The IBM Heron, first unveiled late last year, is the company’s most powerful quantum chip to date. It advances the company’s mission to bring useful quantum computing to the world by enabling users to increase the complexity of the algorithms they explore on real quantum hardware.
When the IBM Heron-based system is available at the IBM Quantum Data Center in Europe, it will be the third IBM Heron to be installed in IBM’s fleet of quantum systems accessible by the company’s global quantum network of more than 250 companies, universities, research institutions and organizations. IBM Heron offers up to 16 times the performance and 25 times the speed of previous IBM quantum computers, according to measurements from two years ago.
When installed alongside the systems now available in the new IBM Quantum Data Center, the IBM Heron-based system will augment the more than a dozen quantum computers IBM offers its clients through the cloud – the largest fleet of its kind in the world.
The opening of the new Quantum Data Center was celebrated at a ceremony attended by high-ranking government officials, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Minister of Economics, Labor and Tourism of the State of Baden-WĂĽrttemberg.
Arvind Krishna, CEO and Chairman of IBM, gave a speech alongside Chancellor Scholz, and the Chancellor also spoke at length with IBM executives, including Dario Gil, IBM Senior Vice President and Director of Research, Ana Paula Assis, General Manager of IBM EMEA, Jay Gambetta, Vice President of IBM Quantum, and the IBM Quantum team based in Germany, about the importance of adopting and expanding quantum computing in the region.
In addition, several high-level representatives from global companies based in Europe, including Crédit Mutuel, Bosch, E.ON, Volkswagen Group and others, as well as research organizations such as the University of the Basque Country in Spain and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, attended the ceremony. These organizations are among the more than 80 European-based organizations in the IBM Quantum Network, many of which have the ability to access the systems at the IBM Quantum Data Center in Europe to research quantum computing algorithms and applications that could solve some of the most complex challenges in their industries.
“The opening of IBM’s quantum data center in Ehningen is good news for Germany as a location for innovation and business, and an expression of investor confidence in Germany. With its center, IBM is enriching the German quantum computing landscape. The German government is specifically supporting the development of quantum technologies and is driving the development of skills and capacities in quantum computing to promote a functioning ecosystem around the construction of quantum computers,” said Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
“The opening of our first IBM Quantum Data Center in Europe marks a pivotal moment for the technological development of the region, demonstrates our commitment to Europe and underlines the key role of collaboration with industry, academia and policy makers for a pan-European quantum ecosystem. This state-of-the-art facility will foster innovation around quantum computing, create new opportunities for attracting talent and ensure that Europe remains at the forefront of global technological advancement,” said Ana Paula Assis, General Manager and Chair of IBM Europe, Middle East and Africa.
“Our collaboration with IBM for the ‘scale-up’ phase of quantum computing is progressing as planned. We are working on the development of concrete applications that will improve the experience of our customers and members and create added value for all the Group’s business lines,” said Frantz RublĂ©, President of Euro-Information and Vice-Chairman of CrĂ©dit Mutuel Alliance FĂ©dĂ©rale. “The availability of this Quantum Data Center on European soil solves our problems in terms of proximity to processing sites and CrĂ©dit Mutuel’s approach to regulatory compliance. And it also means that we can look forward with confidence to the next phases of the implementation of the quantum project at CrĂ©dit Mutuel, CIC and then Targobank.”
“We believe that enabling our scientists and engineers to tackle challenging problems in materials science, high-energy physics and life sciences using quantum computing, and giving them access to state-of-the-art quantum computers, will be crucial for breakthrough advances in all these disciplines,” said Javier Aizpurua, Ikerbasque Professor at the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) of the University of the Basque Country and director of BasQ. “A combined use of quantum computing, AI and data science, if widely applied, will open up new opportunities not only in basic research but also in industrial innovation.”
“Bosch is committed to driving innovation in the field of materials simulation using quantum computing. In collaboration with IBM Quantum, our team is developing scalable algorithms to revolutionize product development. This includes the development of new materials for sustainable, carbon-free mobility and the reduction of rare earth elements,” said Dr. Thomas Kropf, President of Corporate Sector Research and Advance Engineering at Robert Bosch GmbH. “The European IBM Quantum Data Center allows us to perform quantum computations in close proximity and supports Bosch’s approach to comply with European data protection regulations. This accelerates our research and development efforts and strengthens the European quantum ecosystem, paving the way for advances in mobility, healthcare and sustainable technologies.”
“E.ON is exploring quantum computing to tackle the challenges of the energy transition, including large-scale optimization, complex scenario modeling and quantum-based machine learning. The location of the first European IBM Quantum Data Center is important to enable compliance with data protection regulations and export controls, and also helpful for EU/German public funding conditions, while providing opportunities for local access to quantum computing resources and expertise. This milestone underscores European and German leadership in quantum computing and represents a significant step forward in bringing businesses into the quantum age,” said Chris d’Arcy, Managing Director, E.ON Digital Technology GmbH and Chief Data and AI Officer.
“Quantum computing can be the next big achievement that can solve problems in materials science, traffic optimization or deep learning and change the world. IBM’s Quantum Data Center in Europe provides access to the company’s unique quantum infrastructure, providing another vital link between quantum computing and large-scale industrial applications. We are proud to be part of this journey leveraging quantum computing for the transformation to future-proof, sustainable and smart mobility,” said Dr. Nikolai Ardey, Executive Director, Volkswagen Group Innovation.
“Algorithmiq is pioneering the integration of quantum computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and network science to solve the world’s most complex problems in chemistry, healthcare and life sciences. To achieve this, we need algorithms and scale. That’s why we’ve partnered with IBM in both areas: Our groundbreaking error mitigation algorithm, TEM, available through the Qiskit Function Catalog, has proven optimal for expanding the scope and accuracy of quantum simulations. And now that more IBM quantum systems are available in Europe, we are excited to further strengthen our relationships in Europe and collaborate with an even larger ecosystem of industries, organizations, developers and scientists to demonstrate the value of TEM – and make progress towards quantum advantage,” said Sabrina Maniscalco, CEO of Algorithmiq.
IBM recently released evidence that Qiskit is the world’s leading and most powerful quantum software. Together with access to advanced quantum hardware from IBM, the IBM ecosystem of users across Europe and around the world can access tools and systems that can help them more easily advance the discovery of algorithms that could open the way to useful quantum computation and quantum advantage: the point at which a quantum computer can solve a practical problem better than any classical method.
Access to IBM Quantum Data Centers in Europe is through the IBM Quantum Platform. This continues IBM’s mission to enable the development of quantum computing use cases and help clients explore algorithms in the age of quantum applications and on the path to quantum advantage.
Information about IBM
IBM is a leader in global hybrid cloud, AI and consulting. We help clients in more than 175 countries commercialize insights from their data, optimize business processes, reduce costs and remain leaders in their industries. Thousands of government agencies and organizations in critical infrastructure sectors such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift for fast, efficient and secure digital transformation. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting provide open and flexible options for our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, accountability, inclusion and service.
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