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How to Ensure Canada’s National Quantum Strategy is a Success

Q Claude Guay President & General Manager, IBM Canada twitter.com/ ClaudeGuay

uantum computing has computing is how we ensure that Canadians the potential to solve our are ready when quantum revolutionizes most complex challenindustries from coast to coast,” Guay said. “To be sure, we will need more mathematicians ges that are impossible and physicists who can work deeply within a for even the world’s most powerful supercomputquantum system to optimize performance, ers. For a growing number but we will also need front-end, quantum-proof Canadian businesses, ficient software developers who can tune the technology to focus on practical uses as well researchers and governments, proficiency as business professionals who can translate in quantum computing is becoming critical as the technology moves business needs to use with this emerging technology.” beyond laboratory science By 2030, Canada is to real-world application. Co-existing within a expected to grow an conventional computing “While Canada is in an environment, quantum is excellent position as a leader $8.2 billion quantum in quantum research — poised to reinvent the worlds technology industry, ranked fifth in the G7 and of business, science, eduemploying 16,000 first per capita — global cation, and government in competition is intensifying to fundamentally new ways. people. By 2040, capitalize on this burgeoning “It took classical comquantum technology puting many decades to industry,” said Claude Guay, is expected to reach President and General Manmature to the sophisticated ager of IBM Canada. cloud-based services of 50 percent adoption, The federal government today — yet quantum comgrowing into a $142.4 announced in Budget 2021 a puting can take this same billion industry and $360-million funding comleap in just a few short years. sustaining 229,000 mitment to build a National We believe we can get there Quantum Strategy. This together, and that Canada jobs in Canada. is welcome news for IBM, can continue to lead the (Source: National Research Council of Canada) which believes that open way,” Guay said. source access and adoption is how an ecosystem of developers, scientists, educators, and professionals across different industries will get quantum ready for this next generation of computing. “Scaling a global community is key to advancing quantum computing for science IBM offers access to its quantum and business,” Guay said. computing systems through Real-world applications of quantum are several avenues. Its flagship being tested right now in industries like program is the IBM Quantum financial services to better predict the comNetwork, where organizations plexity of the markets, and improve fraud collaborate with IBM on detection and risk analysis. Other near-term advancing quantum computing applications of quantum technology include research, explore a broad set of simulating chemical reactions to discover potential applications, and seek tomorrow’s sustainable batteries and carbon to build their general knowledge capture technologies. Another research area is quantum-safe encryption, as the power of of quantum computing. At the future quantum computers could crack today’s broadest level, anyone can toughest encryption schemes. Thankfully, access the IBM’s quantum companies like IBM are already developing services and cloud programming technology to protect against this potentiality. tools, as well as the Qiskit open “Preparing today for the growth of quansource software development kit tum computing ensures your business is to build and visualize quantum quantum ready: training the necessary talent circuits and run quantum experiand developing the best use cases for quantum ments. Researchers can also systems to create business value,” Guay said. receive priority system access In 2020, IBM expanded its Quantum through the IBM Quantum Network in Canada by launching a QuanResearchers and Educators tum Hub at the Université de Sherbrooke’s Institute Quantique. This joint team of IBM Programs. quantum experts works with researchers and Learn more at businesses, such as CMC Microsystems, to provide cloud-based access to the world’s most ibm.com/quantum-computing. advanced quantum systems. “This collaborative approach to quantum

How can I access a quantum computer?

To learn more about IBM Quantum Computing, visit ibm.com/ quantumcomputing. This page was sponsored by IBM Canada.

To ensure Canada’s National Quantum Strategy is a success, IBM Canada released a whitepaper in May 2021 with six key focus areas for all stakeholders:

1 2 3 4 5 6

Attracting and retaining highly qualified personnel Through academic training and incentives, retain our existing talent and bring new quantum-proficient quantum-ready technical professionals to Canada.

Deepening collaboration across government, academia and industry Governments should foster practical collaborations between leading private sector firms and academia, such as at the IBM Quantum Hub in Sherbrooke, to ensure sustainable academic and commercial ecosystems.

Manufacturing quantum hardware and components Canada’s leadership position in quantum technology can be strengthened by manufacturing even more advanced hardware and components, thereby securing important ingredients of the hybrid computing and quantum supply chain.

Hosting world-class quantum computers Hosting world-class quantum computers in secure facilities on Canadian soil will provide dedicated, broad access to academic and government researchers, and industry experts, as well as assist quantum startups in scaling their companies.

Leveraging our hybrid computing expertise Talent and resources at existing high-performance computing systems across Canada should be leveraged to transition research and industry towards quantum applications as capabilities increase.

Fostering a coordinated ecosystem of quantumenabling technology A coordinated ecosystem will allow for the rapid dissemination of quantum computing capabilities across industries through pan-Canadian ecosystems and partnerships. Quantum software and algorithm development, middleware and specific industry applications that bring competitive advantage will thrive once the foundations of the quantum landscape are in place.

