Is the World Prepared for What Comes Next for Quantum Computing?

(ITProToday) Is the world prepared for what comes next for quantum computing? The quantum-computing era will have its share of false starts, dashed hopes and fiendishly difficult problems to overcome. That’s how technology advances: bit by bit, into a very strange future.
Quantum computers defy human intuition. They take advantage of the strange ways that matter behaves at the subatomic level to make calculations at extraordinary speed. In theory, they could one day lead to substantial advances in materials science, artificial intelligence, medicine, finance, communications, logistics and more. In all likelihood, no one has thought up the best uses for them yet.
They also pose some risks worth paying attention to. One is that the global race to master quantum computing is heating up, with unpredictable consequences. A more distant worry is that advanced quantum computers could one day threaten the public-key cryptography that protects information across the digital world.