Advancements in Quantum computing are seen as a positive sign, but the hype can also result in the slowing of the development
While awareness about Quantum computing is undoubtedly a good thing, experts fear that the hype about it might slow down its development. Quantum computing is a breakthrough technology that can solve some of the world’s hardest problems in transportation, medicine, and computer security, among others that have not been foreseen yet.
Experts believe that the best of what quantum computing has to offer is still not here. The announcements of records broken and the developments in this technology are essential to encourage interest and investments in further research. It also influences governments to promote the development and updates the industries about the direction of technical development they need to adopt, in order to fully leverage to the power of quantum computing when it is ready to deliver to the enterprise. “The future of practical quantum computing relies on giving more developers and researchers the access and tools they need to build quantum applications,” said Vern Brownell, CEO of D-Wave in a press release last month.
However, the hype of what the technology can do also creates the risk of disillusionment that can result in the slowing of the progress in the short run. There is an assumption that quantum computers are a faster and better version of computers that we have now, but that is not true. Quantum computers solve different problems in different ways. Considering the history of this technology, Quantum computers were proposed in 1982 to tackle issues in quantum mechanics that regular computers will not be able to handle.
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This year at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), IBM unveiled the IBM Q System One, an integrated universal approximate quantum computing system designed for scientific and commercial use. These systems are designed to tackle problems that are currently seen as too complex and exponential for standard systems to handle. This could just be the birth of solutions that could very soon handle these complex problems easily.
Arvind Krishna, Senior Vice President of Hybrid Cloud and director of IBM Research, in a press release mentioned that the IBM Q System One is critical in expanding quantum computing beyond the walls of the research lab to develop practical quantum applications for business and science.
Currently, there are not any written programs, for example, for financial projections on a quantum computer. The reason is that there have not been any quantum computers to deploy them on for due diligence. But lately, academic, corporate and government groups have built machines that can isolate and manipulate particles or other types of qubits well enough to handle basic programs.
Experts predict that in the next 3-5 years, quantum machines will perform precise calculations that would not be possible using ordinary computers. For this technology to reach that stage of maturity, governments need to support basic research. The industrial community also needs to start working with the current generation of quantum computers to develop the know-how and the software that will give them an edge as the technology improves.
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Meeta Ramnani is the Senior Editor with OnDot Media. She writes about technologies including AI, IoT, Cloud, Big Data, Blockchain across various industries with a focus on Digital Transformation. An avid bike rider, Meeta, is a postgraduate from Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media (IIJNM) Bangalore, where her specialization was Business Journalism. She carries four years of experience in mainstream print media where she worked as a correspondent with The Times Group and Sakal Media Group in Pune.
