The Future is Quantum—and You Can’t Afford to Ignore It

Despite the recent surge in conversation, quantum is not new.  The foundation of quantum, and more specifically quantum mechanics, was developed 100 years ago and describes the strange and counterintuitive behavior of the smallest particles that make up our physical world—think atoms, electrons, protons and neutrons.

Thanks to the work done over the past century, we know quantum can solve—and create—enormous problems, as it has already demonstrated in the past. Quantum mechanics and quantum physics led to the atomic bomb, support for GPS via atomic clocks, the invention of MRI machines, and the production of semiconductors used in just about all electronic devices, including smartphones and computers.    

Now, scientists and researchers are taking quantum further by applying those principles to new technologies like quantum computers, quantum sensors, and quantum communications networks and developing new hardware and software systems to solve problems previously thought impossible.

• Financial Services: Quantum computers can be used for more efficient portfolio optimization and liquidity management, complex risk analysis, and fraud detection. Recently, HSBC, in partnership with IBM,  announced the first known empirical evidence of the potential value of quantum. By combining quantum and classical computing, they were able to “deliver up to a 34 percent improvement in predicting how likely a trade would be filled at a quoted price,” compared to standalone classical computing.
• Healthcare:  The significant processing power of quantum computers will allow for faster and more accurate simulations of chemical formulas, accelerating the development of new drugs and therapies for diseases once thought un-treatable. Quantum machine learning can also help design and analyze clinical trials and more accurately predict patient responses to treatments.
• Energy: Quantum technologies can bring benefits to the energy sector by optimizing the transition to renewable energy and improving renewable energy forecasting, as well as enabling more efficient grid management and storage solutions. This is crucial for balancing supply and demand and minimizing energy waste.
• Communications: Quantum communications will be a key component of enhanced cybersecurity in a post-quantum world as well as support the proliferation of quantum technologies globally. Advanced quantum communications infrastructure will not only be necessary to connect quantum systems across geographies, but it will also create ultra-secure communication channels that are resistant to eavesdropping and virtually unhackable, allowing for more secure transmission of data across networks.
• Defense & Military: Quantum technology has numerous military applications, including secure communications, encryption, and enhanced sensing capabilities. As an example, quantum sensing can detect underground structures or nuclear materials, as well as detect extremely small changes in magnetic and electric fields, helping to locate enemy submarines or mines.

But like all innovations, despite the many positive impacts that quantum technologies can have, it also creates new problems. One of the most urgent implications is the threat quantum computing poses to encryption and how data is secured.

• Breaking Current Encryption: Quantum computers are exponentially faster at solving problems and processing information than classical computers, and as a result current encryption standards and protocols that safeguard company and consumer data will be at risk of being quickly decrypted, a risk known as “Q-Day”.
• Harvest Now, Decrypt Later: With Q-Day looming in the not-so-distant future, many threat actors are stealing encrypted data now and storing it with the expectation that quantum will allow them to decrypt that data in the future.
• Risk to Financial Payments: The processing of financial payments relies on encrypted data and digital signatures, and in a post-quantum world those financial payments could be disrupted.