INSIGHT
Does quantum computing hold the key to unlocking the secrets of the universe? To defeating climate change, helping humanity explore the stars or even preventing the next global pandemic? Could it help us accelerate the discovery of new drugs that combats incurable diseases, or help discover new materials, new ways of encryption or new weather prediction models? Perhaps it could help Wall Street simulate more accurate economic forecasts, optimise global portfolios and produce complex, in depth risk analysis. 34
SYNAPSE | 2ND QUARTER 2021
QUANTUM COMPUTING
could propel us light years into the future / By Rudeon Snell, Global Senior Director: Industries and Customer Advisory at SAP / Or is it destined to always be the technology of the future, never the present, similar to the promise of nuclear fusion? The obscure and sometimes magicalsounding world of quantum computing is considered by some to be the most important computing technology of the century. Amazon, Google, IBM and Microsoft, plus a host of smaller companies, such as D-Wave and Rigetti, are in a race to develop a commercially viable quantum computer. China has also invested vast amounts of resources into developing their own quantum computing capabilities, with Origin Quantum pushing hard to catch up with leading global players in the field. But what are quantum computers? How could they benefit humanity? And what realworld applications could we expect from this next-generation technology?
Crash course in quantum computing The computers we use today use bits, which are like tiny little switches that can either block or open the way for information to come through, essentially a binary structure of on and off. All data is made up of these bits, which are represented by ones and zeroes. And every photo, website, app and computer game is essentially made up of these ones and zeroes. However, as our knowledge of physics has expanded, scientists have discovered that 'on' or 'off' isn't really how the universe works. In the natural world, most things are in a state of uncertainty, especially as you go down to a really small scale. Our present computers are not well equipped to deal with this level of uncertainty. In contrast, quantum computers are designed to handle this uncertainty. It uses qubits, which can be 'on' or 'off', or both at the same
