Abu Dhabi’s TII Joins Forces With Qilimanjaro To Build First Quantum Computer In The UAE

(ForbesMiddleEast) Abu Dhabi‘s Technology Innovation Institute (TII) has partnered with deep-tech startup Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech to construct the UAE’s first quantum computer, ushering in a new era for the country as GCC states are realizing the central role that technology will play in their economic diversification efforts.
The Barcelona-based startup Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech provides services for firms to discover how to format research problems and become quantum-ready.
In a statement, TII said that a team from Advanced Technology Research Council’s (ATRC) Quantum Research Centre, led by Chief Researcher, Professor José Ignacio Latorre, will construct the quantum computer in Abu Dhabi in partnership with the startup’s researchers.
The quantum computer is expected to advance the UAE’s technology research programs “from discovering of new medicines to making new materials to designing better batteries to various Artificial Intelligence applications.”
“We are at the cusp of a new era with the advent of quantum computing,” His Excellence Faisal Al Bannai, the Secretary General of ATRC, said in a statement.
“The first step in the process is to build a laboratory, equip it and complete installation of the cleanroom equipment, all of which is on track. We expect the first simple quantum chips ‘Made in Abu Dhabi’ should come by the end of the summer,” Professor Latorre said in a statement.
Abu Dhabi has made extensive tech investments through Mubadala Investment Company and Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) as well as through several initiatives under its Ghadan 21, a $13.6 billion fund launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council in 2019.