The Year in Tech 2022 by Harvard Business Review

Author:Harvard Business Review
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
Published: 2021-10-26T00:00:00+00:00

Preparing for the Quantum Future

The quantum race is already underway. Governments and private investors all around the world are pouring billions of dollars into quantum research and development. Satellite-based quantum key distribution for encryption has been demonstrated, laying the groundwork for a potential quantum-security-based global communication network. IBM, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and other companies are investing heavily in developing large-scale quantum-computing hardware and software. Nobody is quite there yet. While small-scale quantum computers are operational today, a major hurdle to scaling up the technology is the issue of dealing with errors. Compared to bits, qubits are incredibly fragile. Even the slightest disturbance from the outside world is enough to destroy quantum information. That’s why most current machines need to be carefully shielded in isolated environments operating at temperatures far colder than outer space. While a theoretical framework for quantum error correction has been developed, implementing it in an energy- and resource-efficient manner poses significant engineering challenges.

Given the current state of the field, it’s not clear when or if the full power of quantum computing will be accessible. Even so, business leaders should consider developing strategies to address three main areas:

Planning for quantum security: Current data-encryption protocols are vulnerable not only to future quantum computers but also to ever-more-powerful classical computers. New standards for encryption (whether classical or quantum) are inevitable. Changing over to a quantum-secure architecture and supporting infrastructure for data security will require planning, resources, and quantum expertise. Even if quantum computers may be a decade away, waiting until then to adapt would be too late. The time to start the process is now.

Identifying use cases: Nobody could have predicted the myriad ways that classical computers impact every aspect of our lives. Predicting quantum applications is equally challenging. That’s why, in order to fully tap into the potential of quantum computing, business leaders and experts in different sectors such as health, finance, or energy must connect with quantum researchers and hardware and software engineers. This will facilitate the development of industry-specific quantum solutions tailored for currently available quantum technologies or for future scalable quantum computing. Interdisciplinary expertise and training will be critical to building and growing the quantum app store.

Thinking through responsible design: Who will develop and have access to quantum technology, and how will users engage with it? The impact of AI and blockchain has demonstrated the need to consider the social, ethical, and environmental implications of new technologies. It’s early days for the quantum industry. That provides a rare opportunity to embed inclusive practices from the start and build a responsible and sustainable road map for quantum computing.

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