Study finds increased university spending toward education technology – Daily Californian
Posted: September 26, 2020 at 9:54 am
Brianna Luna/File
According to campus spokesperson Janet Gilmore, UC Berkeley has spent about $10 million on implementing and upgrading the technology needed to support online learning, $4 million of which was directed toward providing technology to lower-income students.
A report published by education technology company Rootstrap found that online learning companies revenue from universities increased by 559% on average from March through July this year compared to the same time frame in 2019.
Roostrap conducted a cross-industry study of online education companies and ultimately found that customer spending has increased on average by 335%, with universities making up the largest portion of customers, according to the study. Patrick Ward, Rootstrap director of marketing, said this study is a wake-up call for universities because charging students the same tuition while spending more for online services will cause many universities to struggle.
He hopes the trends highlighted by the study lead to the democratization of education by providing courses virtually that are affordable and of high quality.
The two big components of the value proposition that a university provides, namely the social network and the physical experience, now no longer can be delivered, Ward said. And so with that reduction, they need to find new ways.
According to campus spokesperson Janet Gilmore, UC Berkeley has spent about $10 million on implementing and upgrading the technology needed to support online learning. Of that amount, $4 million was spent to provide technology to lower-income students, while the rest was for online services such as Zoom licensing and virtual advising support.
The estimated overall fiscal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to June 2021 is about $340 million, according to Gilmore. Of that loss, $200 million is from decreased campus income from sources like athletics, housing and dining, and $65 million was put toward COVID-19 efforts including cleaning, testing and remote learning transition resources.
According to Aaron Rasmussen, founder and CEO of Outlier.org, a technology company offering online courses, spending more on education technology will improve online learning effectiveness, making students more attracted to it.
Ward recommends colleges listen to their students and integrate online courses into their curriculum beyond the pandemic.
Without the limit of physical campus boundaries, and with a plethora of offerings at their fingertips, students can sample a variety of experiences in their online education, Rasmussen said in an email. Its no longer about who has a planetarium on campus or the nicest library; the emphasis is on the content and instruction.
Universities including UC Berkeley have delved into this integration of online courses through services such as Emeritus that provide the technological infrastructure to deliver courses to a broader audience outside of campus students, according to Ward.
Ward said small- and medium-sized universities are gravely at risk from increased spending for online services during the pandemic because they are smaller brands, possess smaller footprints and have smaller endowments.
There is undoubtedly a forced push for technological innovation in higher education for the time being, but the lasting effects are yet to be seen, Rasmussen said in an email.
Dina Katgara is the lead business and economy reporter. Contact her at [emailprotected] and follow her on Twitter at @dinakatgara.
Correction(s): A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Outlier.org was involved in the study. In fact, it was not involved.
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Study finds increased university spending toward education technology - Daily Californian
Global Online K-12 Education Market 2020 Estimated to Experience a Notable Growth in the Coming Years Know Share, Trends, Regional Analysis and…
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Harm to the Public Will Only Worsen if We Don’t Increase School Openings – UT News | The University of Texas at Austin
Posted: at 9:54 am
Sometimes it seems as if Democrats are so preoccupied with opposing reopening policies, many times viewed as Republican-oriented, that they fail to consider more nuanced responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is particularly harmful as the continuing closures of public schools, libraries and playgrounds exacerbate inequality and facilitate a relapse to American individualism.
Rather than merely opposing reopening policies, Democrats should promote creative alternatives that will enable safe and equal access to public services in the COVID-19 era. Otherwise, they will end up contributing to the already alarming inequality that prevails in the U.S.
Public services are not a luxury, and their closure comes at a high cost. As we debate the way forward, we must face the implications of the disappearance of the public in the COVID-19 era. When public schools, playgrounds, pools and libraries were closed in the spring, each of us was asked to seek private shelter. For many of us, however, there is no shelter.
Weve already witnessed how the requirement to find shelter at home during the shelter in place phase in New York City, for example, wasnt as effective in stopping the spread of the virus in lower social-economic neighborhoods. Research conducted by the NYU Furman Center found that for those living in small apartments and crowded neighborhoods who cant work remotely, the private shelter was not enough. Such disparities will persist and increase if public services, and especially public schools, remain closed.
