The Quantum Divide

In this engaging conversation, we're joined by Shreyas Ramesh, Global Lead of NextGen Computing in Accenture's technology incubation team, to examine the strategic implementation of quantum technology in businesses. We explore Accenture's Quantum Foundry offering, a service providing strategy, execution capabilities, technologies, ecosystem partnerships, and methods that help businesses become quantum ready. From advisory to identifying what's relevant for the customer, listen in as we take a closer look at Accenture's vision of being vendor agnostic and problem-focused. Then, we shift our focus to investing in quantum computing use cases, even if the roadmap to a quantum advantage is not yet clear. Using examples from the telecommunications, chemistry and banking industries, we consider how generative applications, classical computations, and quantum random number generators can enhance devices.

Accenture – Quantum Computing Services

https://www.accenture.com/us-en/services/technology/quantum-computing-services

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(0:00:12) - Quantum Computing Implementation Strategy in Businesses (15 Minutes)

We explore the business implementation of quantum technology and Accenture's Quantum Foundry offering. We discuss the strategy, execution capabilities, technologies, ecosystem partnerships, and methods that Accenture provides to help companies become quantum ready. We also discuss the process of advisory and identifying what's relevant for the customer, as well as the methodology that Accenture follows to ensure their vision of being vendor agnostic and problem focused is carried out.

(0:15:31) - Investing in Quantum Computing Use Cases (4 Minutes)

Why are clients investing in quantum technology, even if there is not a clear map ahead to a quantum advantage? We analyze the idea of a typical sharpness in terms of business value and feasibility, and consider how generative applications, classical computations, and quantum random number generators can be used to make devices better. Examples from the telecommunications industry and banking are used to illustrate how these technologies can be deployed in a permissible manner. The importance of readiness when it comes to customer references is also touched on.

(0:19:58) - Quantum Computing in Financial Applications (9 Minutes)

We discuss the use of quantum technology, simulations, and machine learning to tackle complex problems in the finance and chemistry sectors. We explore how Accenture's Quantum Foundry helped a large French insurer optimize their insurance portfolio, and how a two-year collaboration with the Irish Center for High End Computing enabled the simulation of PFAS molecules. We also analyze how quantum machine learning algorithms can be used for fraud detection in banking, and how the use of quantum support vector machines can provide greater training accuracy and lower false positives.

(0:28:29) - Exploring Quantum Sensing and Detection (6 Minutes)

From use cases in quantum sensing to applications in derivatives pricing and quantum machine learning (QML), we explore the potential of quantum technology and the challenges of achieving a quantum advantage. We discuss the use of superconducting nanowires in detection, and the investment of governments in quantum sensing. We analyze the possibilities of quantum communications and examine the implications of quantum-enabled decision making for businesses.

(0:34:05) - Quantum Networking and Cryptography Trends (11 Minutes)

Accenture's clients are increasingly turning to quantum networks for cryptography, risk management, and security. We look at the crypto agility accelerators they use to quickly respond to changes in the security landscape, the importance of having the right tools in place to respond to advanced persistent threats, and the need to prioritize and track remediation activities in order to ensure security. Additionally, we explore the use of crypto agility toolkits and SDKs for risk managers to better understand and manage their security risks.

Join us as we explore the intricate world of quantum technology with our guest, Harold Ollivier, from Inria, a public research institute in France. Harold gives us an insightful look into his work on verification of quantum computation, error correction, and error mitigation. We also get a unique perspective on Inria's strong focus on computer science and its important contributions to various aspects within the quantum ecosystem. 

We tackle the challenges of developing quantum technologies and their impact on the market and user needs. Discover the current state of quantum computing and how companies are grappling with moving their hardware to specialized data centers. Learn about the complexities of installing a quantum computer in a data center, including cooling system requirements and potential vibration disruptions. 

