 2022.  Then Quantum News Briefs summarizes Karina Robinson: The Only Mistake for Corporate Boards Facing the Quantum Revolution Is to Do Nothing, And MORE announcements from Zapata + Nvidia, and Quantinuum,

DC-QNet Director Says Telecommunications to Be First Industry to be Safeguarded Against Post-Quantum Technologies

Experts working on the Washington Metropolitan Quantum Network Research Consortium initiative said that fortifying U.S. communication networks ahead of the advent of quantum computing is top priority.  NextGov’s always excellent Alexandra Kelley spoke with Gerald Borsuk, the DC-QNet executive director, who said that a vast variety of fields could be impacted by the consortium’s research. Importantly, he said telecommunications sector stands to be the first industry to be safeguarded against post-quantum technologies.  NOTE: Read IQT’s DC-QNet puts the latest pin in the quantum networks map.
Borsuk told Nextgov. “However, it is fair to say that telecommunications will likely be impacted as quantum networks are deployed alongside classical networks for secure communications and precision time distribution.” Borsuk did note that the initiative will not directly work on the development of a viable quantum computer, a hot topic among emerging technologies.
The research intends to develop quantum networks which will be initially deployed at the consortium’s laboratories. Borsuk explained that fully functional quantum networks are in the early stages of scientific discovery and estimated a five to 10 year timeframe.
The six agencies participating in the consortium are the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the Naval Observatory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Security Agency, NASA and the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory. Each agency will support and fund its own research efforts within DC-QNet.

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ColdQuanta Accelerates Momentum in First Half of 2022

ColdQuanta has announced significant momentum for the first half of 2022 highlighted by business growth, technical milestones, leadership expansion and more. These accomplishments further demonstrate the company’s commitment to driving maturation of its products and its ability to leverage game-changing talent and experience.
“The momentum in which we entered the New Year, with a 140% in bookings increase and a nearly doubling of our headcount, has positioned ColdQuanta for a strong year,” said Scott Faris, ColdQuanta CEO. “ColdQuanta continues to demonstrate its industry leadership by attracting esteemed quantum experts, attaining notable product milestones, and garnering third party endorsements. These achievements are important building blocks in our effort to address some of today’s most pressing challenges with quantum technologies.”
ColdQuanta harnesses quantum mechanics to build and integrate quantum computers, sensors, and networks. From fundamental physics to leading edge commercial products, ColdQuanta enables “quantum everywhere” through an ecosystem of devices and platforms.
Noteworthy milestones over the last six months include:
Product Milestones
Expansion of Quantum Talent
Growth
Complete announcement is here.

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Zapata Computing Announces Multi-GPU Cluster Integration with NVIDIA cuQuantum

Zapata Computing has announced that a new multi-GPU cluster integration is now available to customers. The NVIDIA cuQuantum SDK of optimized libraries and tools for accelerating quantum computing workflows is now integrated with Zapata’s Orquestra platform for building quantum-ready applications.The hardware integration uses autoscaling to provision and mount GPUs on demand, avoiding unnecessary costs by provisioning only when necessary. The cuQuantum software integration allows users to simulate quantum circuit runs on GPU-accelerated systems, providing more than a 100X improvement over conventional simulators and hardware, and allowing for scaling of circuit sizes, previously limited to 20 qubits, up to 30 qubits; equivalent to a system 1,000X larger than 20 qubits.
Work continues to incorporate this functionality into the next generation of the Orquestra SDK to improve the user experience and accelerate the R&D cycle.
This integration is part of Zapata’s larger collaboration with NVIDIA, which includes the use of QODA, the quantum-classical platform recently announced by NVIDIA. QODA is a hybrid toolchain that will provide a unified quantum-classical environment to help accelerate Zapata’s ongoing research and development of quantum machine learning and optimization algorithms, targeting enterprise use cases. Read complete announcement here.

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Robinson: The Only Mistake for Corporate Boards Facing the Quantum Revolution Is to Do Nothing

Karina Robinson, founder of The City Quantum Summit and a senior adviser to Multiverse Computing, has written an editorial style review for the Financial Times that warns companies they cannot afford to be left behind  in the quantum revolution. A very brief summary is provided here by Quantum News Briefs.
Robinsin says two myths need to be laid to rest: First, it is true that quantum computers are in the early stages of development, but they are already creating value today. Already, quantum-inspired algorithms can be run on today’s classical computers to deliver significant improvements in business and financial processes. Another misconception is that a company must own an expensive quantum computer. In fact, the capabilities can be accessed via the cloud. IBM and AWS, plus a host of start-ups, are among over two dozen companies offering quantum computing as a service.
“What distinguishes quantum technology, be it software or hardware, is its ability to solve complex problems, especially those with many protagonists or agents,” she writes.
Money is pouring into the sector. In 2021 alone, this equated to $3.2bn in total private funding, including Spacs. The US is estimated to be spending over $500mn a year and the UK over £100mn annually on average since 2014. France, Germany and others have announced their own initiatives.
Robinson’s Conclusion: The only mistake for corporate boards is to do nothing.

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Quantinuum Expands Collaboration with Japanese Materials Firm JSR

Quantinuum has announced a global collaboration with materials technology leader JSR Corporation of Japan to explore the application of quantum computing methods in semiconductor research.
The collaboration brings together JSR’s world-leading materials scientists with quantum computing experts at Quantinuum in Japan, Europe, and the USA. The joint team will use the state-of-the-art InQuanto software platform to explore methods using quantum computers to model semiconducting materials, such as metal complexes and transition metal oxides.
These materials are essential to microelectronics. It is hoped that new modeling methods using quantum computers may achieve accurate predictions of their physical properties, which in the future could accelerate the identification of new candidate molecules and materials, and open the way to future microelectronic device paradigms.
One focus of the collaboration will be developing quantum algorithms and methods based on dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). This approach could provide a more accurate understanding of the electronic properties of complex organic and inorganic materials in the real world, such as optical absorption and conductivity, which could pave the way for future progress in the silicon-based information age.

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Sandra K. Helsel, Ph.D. has been researching and reporting on frontier technologies since 1990.  She has her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.