How to deliver on the powerful promise of quantum computers
New tool estimates real-world costs of quantum computing so businesses can become quantum ready
By Naomi Grosman
Quantum computers promise more than code breaking. They could unlock commercial value in areas like banking, automotive and optimization industries. Businesses need to not only prepare for quantum attacks, but also ready their organizations to tap into the economic benefit of adopting quantum technologies.
Now, researchers at the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo and quantum software provider softwareQ have developed one of the world’s first quantum resource estimation tools to calculate the realistic costs of quantum attacks and how to use quantum computers effectively.
The potential threat of someone breaking the RSA code, the encryption scheme that underpins secure online banking and e-commerce, motivated Dr. Michele Mosca, co-founder of IQC and softwareQ, and Dr. Vlad Gheorghiu, softwareQ’s co-founder and CEO, to develop a framework to estimate quantum attacks so that industries can be prepared.
"We can’t be one day late, and part of that calculus is knowing how big of a computer is needed. But beyond that, if you want to derive commercial value from quantum computers, you have to know what they are good for and how powerful a quantum computer you are going to need. That’s a moving target as hardware and algorithms continue to improve."
- Dr. Michele Mosca, IQC faculty and Professor, Department of Combinatorics and Optimization
“Many companies are going to be too late. Our framework allows businesses to start thinking about quantum computing practically and gives them an idea of the landscape and what they need. And accelerate research and development of quantum technologies in general.”
- Dr. Vlad Gheorghiu, co-founder and CEO softwareQ’s and IQC research affiliate