Barclays Bank wants to be “quantum ready.” Barclays’s quantum experimenters have started off exploring several different optimization problems that exist in banking today in order to identify some specific challenges that may be amenable to quantum computing. As a first step, they converted each of the optimization problems into a simple abstract description so that they could classify the algorithmic nature of the problem. For example, this could include algorithms for searching, sorting, factoring or solving linear equations.
“We are keen to explore quantum computing by running experiments on actual quantum processors, rather than just using quantum simulators running on a classical processor,” said Lee Braine of the Investment Bank CTO Office.
In December, Barclays joined the IBM Q Network, a community of Fortune 500 companies, startups, research labs and universities interested in quantum computing. The membership gives the bank access to IBM’s quantum processors to run experiments and access to IBM’s technical experts and researchers on quantum computing software.
Barclays Bank Taking Steps to Be ‘Quantum Ready’