The modern economy is grounded on the ability to rely on schools to enable parents to work a 40-hour week. Without public schools, millions of American working parents are left without access to the labor market. Millions of kids are left without an adequate education.
When public schools do not offer a safe in-person alternative, parents have to find solutions based on their differential resources: paying a tutor to facilitate homeschooling while they work from home, quitting a job, or relying on their existing social networks. Some families have opted to create small pods of children, alternating adult supervision between multiple households. For many other Americans, however, this is not an option. Already underpaid, millions of working parents are required to juggle household responsibilities and paid labor. Many of them have neither the flexibility nor the means needed for alternative arrangements.
Online-only instruction is not a viable solution for millions of kids and working mothers. With limited public-school services, childrens academic prospects depend largely on their parents unequal capacities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that online learning may be damaging to all kids but disproportionately harms low-income and minority children and those living with disabilities. These students are far less likely to have access to private instruction and care and far more likely to rely on key school-supported resources like food programs, special education services, counseling, and after-school programs to meet basic developmental needs.
Online-only instruction also heightens gender inequality. For example, data on the achievements of scientists during the pandemic indicates that even middle class educated mothers are vulnerable to their childrens transition to online education, as women with young children reported a significant decrease in time dedicated to research.
The lack of a nationwide concerted effort to contain the spread of the virus is frustrating. And in locations with more severe restrictions on social and commercial activity, the numbers of cases have decreased significantly. In other words, closures work. Yet as we move forward, Americans need to generate creative solutions for safe access to public services. It is not enough at this point to resign ourselves to continued closures.
Now is the time to invest strategically and significantly in the public. Instead of saying no to reopening, advocate within your district for what can make reopening imaginable: providing tutoring services, offering smaller classes, having an outside library and schools. Extend medical health coverage and increase public school funding. With these issues at the heart of a national strategy, the American public may be preserved when COVID-19 is behind us.
Inbal Leibovits is a doctoral student in communication studies at The University of Texas at Austin.
A version of this op-ed appeared in the San Antonio Express News.
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Harm to the Public Will Only Worsen if We Don't Increase School Openings - UT News | The University of Texas at Austin
How ICCSD special education teachers and families have adapted to virtual learning – Iowa City Press-Citizen
Posted: at 9:54 am
Cleo Krejci, Iowa City Press-Citizen Published 1:22 p.m. CT Sept. 23, 2020 | Updated 1:29 p.m. CT Sept. 23, 2020
COVID-19 widespread testing is crucial to fighting the pandemic, but is there enough testing? The answer is in the positivity rates. USA TODAY
Special education is inherentlyindividual.
That means when classes moved online due to the pandemic, educators, right along with their students, were challenged to meet students' individual needs while taking into account a new, online-only method of learning.
Of the more than 14,000 students in the Iowa City Community School District, about 1,500 have an IEP, or an individual education plan,as part of the district's special education program. Iowa City schools have adjusted along with the pandemic, ensuring eachIEPincludes a plan for remotelearning.
"Our students with IEPs are always general education students first," said Lisa Glenn, special education director for the district. "And so we've got to make sure and provide those accommodations and modifications so that students can access the general program. So, we have to think about those things virtually."
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About 44% of students with IEPs have opted-in to the online-only learning program,which closely tracks with the roughly 46% of overall students in the district who have done the same.
The rest of the students are in the standard enrollmentprogram, which still requires them to take some classes online when coronavirus cases are relatively low in Johnson County andthe district is in a "hybrid" learning model. Hybrid learning will begin this year on Sept. 28.
Earlier this month, the ICCSDelected to allow a small portionstudents in the special education program to receive services on-site, even if the rest of the district was in online-only mode.
"Even as we have become better and better at providing services virtually, we still have a few students for whom we have not found a good solution for and are still struggling withproviding an adequateeducation," Glenn said, notingthat the number of students impacted by the update will be small.
