No hype, all facts - ⚛️ Quantum Computing 💰for investors & executives
The newsletter on QIS & Quantum Computing for business executives and investors in North America and Europe:
What business executives need to know about Quantum
What investors need to know about Quantum
What Americans need to know about Europe in Quantum
What Europeans needs to know about North America in Quantum
The SciFi Corner
And our proprietary market research & reports.
We love to get your feedback, praise and scolding (when so deserved) - please email me at andre@estrapadus.com or on www.interference.consulting
What business executives need to know about Quantum
One of the "side effects" of a Quantum Computer, and a more immediate and applicable QIS use case, is Quantum Randomness. Randomness is well researched and understood, and you can find quantum random number generators online as well as productized by some of the most viable quantum players such as IDQuantique or Cambridge Quantum Computing. As such, quantum randomness is commercially available and significant today. Why should you care? True randomness is a fundamental feature of many core processes of our society and economy from political processes (voting, proxies, surveys, etc), to cryptography and many basic statistical models that underpin everyday engineering, materials and financial projects and models. Current random number generators (initial state, systematic or environmental) are inherently flawed and not truly random. Thus, the advent of quantum randomness provides an opportunity today to create truly fair and objectif models and systems.
Peter Shor is considered one of the godfathers of QIS and his groundbreaking research explains several of the core principles behind it. Consequently, this short interview with him garnered much attention in quantum circles. But not for any scientific insights, rather the human side revealed by it. Why should you care? Because the master himself tells you in very simple terms how quantum computing works, why it is so important and what fallacies to avoid. This is, one of the biggest non-technical challenges - how to explain a highly complex, spooky concept, without hype, jargon or hyperbole. I challenge every executive and investor to truly understand what Shor is saying in this interview, as well as his general views on physics and researchers. Any questions, call us to discuss.
What investors need to know about Quantum
Xanadu, a quantum computing hardware company, raises a $32M round A from a group of investors. Why should you care? This is interesting for 2 reasons. First, it's a badly needed shot in the arm for the specific quantum modality (the way to execute the quantum computation) that XanaduAI is pursuing, which relies on photons (light) rather than electrons, thus further broadening the set of companies with different approaches racing for quantum supremacy. Second, the group of investors includes some traditional frontier tech firms, but also "newbies" to the quantum game. A sign of overheating or take-off? Let's discuss.
What Americans need to know about Europe in Quantum
JoS Quantum, a Frankfurt based quantum computing startup for capital markets is holding a hackathon in September and taking applications now. Why you should care? Because JoS is at the forefront of working with Germany's largest financial services companies on developing models and use cases for the capital markets industry. This is your chance to participate in real QC applications.
The Race: How to build a quantum computer. A freshly released documentary on the Dutch efforts at QuTech to be the first to reach quantum supremacy. Why should you care? The main investigator at QuTech, Leo Kouwenhoven, is one of the most respected names in QC and this documentary provides fascinating insights into the inner workings of one of the world leading research projects in the field.
Piggybacking on this announcement, the European Union and the European Space Agency announced the creation of a European Quantum Communication Network. Why should you care? This clearly positions Europe as a united front and well ahead of North America in creating a completely independant and secure communications infrastructure, similar to ongoing Chinese efforts.
Back to QuTech and The Netherlands, a new announcement together with KPN (the Dutch telecom operator) to roll out a national quantum internet. Why should you care? Quantum Internet, a completely independant and secure internet infrastructure based on quantum entanglement, is a critical and imminent application within QIS and the Dutch are a global leader in it. This announcement, in cooperation with one of the largest Dutch companies, is the last puzzle piece to unite government, academia and business in making this a reality. A quantum internet would usher in a new era of communications immune to hackers, fake news, bots and other intruders.
The UK government announced a package totaling $440M to build the national quantum technology program. Why should you care? With a looming Brexit, this announcement brings the total UK commitment to QIS to over $1B, thus making it one of the leading global standalone efforts in this field.
What Europeans need to know about North America in Quantum
The Simons Foundation is a well respected, privately financed research institute in the USA, led by famed mathematician and hedge fund tycoon James Simons. The foundation just announced the creation of a research group on ultra quantum matter. Why should you care? Simons, one of the richest people in the world, has a track record of advancing highly complex mathematical problems and pioneering practical use cases around them. The creation of this research group, that attracts leading scientists with complete freedom and virtually unlimited resources, is a powerful new player in the space and serious signal that real world use cases are imminent.
The SciFi corner... just for fun!
A new experiment confirms that there is no single, objectif reality but only what you make of it. French scientists bounced photons off satellites in space. Photons are strange animals, they can either behave like a particle (classical physics) or like a wave (quantum mechanics), something that we have measured and observed numerous times of the past decades. The crazy thing is that in this experiment, as an observer looked at the photons bouncing off the satellites, she was able to choose how to treat it - as a particle or a wave - well past the point of observation where a photon would "pick" what it wants to be.
In other words, light that we bounced off a satellite could not clearly be categorized as a particle or wave until very late in this experiment, thus opening up for competing realities depending on what the observer choses to believe. Think about that, next time you look at something.
Our research and social media reach
- Quantum Computing, non technical introduction LINK
- NYC QC ecosystem overview LINK
- The Quantum Computing vendor quadrant LINK
- QIS landscape report LINK
- QIS cognitive market analysis LINK