NQIT Report: Commercial Prospects for Quantum Computing

January 19, 2016

The Networked Quantum Information Technologies Hub, the largest of the four Hubs in the UK National Quantum Technology Programme, released their first issue of a new market report “Commercial Prospects of Quantum Computing”, which reviews current commercial activity in quantum computing around the world. The report covers commercial investment in quantum computing, the current market and research status and public perceptions of this new technology.

“The disruptive potential of quantum computing is attracting growing interest and substantial investment from industry and governments globally. This is happening despite the understanding that a universal quantum computer is still years away from being commercially available. Andrew Lockley writing for Exponential Investor, an online resource for technology investment, puts the case for quantum computing:

‘There’s a revolution coming in computing that has the power to disrupt society just as fundamentally as the first information revolution. This new generation of computers aren’t just faster or better – they’re completely, radically, different.’

Some businesses are currently preparing themselves for the impact of quantum computing when it does arrive. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is one such institution which is investing heavily in quantum computing. CBA’s Executive Manager of Technology Innovation, Dilan Rajasingham, succinctly said:

‘We’re not going to wait for the machine.’

RBS Silicon Valley Solutions, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, is an investor in 1QBit, a Canadian quantum software company. In January 2016, Head of RBS Silicon Valley Solutions, John Stewart, explained:

“The reason we invested was that we felt this was one of a fairly small number of cases where a technology was potentially so disruptive and so difficult to access, that making an investment and securing either a board seat or a board observer seat would give us a strategic advantage in exchange for a modest outlay.’ ” 

NQIT Commercial Prospects for Quantum Computing Report