Education teams for those students are now able to discuss bringing them on-site for certain, targeted services, such as for studentswho use large equipment that can't be delivered to a home or who work with specialproviders.
"We would be talking about very complicated kinds of services that would just be really, really difficult to provide virtually," Glenn said.
This special education classroom at City High School in Iowa City, Iowa, is set up for in-person learning amid the coronavirus pandemic. Tables have been spaced out from one another for social distancing and are marked with tape on the floor. Students are also given individual bins with disinfected supplies.(Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen)
Learning through experience can be very beneficial for some students in special education programs, said J.P. Claussen, a school board member and former special education teacher in the district.It's also difficult to simulate online.
"For some kids, what we do in special edis we're going to teach you skills in this certain environment, which is the classroom. And then we're going to work really hard to get you to generalize those skills in other environments, including home," Claussen said.
Generalizing those skills is the hardest part do to.
"If they haven't learned to generalize those skills, the fact that you're trying to teach those skills at home without a person present...they're not going to understand what's going on. Like, 'Why is school happening at home?'" Claussen said.
Some students' IEPs require they learnskills that will support their independence after high school,like riding the city bus or crossing the street safely, which is also difficult to recreate through a computer screen.
City High School in Iowa City, Iowa, has disinfectant supplies and face shields in classrooms to protect students and staff against COVID-19. ICCSD will go into a hybrid model of learning in-person and virtually Sept. 28.(Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen)
The district also has a program that places special education students into community jobs for two hours a week. That program is on hold indefinitely due to the pandemic, although some studentsare working at in-school jobs.
The Best Buddies program, which pairs students in the special education program with students outside of it, is still in full swing this year although it's online.
School supplies: Iowa City-area groups look for community support in back-to-school drive
Stella Foster, a senior at City High, is the president of the program and has been paired with her "buddy" and friend,Kiriana, for three years.
"She is the most welcoming and friendly person," Foster says. "She makes me want to meet more people."
There arearound 40 pairs of students in the program, making 80 participants. Even more people join the activities,totaling around 300 people, Foster says. The group aims to hold all activitiespossible online.
Kiriana's mom, Nicole Horning, says her daughter has not found online classes easy. As an extremely social person, shelearns best with 1-1, in-person instruction.She also has trouble reading on screens and learns better with hands-on tools, like pencil and paper.
"Learning online is a huge challenge, because my daughter has always loved mirrors,and Zoomis kind of like a mirror. And so sometimes, it's distracting because she cansee herfriends and sayhi, and she hasn't seen themin person since spring."
Teachers have found ways to help, like:
As someone who isn't "tech savvy" himself, Tom Braverman, a special education teacher at City High,likes to use paper and pencil in the classroom and have kids read out of books, knowing those skills will be essential for life after high school.
"A lot of the students that we work with ... tend to find navigating the internet and technology cumbersome and kind of difficult,"Braverman said. "And for those students, it'shard to participate in a meaningful way. And so we'reburning the candle at both ends to try and meet their needs and make sure that they're having opportunitiesto grow and participate."
Online education also means that parents, guardians and siblings at home have had to take on the role of a special education teacher sometimes having to keep the student focused and make sure they continue with their online classes throughout the day.
"At City High, we have some pretty amazing teachers," Braverman says. "And, that being said, we also have some pretty darn amazing parents who are taking on something that they really weren't expecting to do."
Tom Braverman, a special education teacher at City High, sets up a Zoom video conference for his first period class amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, at City High School in Iowa City, Iowa.(Photo: Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen)
Horning and her husband help switch off taking notes for Kiriana during the day, a job that under normal circumstances is filled by a paraprofessional in the classroom. She knows their family is lucky,because they are able to find the time to help with online learning during the week,which is not the case for all families.
Next week, Kiriana will go back to school in-personpart of the time as hybrid learning resumes. Horningfeels like she had to chooseher daughter's education over her health in deciding whether to keep her online only.
Horning recognizes that online learning is less than optimal, but commends the teachers who are doing all they can to help.
"I feel super fortunate that we live in Iowa City that the teachers and staff genuinely care about what they're doing, and their students. And everybody is really trying to make it work," she said.
