Quantum cloud computing arriving within a decade

An Australian breakthrough brought quantum computing closer in 2012. At the time a team of Australian and British researchers created the first working quantum bit based on a single atom in silicon.

Fast forward to 2016 and quantum computing is almost seen as a necessity for our future. We need the application of quantum theory to computing as it will enable us to make light work of complex calculations and data processing. As quantum computers use subatomic quantum bits, so called qubits, they can be in multiple states at once and therefore process more calculations in parallel.

Difficult Tasks are Solved in Seconds

According to quantum computing expert Robert Young, a research fellow and lecturer at Lancaster University in the UK, quantum computing has immense potential, solving difficult tasks in seconds, such as simulating the body’s response to drugs, predicting weather patterns, or analysing big datasets. “Imagine a computer processor able to harness super-position, to calculate the result of an arbitrarily large number of permutations of a complex problem simultaneously,” he wrote in an article for academic website the Conversation. “Imagine how entanglement could be used to allow systems on different sides of the world to be linked and their efforts combined, despite their physical separation.”

Moving on from quantum computing, Microsoft founder Bill Gates discussed quantum cloud computing in a recent Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit. He said it wasn’t clear when it would work or become mainstream, but envisaged it within the next decade. “Microsoft and others are working on quantum computing...There is a chance that within 6-10 years cloud computing will offer super-computation by using quantum,” Gates said. “It could help solve some very important science problems including materials and catalyst design.”

Glimpse into the Future of Cloud Computing

Several cloud companies have invested in quantum computing; Alibaba for example co-founded a quantum computing lab with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in July last year. And according to ZDNet.com Google's latest tests show there's light at the end of the quantum computing tunnel with its D-Wave 2X system running millions of times faster than today's technology.

Read more on:

http://theconversation.com/get-used-to-it-quantum-computing-will-bring-immense-processing-possibilities-46420

http://www.zdnet.com/article/quantum-cloud-computing-could-arrive-in-the-next-decade-says-bill-gates/

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