Quantum tech. Is it 'when, not if'?

While I’ve never been brave enough to work at the cutting edge of technology I have constantly been focused on its evolution and the critical question of how will it impact the real world, thereby creating value for companies and society.

Quantum technology is one of those areas that feels so confusing and far away that it is easy (and generally appropriate) to push back with the reply of “seriously guys we just need to xyz to work reliably” (replace xyz with “self-checkouts”, “CRM tool”, “OCR technology”, “workforce deployment algorithm”, etc depending on industry).

However parroting the usual examples of '15 years ago no one could imagined what a smartphone might do' and '30 years ago there was no consumer internet', companies who make use of computers and data (which is just about all of us) need to be thinking when is the right time to invest more time. (And, for the avoidance of doubt, most experts would place quantum computing in the truly paradigm-changing mold of the internal-combustion engine, commercial air travel, the internet, mobile telephony and AI, rather than simply being a smarter way of doing a current process such as OCR, RPA, augmentedreality, cloudcomputing, IoT and blockchain (cue arguments from blockchain fans))

Last Thursday’s Quantum London meetup (generously hosted by BMS Group) was an invaluable session to start discussing this with like-minded individuals from a number of industries. While clearly not ready for prime time in the worlds most of us operate in, there was talk of use cases relevant for the forward thinkers across #banking, #insurance, #pharmaceuticals, #aircraft design etc. We obviously not the only ones discussion it: A recent paper by BCG lays out multiple ways #quantum could help the fight against climate change, while a recent McKinsey report gives their views on the different speed and scale of quantum adoptions across multiple industries. The Meetup event also reminded us of a specific risk of saying “not relevant now”: namely that while quantum computers may not yet be routinely cracking encryption, a lot of the data we store will still have residual value in a few years’ time once hackers do have access to cost-effective quantum hacking, so the loss of a encrypted database today might cause problems in the future. How many of us had considered that when dismissing quantum hacking as a #futureproblem?

This was a great event benefiting from the combination of industry, start-up, innovation and academic input. Looking forward to seeing how this topic develops over the months ahead.

For more information about Quantum London and future meetings go to LinkedIn or Meetup.