Education: Iowa City teachers to receive additional training on implicit bias, microagressions, white supremacy
Cleo Krejci covers education for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. You can reach her at ckrejci@press-citizen.comor on Twitter via@_CleoKrejci.
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How ICCSD special education teachers and families have adapted to virtual learning - Iowa City Press-Citizen
Zoom University is the same price – The Patriot Talon
Posted: at 9:54 am
Alyssa Luther
Staff Writer
The University of Texas at Tyler sparked a lot of conversation when it announced the majority of classes for the Fall 2020 semester were going to be online. In the days following the news, students, parents, faculty, and locals spoke out on their opinion of if tuition should be lowered.
Britney Jo Wallace is a full time student in her senior year at UT Tyler. Initially, she registered for one online class and three in-person classes for the Fall semester. As of last week, only two of them are in-person and the rest are online, but this is still subject to change.
Everything that I am doing in these [online] classes, I could do on my own, Wallace said. There are no lectures, so it feels to me that I am not actually being taught and only paying for a degree.
There tends to be a blurred line between virtual learning and online courses. The majority of faculty and students dont know the difference.
Virtual learning utilizes computer softwares to deliver instruction to students whereas online classes are solely constructed to be over the Internet without synchronous meetings or recorded lectures.
I do feel that tuition should be lowered, Wallace said. I believe I am paying the same tuition for online classes that I had been for in-person lectures. It doesnt seem that I am necessarily getting what I paid for.
So, why do we believe online courses should be cheaper than in-person classes?
In reality, there have been a handful of online education colleges that have advertised they have more affordable education options. This is possible because these colleges do not have extra costs for buildings, excess staff other than professors, or taxes from the state.
Freshman marketing major Cholie Devillier expressed that she is a hands-on learner. Devillier has only one hybrid course this semester, the rest of her classes are strictly online.
I like to ask questions and get an immediate response, Devillier said. I like to verbally collaborate with my peers when I dont understand a topic. I thrive off of in-person classes.
This has not been possible for Devillier this semester. She has had to try and adapt to the new way of learning by becoming best friends with her computer screen.
I feel like I will do poorly this semester due to this reason. I dont do well staring at a computer screen all day and reading chapter after chapter on e-textbook. Im trying my best to adapt to this new way of learning, but I definitely am not a fan of it, Devillier expressed.
Online courses can cost less per student, but if more students enroll, the cost of developing the course increases. In the end, online education can actually cost more than the traditional face-to-face equivalent, especially when it is a new territory.
I dont have a definitive answer of whether [tuition] should be lowered or not, but I believe it is definitely something that should be discussed, junior Elementary Education major Whitney Bacon said.
None of her professors are using Zoom for online lectures. Instead, they have made modules on Canvas for their students to follow.
Only one of her in-person classes offer the synchronous Zoom option for the students who cannot attend class physically.
I think it will be a very long time before things are back to normal, Bacon said. This is unchartered territory for students and professors alike, so I feel the best thing we can do is respond with grace.
Whether you agree that tuition should be lowered or not, we can agree that this semester has been out-of-the-norm. Both students and professors have had to step out of their comfort zone and try to adapt to this new way of learning.
Only time will tell if Zoom University will make its appearance again next semester.
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Zoom University is the same price - The Patriot Talon
Baidu offers quantum computing from the cloud – VentureBeat
Posted: at 9:52 am
Following its developer conference last week, Baidu today detailed Quantum Leaf, a new cloud quantum computing platform designed for programming, simulating, and executing quantum workloads. Its aimed at providing a programming environment for quantum-infrastructure-as-a-service setups, Baidu says, and it complements the Paddle Quantum development toolkit the company released earlier this year.
Experts believe that quantum computing, which at a high level entails the use of quantum-mechanical phenomena like superposition and entanglement to perform computation, could one day accelerate AI workloads. Moreover, AI continues to play a role in cutting-edge quantum computing research.