We further examine the necessity of physical considerations for data centers hosting quantum machines, the practicality of dilution fridge technologies, and the relationship between these topics and privacy and security. Hear about the growing trend of privacy-preserving laws, the evolution of classical cryptography, and the French banking regulator's exploration of solutions for stress tests on the banking system. Lastly, we discuss the verification methodology for quantum computing and how it can ensure that computations are not tampered with, even without full knowledge of the computation details. Tune in for this and more on our enlightening journey through quantum technology.

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(0:00:12) - Quantum Technology Research in France (18 Minutes)

We discuss the divide between classical IT and quantum technology and the fact that these two domains need to work closely together. We are joined by Harold Olivier Right from Inria, a public research institute in France, to talk about his research on verification of quantum computation and its implications for error correction and error mitigation. We learn about Inria's focus on computer science and their work on various topics within the quantum ecosystem. We also explore the link between INRIA and the French national quantum strategy, and the strong collaborations with startups and companies.

(0:17:45) - Challenges of Developing Quantum Technologies (4 Minutes)

We explore the challenges of developing quantum technologies and how it affects the market and user needs. We look at the current state of quantum computing and how companies are dealing with the need to move their hardware to specialized data centers. We discuss the complications of bringing a quantum computer to a data center, including the cooling system requirements and the vibration that can disrupt the machine. We discuss how public money is used to research and explore these issues and how this can benefit the private sector.

(0:21:53) - Quantum Machines and Remote Execution (17 Minutes)

We discuss the need for physical aspects to be considered for data centers to host quantum machines, the practicality of dilution fridge technologies, the abundance of coaching, and the link between this topic and privacy and security. We then explore the growing trend of privacy-preserving laws, the evolution of classical cryptography, and the French banking regulator's exploration of solutions for stress tests on the banking system. Finally, we look at the requirement for developing a healthy quantum ecosystem and how it affects the market and user needs.

(0:38:41) - Approaches and Challenges in Quantum Networking (13 Minutes)

We explore the various approaches to sending qubits from a client to a server and the advances being made in quantum networking. We examine the possibilities of obfuscating the instructions sent classically, the pros and cons of these approaches, and the research and development being done on a quantum long-range backbone. We also discuss the quantum advantage in terms of space and the overhead needed to produce a secure qubit. Finally, we consider how to simplify protocols and bring them to a level where they can be implemented.

(0:52:11) - Verification Methodology for Blind Computations (5 Minutes)

I discuss the verification methodology for quantum computing and how it is possible to verify that a server is not tampering with a computation without knowing the full details of the computation. We look at how blind computation can be used to delegate a task to a server, and how it is possible to verify the server's results by providing known 'clipboard' computations and comparing the result. Technical considerations behind this methodology and the importance of proving that the class of clipboard computations is large enough to catch any malicious behaviour from the server are discussed. Finally, the implications of this approach for the future of quantum computing are considered.

(0:56:47) - Quantum Networking (1 Minutes)

We {discuss} the need for physical infrastructure to support quantum machines, the advances being made in quantum networking and the verification methods used to ensure secure communication between servers and clients. The challenges of developing quantum technologies and the impact this has on the market and user needs are also {considered}. Finally, we {reflect} on our conversation and consider the possibilities for the future.

Yuval Boger joins us for a fascinating chat about QuEra quantum computers and how quantum computing fits into the wider high-performance computing ecosystem.

Here are some useful links from Yuval to support the conversation:

• Error correction article: https://thequantuminsider.com/2023/09/08/guest-post-quantum-error-correction-the-key-to-realizing-quantum-computings-potential/
• Qubit shuttling: https://quantumcomputingreport.com/qubit-shuttling-and-its-implication-for-neutral-atom-computers/
• How neutral atom computers work: https://www.quera.com/neutral-atom-platform
• Store optimization example: see the first application note on this page: https://www.quera.com/publications
• Quantum and the HPC center: See the first white paper on that page https://www.quera.com/publications

This week we are joined by Carmen Recio Valcarce, Quantum Computing Engineer at Moody's Analytics. We cover using quantum computing to solve and accelerate algorithms for the finance industry, Moody's new quantum benchmarking platform, and deep dive into some specific financial problem use cases.