Strategic Account Director: Jessica Golyatov Country Manager: Nina Theodorlis Content and Production Manager: Raymond Fan Designer: Filip Jansky Web Editor: Karthik Talwar All images are from Getty Images unless otherwise credited. This section was created by Mediaplanet and did not involve National Post or its editorial departments. Send all inquiries to ca.editorial@mediaplanet.com.

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Pivoting Out of the Pandemic — Industries Are Turning to the Cloud to Emerge Strong

rganizations cross-Canada and cross-industry are focused on emerging strong into a post-pandemic economy. In a recent survey, 59 percent of surveyed organizations reported that digital transformations have accelerated due to the pandemic. Projects that may have once taken years to complete are now being accomplished in a matter of weeks, with many executives citing cloud computing as a driving force behind these results. IBM Canada Vice President of Technology Sales Frank Attaie recently shared his thoughts on how and why organizations have accelerated their journeys to cloud during the pandemic.

With the sharp increase that we’re seeing in cyberattacks, data protection has to be top of mind for most organizations. How have industries been rising to these unprecedented challenges?

Cybersecurity is more important than ever across all industries and that’s one of the reasons for IBM’s significant focus and investment in data protection in the cloud. Those in highly-regulated industries — like banking but Why do you think so many business leaders are turning to cloud also government and health care — — particularly hybrid cloud — for their digital transare stewards of the privacy of sensitive formations, despite the potential economic downdata. As these organizations migrate more turn in the wake of the pandemic? of their mission-critical workloads to the Hybrid cloud brings together on-premises, cloud, the old methods of securing sensitive public cloud, private cloud, and edge data are no longer sufficient. Cloud providers need to offer higher levels of data protection commensurate computing to create a single, flexible IT infrastructure that enables companies with the critical nature of the information, as well as satisfy to migrate workloads to cloud environstringent regulations. Data privacy and security are at the heart of IBM’s hybrid cloud ments while keeping others where strategy, and IBM Cloud is the most open and secure cloud for busithey are. This helps businesses achieve their objectives more effectness. This also means a high degree of focus on privacy assurance ively and securely for our clients and our clients’ clients. Capabilities than using public such as keep your own key (KYOK) and confidential cloud or private computing give an extra layer of technical assurcloud alone. In fact, ance, which helps make each digital transaction IBM is all in on hybrid according to one seamless and secure, giving businesses confidence study, companies that privacy is at the centre of their digital expericloud because we derive up to two and a ences. With these capabilities, the client’s data is understand that busihalf times the value from theirs and theirs alone — not even IBM as the cloud nesses need a clear and hybrid cloud than from a provider is capable of accessing the information. critical path to modernsingle-cloud, single-vendor ize their mission-critical approach. Technical and financial You’ve mentioned how now, more than ever, systems with advanced efficiency are now more critical than there’s an increased urgency for governments ever, so decisions like these make sense. and health care organizations to advance their cloud services. A hybrid

The financial services industry is one of the most highly regulated in Canada. How has this acceleration to the cloud affected banks in their digital transformation efforts?

cloud strategy is about meeting you where you are in your journey. It’s about giving you the ability to leverage the capabilities and benefits of the cloud, across a whole spectrum of environments.”

digital transformations. How optimistic are you that this will happen?

I don’t think anyone could have predicted a year ago just how much everything would change in the way services and information are delivered by governments and health care authorities. In the past, banks have been somewhat reluctant to move their mission-critical workloads to the cloud I’ve observed digital acceleration across all indusbecause the platforms they used weren’t built with tries to meet the immediate demand faced by the public sector for access to information, flexibility the industry-specific regulatory compliance and and scalability, operational resiliency, and actiondata protection needs in mind. Now, banks are recognizing if they want to stay competitive, they able insights. Given their experiences and progress — Arvind Krishna, can no longer hold back. The very nature of their over the past year, I don’t see any scenario where Chairman & CEO, IBM business requires a cloud that is secure to the core governments and health care organizations would at each layer, highly scalable and interoperable. make the decision to decelerate the advancements that they’ve been making. The stakes are just too high. At the same They’re also recognizing that urgency and speed will enable them to be agile in the future, providing the resiliency they need to innovate time, similar to financial services, these are two highly-regulated and provide customers with a seamless experience. IBM Cloud for industries where there are unique challenges and security requirements Financial Services is a game-changer for the industry — with built-in that have to be met. We’re committed to continuing to drive clients’ hybrid cloud journeys with our industry-specialized approach that’s regulatory and compliance controls it aims to help banks migrate to underpinned by security and trust. the cloud with confidence.

Frank Attaie Vice President Technology Sales, IBM Canada

To learn more, visit ibm.com/hybrid. This page was sponsored by IBM Canada.

