In a pivotal moment for the future of quantum computing, the UK’s first commercially available Quantum Computing as a Service built entirely using its proprietary technology has been launched. It is a boost for the country’s ambition to be a global quantum superpower, as well as for businesses looking to explore the increasing commercial and technical benefits of quantum computing. Having built and launched the UK’s first superconducting quantum computer, this announcement marks the first time the proprietary technology is available to the enterprise via its private cloud.
“The launch of our QCaaS platform is a significant milestone in unlocking the potential of quantum computing both in the UK and globally,” Dr Ilana Wisby, the CEO of OQC, said. “We know quantum computing has the power to be revolutionary but for decades this power and potential has been relatively untested and unverified in the real world. By making our platform more widely available to strategic partners and customers, we are offering the world’s leading enterprises the chance to demonstrate just how far reaching quantum will be within their industries.”
The platform takes its proprietary quantum technology to the market through a private cloud, where it will be used by strategic partners and customers to further experiment with quantum until ultimately they make breakthrough discoveries and tackle some of the world’s most intractable problems. The company is now welcoming registrations to its beta list, for sector leading enterprise customers looking to take advantage of the technical and commercial benefits of quantum computing.
The launch of the platform is evidence of the scalability of its patented architecture and technological designs. Leading quantum circuits to date have been built in a two dimensional plane. In 2D, the intricate wiring required to control and measure the qubits, the core input output functionality of the quantum hardware, quickly becomes a limiting factor as it introduces noise. Noise harms the coherence of the quantum device, which reduces the quality of its output. As the number of qubits grows, the intricacy of the wiring demands more fabrication steps, increasing error rates and cost. The core innovation, the Coaxmon, solves these challenges using a three dimensional architecture that moves the control and measurement wiring out of plane and into a 3D configuration. This vastly simplifies fabrication, improving coherence and boosting scalability.
Businesses invited to join the beta list will be able to test the systems in streamlining or enhancing their business processes, and model and experiment with new approaches. In the long term, quantum could have a significant impact on businesses’ operations, and on our lives, in a variety of ways such as pharmaceutical companies being able to look for ways to better predict health conditions, and identify new molecules, financial institutions getting great insight into their trading and risk management strategies, multinationals experimenting with quantum enabled fleet logistics to optimise their supply chains and manufacturing, the advancement of more efficient and powerful energy capture and storage for the future of battery technology as well as the development of more powerful AI algorithms.
