Quantum News Briefs August 13: Two IBM-developed algorithms announced as world’s 1st post-quantum cryptography standards • Quantum algorithm outperforms current method of identifying healthy livers for transplant • BlueQubit and Quantum Art receive BIRD Foundation grant for quantum computing innovation with a $2.2M budget • Q-CTRL partners with Indian state of Tamil Nadu for quantum workforce training • Senate Bill Would Authorize $2.5B for Quantum Research at DoE
News Briefs:
Two IBM-developed algorithms announced as world’s 1st post-quantum cryptography standards
Two IBM-developed algorithms have been officially formalized within the world’s first three post-quantum cryptography standards, which were published today by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as per the August 13 news announcement from IBM.
The standards include three post-quantum cryptographic algorithms: two of them, ML-KEM (originally known as CRYSTALS-Kyber) and ML-DSA (originally CRYSTALS-Dilithium) were developed by IBM researchers in collaboration with several industry and academic partners. The third published algorithm, SLH-DSA (initially submitted as SPHINCS+) was co-developed by a researcher who has since joined IBM. Additionally, a fourth IBM-developed algorithm, FN-DSA (originally called FALCON), has been selected for future standardization.
NIST’s newly published standards are designed to safeguard data exchanged across public networks, as well as for digital signatures for identity authentication. Now formalized, they will set the standard as the blueprints for governments and industries worldwide to begin adopting post-quantum cybersecurity strategies.
Quantum algorithm outperforms current method of identifying healthy livers for transplant
Terra Quantum, a leader in quantum technology solutions, has developed a new image analysis system that performs better than classical methods in identifying healthy livers that are the best candidates for transplantation while protecting patient privacy.This algorithm represents the core of a computer-aided diagnosis system that could provide a doctor with a heat map illustrating the health of a person’s liver. A physician could use this quantum-powered, computer-aided diagnosis system in combination with medical imaging devices to determine the development of the disease faster.
BlueQubit and Quantum Art receive BIRD Foundation grant for quantum computing innovation with a $2.2M budget
BlueQubit Inc. and Quantum Art Ltd. have been awarded a grant from the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation to develop and optimize quantum machine learning algorithms and quantum processor configuration methods as per the August 12 news release. The BIRD Foundation funds and facilitates cooperation between U.S. and Israeli companies across a wide range of technology sectors. The Foundation supports projects without taking any equity or intellectual property rights. BIRD funding is repaid through royalties from sales of products that were commercialized with BIRD support.
The project is one of six approved by the BIRD Foundation, with a budget of $2.2 million over two years for quantum computing innovation. The BIRD Foundation funds and facilitates cooperation between U.S. and Israeli companies across a wide range of technology sectors. The Foundation supports projects without taking any equity or intellectual property rights. BIRD funding is repaid through royalties from sales of products that were commercialized with BIRD support.
BlueQubit, a California-based quantum computing company specializing in quantum software simulations, and Quantum Art, an Israeli company developing scalable quantum computers based on trapped ion qubits, aim to create innovative algorithms and optimize quantum processor configurations, potentially accelerating advancements in finance, pharmaceuticals, image analysis, and security.
PolarisQB announces integration of virtual libraries from Liverpool ChiroChem into quantum-aided drug design
Polaris Quantum Biotech (PolarisQB), a leader in Quantum Computing for drug discovery, announced the integration of Virtual Libraries and Fragmentation schemes from chemical technology innovator Liverpool ChiroChem into their Quantum-Aided Drug Design (QuADD) platform in August 12 news release.
QuADD, released by PolarisQB in 2023, is the first computational chemistry platform to utilize the increased optimization power of today’s quantum computing to search a massive chemical space of over a nonillion (10^30) potential molecular combinations to identify novel candidates for drug discovery. This allows teams to narrow the molecular options for a particular protein pocket and ligand structure from this massive chemical space to a library of a few hundred potential molecules in a matter of minutes rather than a matter of weeks or years.
Liverpool ChiroChem helps teams develop high-quality drugs by providing access to a 3D chemical space to support orthogonal hit-ID (VLS, DEL, FBLD) and lead optimization. With the integration of this 3D stereo defined Ultra-Large Virtual Library (ULVL) into the QuADD platform from PolarisQB, research teams can identify candidates that are immediately available for further computational research, screening, or wet lab testing.
Q-CTRL partners with Indian state of Tamil Nadu for quantum workforce training
The Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Q-CTRL today announced a partnership that kickstarts quantum education in India through a first-of-its-kind statewide rollout.
CTRL’s Black Opal, an award-winning workforce development platform for learning quantum computing, will become a mandatory learning module for engineering students within the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation’s (TNSDC) Naan Mudhalvan Upskilling Platform.
The global quantum workforce is drastically understaffed, as evidenced in a McKinsey report predicting that less than half of projected quantum computing jobs will be filled by 2025. To close the quantum skills gap, talent will need to be tapped from around the globe, and India will be a key contributor to building the quantum economy.
Black Opal makes quantum computing accessible to all — from students to software engineers, and developers to executives — through an interactive and visual online platform in which browser extensions can provide immediate language translation.
In Other News:
Meritalk reports: “Senate Bill Would Authorize $2.5B for Quantum Research at DoE”
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., introduced legislation last week that aims to advance quantum research at the Department of Energy (DoE) by authorizing $2.5 billion in funding over the next five years according to Meritalk’s Grace Dille in August 12 article.
This number is well above the $625 million for DoE-related programs laid out in the now-expired National Quantum Initiative Act of 2018, the senators said.
In addition to the funding, the bill – titled the DOE Quantum Leadership Act of 2024 – would authorize the DoE to expand its current quantum research and development (R&D) initiatives through 2029.
The senators said the legislation would direct DoE to research and address quantum supply chain challenges and reduce barriers to commercialization, as well as increase interagency and industry coordination.
It would also set up new programs to support the workforce demands of the ever-growing quantum R&D and commercial ecosystems.
