Information Technology

<p>Quantum computing has the potential to spur breakthroughs in health care, financial strategies, security and more because of its quantum mechanical properties. Quantum computers are positioned to provide the computing power needed to solve problems currently unsolvable by classical computers or at a faster rate. It is a radical new paradigm of computing which takes advantage of the quantum phenomena (like superposition and entanglement) seen at the microscopic physical scale. Quantum computers can run specialized algorithms which scale better than their classical counterparts, in some cases, exponentially faster. A quantum computer operates upon a register of qubits, which are the quantum extension of classical bits. While a classical bit is confined to a definite value of either 0 or 1, a qubit can exist in a continuous complex space between these values. That is, describing the state of an n-bit classical register requires n bits, but describing the state of an n-qubit quantum register requires 2n complex numbers. While all the top software companies like Google, IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, etc. have already ventured into this niche area of computing, there are small players like Ion-Q and D-wave also are seriously developing both hardware and software which have huge potentials in the area of high-speed computation. Apart from US and Europe, China is also investing a large amount of money in this area and related areas (quantum communication). India is still lagging in this vital area which is going to revolutionize the method of computation in near future and little progress is being made through meagre government funding. It is the right time for Indian premiere institutions to focus on developing algorithms for different areas so that India can lead the world in Quantum software like what it did in Y2K and what is missing in AI/ML. The Global Quantum Computing Market is estimated to reach USD 2.82 Billion by 2023, registering a 34% CAGR during the forecast period (2018-2023). &nbsp; <strong> Kathiresan Sundarappan</strong> Independent Consultant / Former Engineer at Honeywell Technology Solutions</p>