Ever heard of Quantum Computing? Well, Quantum computers are computers that use quantum bits or qubits to top the capabilities of some of the most advanced supercomputers in the world.
IBM just launched its Quantum computer program in Africa recently. The advanced computing company announced a partnership with the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg with plans to expand to 15 other African universities across 9 countries.
Earlier this year in January 2019, IBM unveiled the first ever integrated quantum computing system for commercial use with so many promises. The company announced that its Q systems are designed to tackle problems seen as too complex and exponential in nature for classical systems to handle. The system will also be able to solve numerous problems in data modelling and global logistics.
Currently, IBM Q operates out of IBM’s Yorktown Heights research centre in New York and will be accessed from African universities via the cloud.
IBM is launching this new partnership with the hopes that it could boost research and development advances in areas such as drug discovery based on Africa’s genetic diversity that could lead to new treatments for diseases like HIV or Tuberculosis.
Wits University will serve as the main access point for other African universities. Q will be served to up to 15 additional universities from Wits, and these universities include Addis Ababa University, the University of Nairobi, and the University of Lagos.
The get the ball rolling, IBM will be running a workshop style camp in Cape Town that will bring in about 200 computer scientists using the Q system. Also, researchers who are interested in working with IBM new machine can apply online.
In 2013, IBM launched a facility in Kenya, which was then extended to South Africa in 2016. This new effort at Wits University and other African Universities is part of IBM’s extension on its Africa Research programs. Thus far, IBM research partnerships in Africa has successfully included agricultural and blockchain related tech startups.
In terms of the timing, IBM says its bringing Q into Africa on time for Africans to begin to explore the possibilities of commercial grade Quantum computing systems.
Lastly, according to the VP of IBM Research – Africa and Emerging Markets Solutions, Dr Solomon Assefa, IBM is currently “developing commercial grade Q machines…but in terms of that being applicable for Africa, it’s still early days”.