Carmen is a mathematician working on evaluating how quantum computing can disrupt the financial sector at Moody's Analytics. Thinking how to solve problems with the best algorithms and technology. Previously, development, education and research in Quantum Computing & Artificial Intelligence @ IBM

Carmen's group in Moody's objective is to evaluate how quantum computing can disrupt our industry and Moody’s products in the market, evaluate the industry maturity, establish partnerships, and position Moody’s as a referent in the quantum computing sector for finance. The team creates proofs of concept and final applications that are embedded in the current classical products. Leverages our state-of-the-art financial models and our extensive datasets across the company and liaises with the different stakeholders for its productization.

Moody’s Analytics Quantum Computing group is a recently created team that explores, researches, and implements quantum computing and communications solutions across the different organizational units of the company.

Links from Carmen:

Stephen Herbert: video of Steven Herbert explaining his paper

Moody's links

• Landing page http://moodys.com/quantum
• Quantum Computing in Financial Services: A Business Leader’s Guide

Use-case reports

• Strategic asset allocation/optimization – Our results are not published yet but this paper covers the topic of a TN approach https://journals.aps.org/prresearch/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.013006
• Recession prediction
• Monte Carlo - podcast and this paper
• 3 resources about use cases in finance:

https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.02773

https://arxiv.org/abs/1807.03890

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42254-023-00603-1

This week we talk with Maria, a physics undergraduate student with a deep interest and background in quantum technologies, particularly quantum error correction, error mitigation, and quantum networking. Maria aims to contribute to the quantum software landscape over the next few decades.

Maria was an intern at Cisco, helping develop quantum protocol simulations that could shape the future of the internet. Maria's current internship is in IBM's Quantum division, where she works in the UK community team working on enablement and education.

Maria also contributed to various open-source quantum computing projects and participated in multiple quantum software hackathons. Maria has developed an error correction library for Julia's Quantum Clifford simulator, and has been involved in quantum networks research in the Mathematics department at the University of Bath.

This episode is a short monologue of my perspective on PQC after a little time investigating the details.
I'm sure you'll miss Steve's jokes on this one.

Very helpful IETF draft: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ar-pquip-pqc-engineers/

In this episode we are joined by Santanu Ganguly to describe quantum machine learning (QML), explore some of the different connotations of the term, the real world use-cases , and where we see emerging benefits.

Steve also cracks a hilarious comment about a quantum leap not being very big, because if you quantise a leap it ends up very small indeed.

Quantum-Enhanced Data Classification with a Variational Entangled Sensor Network

Yi Xia, Wei Li, Quntao Zhuang, and Zheshen Zhang

https://ece.engineering.arizona.edu/news-events/zhuang-demonstrates-benefits-quantum-computing

Today we join Sam Samuel from Cisco, and discuss quantum networking, computing, and fine stone masonry.
We do a little future gazing, and bring some opinions of realism to the idea of long distance quantum networking.
The following QuTech paper was mentioned: https://qutech.nl/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/A-Link-Layer-Protocol-for-Quantum-Networks.pdf

Welcome to Episode 4, this week we double-click into simulation for quantum network systems. We talk about the similarities of classical and quantum simulations, the practicality of quantum network simulation, some developer tools available, frameworks and/or standardisation and lack-thereof. We touch on the purpose and outcomes of simulation and look forward to how the ecosystem could develop.

• Repeater protocol: https://qutech.nl/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/A-Link-Layer-Protocol-for-Quantum-Networks.pdf

• NetSquid: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2010.12535.pdf

• Repeater simulation: https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.01852

• SeQUence: https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/voices.uchicago.edu/dist/0/2327/files/2019/11/SeQUeNCe.pdf

• QuNetSim: https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.06397

• QKDNetSim: https://www.qkdnetsim.info/

This week Steve and Dan chat about quantum computing services delivered from the cloud.