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Credit: Created using artificial intelligence
Scientists will work to channel the enormous emerging power of quantum computers for the greater good at a new institute opening in Geneva on Tuesday, the institute's founders said.
The Open Quantum Institute invites researchers from around the world to identify promising future applications for the rapidly emerging technology, and ensure they are open and accessible to everyone.
“Quantum computing has the potential to change almost everything,” said Peter Brabeck-Latmathe, head of the GESDA Science and Diplomacy Platform that launched the project and former longtime head of Swiss food giant Nestlé.
He told AFP that future technology is expected to be “1,000 to 10,000 times more powerful than the computing power we have today,” stressing that it is necessary to start thinking seriously about how to control it and ensure it is used for good.
Quantum computing combines advances in scientific understanding of the subatomic world with leaps in information theory to solve mathematical problems that are impossible to solve for today's conventional computers.
While conventional computers process information with bits that can be represented by a 0 or a 1, quantum computers use qubits, which can be a combination of both at the same time, allowing them to solve more complex problems.
The first commercial quantum computers are thought to be still up to a decade away, and the technology is not expected to be fully developed until around 2050.
Brabec-Latmath said it is important to ensure that such powerful technology remains available to everyone, in an open and transparent way, and is not allowed to be controlled by a handful of giant tech companies.
“The reason we proposed to create the Open Quantum Institute is precisely to ensure that everyone has access to these technologies in the future,” he said.
The institute will seek technology applications that can bring the world closer to implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
For example, quantum computing simulations and calculations may help determine how to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to help curb climate change.
It can also predict patterns of antibiotic resistance and identify new, more effective chemical compounds to fight deadly bacteria.
In an effort to accelerate the search for the best applications of the technology, GESDA has teamed up with Google and the non-profit technology group XPrize and will launch a competition on Tuesday evening inviting researchers everywhere to submit proposals.
The competition, which will last for three years, will reward the teams that present the best projects with a prize of $5 million at the end.
The center will be opened with a ceremony on Tuesday evening at its new headquarters inside the European science laboratory CERN, a prominent nuclear research centre.
