7 Quantum Computing predictions for 2021

2020 was an amazing year in Quantum Computing (QC) as we saw it enter mainstream debates, established itself with new events and conferences, and we witnessed new levels of awareness sweep the globe as people wake up to the potential of this new alien technology.

Quantum Computers kept grabbing major headlines across all media and we saw record levels of capital flowing into Quantum Information Sciences (QIS) from both the public and private sectors.

Notably a few large brands upped their game with Honeywell announcing their arrival onto the Quantum arena to take on Google, Intel, Microsoft and IBM, brands that tend to capture much of the media attention. Arguably others such as D Wave and Rigetti are making more progressive strides, and then there is China, that many believe are ahead in the Quantum race, as we await the 14th 5 year plan, that saw the 13th 5 year plan announce they intend to become the Worlds Technology Superpower, a statement of intent the world isn’t paying enough attention to.

It is worth remembering there are no Quantum Computing standards, not yet anyway. It is a new kind of technology, a new industry that is building out a new ‘technology stack’ — the underlying hardware components (machines), whether room temp or requiring a cryostat, the quantum processors and circuits that control the sub-atomic particles, the compliers and languages that aid programming, the operating systems that manage resources and the classical computers that run alongside, the applications…