7 challenges driving hybrid cloud adoption

Extending the business value of cloud across the entire enterprise How does the cloud become central to your whole business?

Balancing the old with the new What’s the right middle ground between legacy systems and cloudnative applications?

Coping with compliance requirements Can they be managed and automated as code?

Implementing site reliability engineering and similar practices How do you implement and integrate new “cloud ways of operating?”

Improving the experience of the cloud service user How do we make the cloud easier for users to adopt?

Navigating the skills precipice Where do we find the talent to sustain and modernize?

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Privacy and Artificial Intelligence — Is Your AI Trustworthy?

Pavel AbdurRahman Partner and Head of Trusted Data and AI, IBM Canada

rtificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic theory — it’s pervasive throughout our daily existence, in our offices, our kitchens, and our cars. As its capacity and reach grows, so is concern about just how much we can trust the AI in our lives. Earlier this year, IBM announced new capabilities for IBM Watson designed to help organizations build trustworthy AI, expanding on its ability to support businesses as they govern and explain AI-led decisions, increase insight accuracy, mitigate risks, and meet their privacy and compliance requirements. An IBM-commissioned survey found that trust, transparency, and explainability are top-of-mind concerns for businesses, with 84 percent of AI professionals surveyed agreeing that consumers are more likely to choose services from a company that offers transparency and an ethical framework on how its data and AI models are built, managed, and used. However, the barriers to developing

trustworthy AI and mitigating risk remain pervasive, with 82 percent of AI professionals surveyed saying that their organization has been negatively impacted by problems, like bias, with data or AI models. With sentiment as pervasive as this, there’s growing urgency for more rigorous standards for the ethics and governance around the use and development of trustworthy AI. “AI is rapidly emerging as an important tool for solving humanity’s challenges, but it’s not without its risks,” says Pavel Abdur-Rahman, Partner and Head of Trusted Data and AI at IBM Canada. “People are increasingly uneasy about allowing intelligent and autonomous machines to access their personal data to make decisions. This has prompted a growing demand for ethically-aligned AI that creates trust and protects privacy, fends off would-be hackers, and prevents bias.” Abdur-Rahman goes on to cite a recently-unveiled proposal by the European Union (EU) as an example of this trend, with the EU calling for strict horizontal regulations to govern the use of AI, with severe penalties for those who contravene the rules.

I believe trusted data and AI is one of the ‘grand challenges’ of our generation. Developing and enforcing standards, ethics, and governance around the use and development of trustworthy AI systems has become an urgent priority.” — Pavel Abdur-Rahman, Partner & Head of Trusted Data & AI, IBM Canada

Banking on Trusted Data and AI

n today’s competitive environment, financial services institutions are using data — including customer, firm, and third-party data — to deliver innovative alternatives to traditional banking solutions. With open and trusted data as the main currency, open platforms deliver relationship-based services built on customer engagement and experience, and in so doing, allow banks and the emerging fintech companies to leverage their complementary strengths, instead of competing. Driven by trusted digital relationships between banks and customers, this new business model is powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and generates value even during a pandemic lockdown. However, many customers are rightly

• According to a recent IBM Institute for Business

• Data and AI also provide new tools in the fight

Value survey, more than 68 percent of consumers are willing to share personal information and data with their bank or other financial services institution. Almost 91 percent of individuals who share personal data with their bank trust it to protect their personal information and data to at least a moderate extent, second only to their own employer.

• AI hyper personalization increases the likelihood of attracting, retaining, and delighting customers with a company’s product offerings, services, and 24/7 availability.

IBM has led the conversation on the criticality for every organization that develops or uses artificial intelligence (AI) to do so responsibly and transparently, and has based its approach to AI ethics on three guiding values:

concerned about how and when their personal data is being used. Trust in AI systems will increase only when customers are confident that their data and insights are protected, not leveraged for profit without their permission. Customers and investors will flock to the most trusted brands in AI, and financial institutions that take a leadership role will benefit the most in the platform economy. Consider:

against fraud. When effectively used, these tools improve fraud detection, reduce credit losses, and enable know-your-customer regulatory checks.

• The future relationship between bank and customer is likely to be much deeper and much more interactive. But getting there from here requires radical transformation across business and operating models, as well as changes in the way resources, business processes, and technologies are assembled to create value.

Visit ibm.com/watson to learn more about IBM’s approach to trustworthy AI. This page was sponsored by IBM Canada.

The purpose of AI is to augment human intelligence The purpose of AI is to augment — not replace — human intelligence. IBM technology is and will be designed to enhance and extend human capability and potential.

Data and insights belong to their creator IBM clients’ data is their data, and their insights are their insights.

AI systems must be transparent and explainable If AI is used to help make important decisions, it must be explainable.

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