As mathematical constants go, Pi has much broader recognition than Planck’s Constant, but maybe World Quantum Day can help change that. While March 14 has become known as Pi Day in reflection of the constant’s first three digits (3.14), an international collection of quantum scientists has chosen April 14 as World Quantum Day, reflecting the first three rounded-up digits (4.14) of Planck’s Constant, the fundamental constant governing quantum physics.
Although, to be honest, the emerging quantum technology industry may be much more interested in promoting its own innovation efforts and products than it is in hyping old Max Planck.
World Quantum Day began last year with a handful of countries, companies and associations using it to promote quantum technology education efforts and awareness. This year, the second World Quantum Day will feature many more events and involve many more companies looking toward a fast-approaching future when technologies like quantum computing, quantum networking, quantum sensing, and more, will be the basis for thriving markets. The World Quantum Day Twitter feed lists many of these events, and other sites, like the National Quantum Initiative, also highlight a number of ways to get involved.
Yudong Cao, CTO and co-founder of Zapata Computing, commented on the significance of the day, stating, “World Quantum Day is a great reminder to appreciate the progress that has been made in quantum computing and look ahead towards what we can expect. Today, we can see value from quantum AI to solve complex problems, from warehouse processes to novel drug development. We are able to go beyond the existing paradigms of quantum computing and leverage quantum-inspired techniques, such as tensor networks, on classical hardware. Over the next few years, we expect benefits of quantum computing to continue to be driven by quantum-inspired software – and those who start building quantum applications with tensor networks today will be the first to reap the benefits once fault-tolerant quantum computing is available.”
While quantum computing has captured much of the early buzz around quantum technology, 2023 is looking like the year when the quantum networking portion of the sector is set to explode. Quantum networks essentially allow the secure transmission of qubits between separate quantum computers or nodes through quantum entanglement, allowing machines separated by distance to harness and leverage their collective processing power, as well as enable secure data communications between sites.
Among quantum networking firms, EPB, the Chattanooga, Tennessee, gigabit fiber broadband provider that launched the first quantum network in the U.S. late last year, has launched a new initiative – GigCityGoesQuantum – which promotes what it claims are more than 1,000 quantum learning activities to take place both in-person in the Chattanooga area and online between April 14 and May 31.
Meanwhile, Aliro Quantum, a Boston-based start-up that is one of the vendors supporting the EPB Quantum Network, providing EPB with network orchestration and control capabilities, announced this week that it will host education sessions on quantum topics later this month in Boston.
And, yet another U.S.-based start-up providing the technology to connect quantum computers in network configurations is planning to use World Quantum Day as the occasion to launch a major new R&D effort. (Revisit this story on or after April 14 to find out more details.)
There are also expected to be some announcements throughout the day on April 14 about new and updated software-based quantum training programs.
Why such a heavy focus on training and education? Because that continues to be a dire need throughout the quantum technology sector. Both small and large technology companies are trying to ramp up their efforts, but in many cases lack enough employees with basic quantum skills.
Classiq, a quantum computing software company that also offers quantum skills training software and has teamed up with Microsoft on quantum education efforts, explained how these programs will help the sector. “Introducing software for quantum computing to academic institutions empowers both students and researchers,” said Nir Minerbi, CEO of Classiq. “Quantum software for students makes the concept of quantum computing tangible. Students will develop business-relevant quantum software solutions and be able to run software on actual quantum hardware. Researchers acquire a force-multiplying tool that enables them to write code that can take advantage of modern, more advanced quantum hardware and facilitates the development of increasingly complex quantum algorithms.”