Baidu says a key component of Quantum Leaf is QCompute, a Python-based open source development kit with a hybrid programming language and a high-performance simulator. Users can leverage prebuilt objects and modules in the quantum programming environment, passing parameters to build and execute quantum circuits on the simulator or cloud simulators and hardware. Essentially, QCompute provides services for creating and analyzing circuits and calling the backend.
Quantum Leaf dovetails with Quanlse, which Baidu also detailed today. The company describes Quanlse as a cloud-based quantum pulse computing service that bridges the gap between software and hardware by providing a service to design and implement pulse sequences as part of quantum tasks. (Pulse sequences are a means of reducing quantum error, which results from decoherence and other quantum noise.) Quanlse works with both superconducting circuits and nuclear magnetic resonance platforms and will extend to new form factors in the future, Baidu says.
The unveiling of Quantum Leaf and Quanlse follows the release of Amazon Braket and Googles TensorFlow Quantum, a machine learning framework that can construct quantum data sets, prototype hybrid quantum and classic machine learning models, support quantum circuit simulators, and train discriminative and generative quantum models. Facebooks PyTorch relies on Xanadus multi-contributor project for quantum computing PennyLane, a third-party library for quantum machine learning, automatic differentiation, and optimization of hybrid quantum-classical computations. And Microsoft offers several kits and libraries for quantum machine learning applications.
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IBM Partners With HBCUs to Diversify Quantum Computing Workforce – Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
Posted: at 9:52 am
September 21, 2020 | :
In partnership with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), IBM recently launched a quantum computing research initiative to raise awareness of the field and diversify the workforce.
The IBM-HBCU Quantum Center, a multi-year investment, will fund undergraduate and graduate research, provide access to IBM quantum computers through the Cloud and offer student support.
Quantum computing is considered a fairly young field and quantum computers were not readily available in research labs until 2016. IBM was the first company to put a quantum computer on the Cloud, which allows it to be accessible from anywhere, according to Dr. Abraham Asfaw, global lead of Quantum Education and Open Science at IBM Quantum.
What that implies is that now anyone around the world can participate, he said. This is why we have this broad education effort, to really try and make quantum computing open and accessible to everyone. The scale of the industry is very small but we are stepping into the right direction in terms of trying to get more people into the field.
The 13 HBCUs that will be part of the initiative include Albany State University, Clark Atlanta University, Coppin State University, Hampton University, Howard University, Morehouse College, Morgan State University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Southern University, Texas Southern University, University of the Virgin Islands, Virginia Union University and Xavier University of Louisiana.
Each of the schools was chosen based on how much the school focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Its very important at this point to be building community and to be educating everyone so that we have opportunities in the quantum computing field for everyone, said Asfaw. While at the same time, we are bringing in diverse perspectives to see where quantum computing applications could emerge.
Dr. Abraham Asfaw
The center encourages individuals from all STEM disciplines to pursue quantum computing. According to Asfaw, the field of quantum computing is considered highly interdisciplinary.
Teaching quantum computing, at any place, requires bringing together several departments, he said. So putting together a quantum curriculum is an exercise in making sure your students are trained in STEM all the way from the beginning to the end with different pieces from the different sciences instead of just one department altogether.
Diversifying the quantum computing workforce can also be looked at in two ways. One is getting different groups of people into the field and the other is bringing different perspectives into the field from the direction of the other sciences that could benefit from quantum computing, according to Asfaw.
We are in this discovery phase now, so really having help from all fields is a really powerful thing, he added.
IBM also plans to donate $100 million to provide more HBCUs with resources and technology as part of the Skills Academy Academic Initiative in Global University Programs. This includes providing HBCUs with university guest lectures, curriculum content, digital badges, software and faculty training by the end of 2020, according to IBM.
Our entire quantum education effort is centered around making all of our resources open and accessible to everyone, said Asfaw. [Our investment] is really an attempt to integrate HBCUs, which also are places of origin for so many successful scientists today, to give them opportunities to join the quantum computing revolution.
According to IBM, the skills academy is a comprehensive, integrated program designed to create a foundation of diverse and high demand skill sets that directly correlate to what students will need in the workplace.
The academy will address topics such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, blockchain, design thinking and quantum computing.
Those HBCUs involved in the academy include Clark Atlanta University, Fayetteville State University, Grambling State University, Hampton University, Howard University, Johnson C. Smith University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina Central University, Southern University System, Stillman College, Virginia State and West Virginia State University.
While we are teaching quantum computing, while we are building quantum computing at universities, while we are training developers to take on quantum computer, it is important at this point to be inclusive and accessible as possible, said Afsaw. That really allows the field to progress.
This summer, IBM also hosted the 2020 Qiskit Global Summer School, which was designed for people to further explore the quantum computing field. The program involved three hours of lectures as well as hands-on learning opportunities. Many HBCU students were part of the program.
This shows you thats one piece of the bigger picture of trying to get the whole world involved in quantum education, said Asfaw. Thats the first place where HBCUs were involved and we hope to continue to build on even more initiatives going forward.
Sarah Wood can be reached at swood@diverseeducation.com.
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IBM, Alphabet and well-funded startups in the race for quantum supremacy – IT Brief Australia
Posted: at 9:52 am
GlobalData, the worldwide data analysts, have offered new research that suggests that many companies are joining the race for quantum supremacy, that is, to be the first to make significant headway with quantum computing.
Quantum computers are a step closer to reality to solve certain real life problems that are beyond the capability of conventional computers, the analysts state.
However, the biggest challenge is that these machines should be able to manipulate several dozens of quantum bits or qubits to achieve impressive computational performance.
As a result, a handful of companies have joined the race to increase the power of qubits and claim quantum supremacy, says GlobalData.
An analysis of GlobalDatas Disruptor Intelligence Center reveals various companies in the race to monetisequantum computing as an everyday tool for business.
IBM's latest quantum computer, accessible via cloud, boasts a 65-qubit Hummingbird chip. It is an advanced version of System Q, its first commercial quantum computer launched in 2019 that has 20 qubits. IBM plans to launch a 1,000-qubit system by the end of 2023.
Alphabet has built a 54-qubit processor Sycamore and demonstrated its quantum supremacy by performing a task of generating a random number in 200 seconds, which it claims would take the most advanced supercomputer 10,000 years to finish the task.
The company also unveiled its newest 72-qubit quantum computer Bristlecone.
Alibabas cloud service subsidiary Aliyun and the Chinese Academy of Sciences jointly launched an 11-qubit quantum computing service, which is available to the public on its quantum computing cloud platform.
Alibaba is the second enterprise to offer the service to public after IBM.
However, its not only the tech giants that are noteworthy. GlobalData finds that well-funded startups have also targeted the quantum computing space to develop hardware, algorithms and security applications.
Some of them are Rigetti, Xanadu, 1Qbit, IonQ, ISARA, Q-CTRL and QxBranch.
Amazon, unlike the tech companies competing to launch quantum computers, is making quantum products of other companies available to users via Braket.
It currently supports quantum computing services from D-Wave, IonQ and Rigetti.
GlobalData principal disruptive tech analyst Kiran Raj says, Qubits can allow to create algorithms for the completion of a task with reduced computational complexity that cannot be achieved with traditional bits.
"Given such advantages, quantum computers can solve some of the intractable problems in cybersecurity, drug research, financial modelling, traffic optimisation and batteries to name a few.
Raj says, Albeit a far cry from the large-scale mainstream use, quantum computers are gearing up to be a transformative reality. They are highly expensive to build and it is hard to maintain the delicate state of superposition and entanglement of qubits.
"Despite such challenges, quantum computers will continue to progress into the future where companies may rent them to solve everyday problems the way they currently rent cloud services.
"It may not come as a surprise that quantum computing one day replaces artificial intelligence as the mainstream technology to help industries tackle problems they never would have attempted to solve before.
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IBM, Alphabet and well-funded startups in the race for quantum supremacy - IT Brief Australia
Inaugural OSA Quantum 2.0 Conference Featured Talks on Emerging Technologies – Novus Light Technologies Today
Posted: at 9:52 am
Published on 22 September 2020
The unique role of optics and photonics in driving quantum research and technologies was featured in presentations for the inaugural OSA Quantum 2.0 Conference held 14 17 September. The all-virtual event, presented concurrently with the 2020 Frontiers in Optics and Laser Science APS/DLS (FiO + LS) Conference, drew almost 2,500 registrants from more than 70 countries.
Live and pre-recorded technical presentations on quantum computing and simulation to quantum sensing were available for registrants across the globe at no cost. The conference engaged scientists, engineers and others addressing grand challenges in building a quantum science and technology infrastructure.
The meeting succeeded in bringing together scientists from academia, industry and government labs in a very constructive way, said conference co-chair Michael Raymer of the University of Oregon, USA. The high quality of the talks, along with the facilitation by the presiders and OSA staff, moves us closer to the goal of an open, global ecosystem for advancing quantum information science and technology.
Marissa Giustina, senior research scientist and quantum electronics engineerwith Google AI Quantum, described the companys efforts to build a quantum computer in her keynote talk. Googles goal was to build a prototype system that could enter a space where no classical computer can go at a size of about 50 qubits. To create a viable system, Guistina said there must be strong collaboration between algorithm and hardware developers.
Quantum Algorithms for Finite Energies and Temperatures was the focus of a talk by Ignacio Cirac, director of the Theory Division at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Honorary Professor at the Technical University of Munich. He described advances in quantum simulators for addressing problems with the dynamics of physical quantum systems. His recent work focuses on developing algorithms for use on quantum simulators to solve many-body problems
Solutions to digital security challenges was the topic of a talk by Gregoire Ribordy,co-founder and CEO of ID Quantique, Switzerland. He described quantum security techniques, technology and strengths in his keynote talk titled Quantum Technologies for Long-term Data Security. His work centers on the use of quantum safe cryptography and quantum key distribution, and commercially available quantum random number generators in data security.
Mikhail Lukin, co-director of the Harvard Quantum Initiative in Science and Engineering and co-director of the Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms, USA, described progress towards quantum repeaters for long-distance quantum communication. He also discussed a new platform for exploring synthetic quantum matter and quantum communication systems based on nanophotonics with atom-like systems.
Conference-wide sponsors for the combined OSA Quantum 2.0 Conference and FiO + LS Conference included Facebook Reality Labs, Toptica Photonics and Oz Optics. Registrants interacted with more than three dozen companies in the virtual exhibit to learn about their latest technologies from instruments for quantum science and education to LIDAR and remote sensing applications.
Registrants can continue to benefit from conference resources for 60 days. Recordings of the technical sessions, the e-Posters Gallery and the Virtual Exhibit will be available on-demand on the FiO + LS website.
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IBM plans to build a 1121 qubit system. What does this technology mean? – The Hindu
Posted: at 9:52 am
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Last week, IBM said it will build Quantum Condor, a 1121 qubit quantum computer, by the end of 2023. The company claims the system can control behaviour of atoms to run applications, and generate world-changing materials to transform industries. IBM says its full-stack quantum computer can be deployed via cloud, and that it can be programmed from any part of the world.
The technology company is developing a super-fridge, internally codenamed Goldeneye, to house the computer. The 10-foot-tall and 6-foot-wide refrigerator is being designed for a million-qubit system.
What are Qubits and quantum computers?
Quantum computers process data exponentially faster than personal computers do. They deploy non-intuitive methods, coupled with lots of computing, to solve intractable problems. These machines operate using qubits, similar to bits in personal computers.
The similarity ends there. The way quantum machines solve a problem is very different from how a traditional machine does.
A classical computer tries solving a problem intuitively. If they are given a command, they attempt every possible move, one after another, turning back at dead ends, until they find a solution.
Quantum computers deploy superposition to solve problems. This allows them to exist in multiple states, and test all possible ways at once. And qubits, the fundamental units of data in quantum computing, enables these machines to compute this way.
In regular computers, bits have either 0 or 1 value, and they come in four possible combinations - - 00, 01, 10, 11. Only one combination can exist at a single point of time, which limits processing speed.
But, in quantum machines, two qubits can represent same values, and all four can exist at the same time. This helps these systems to run faster.
This means that n qubits can represent 2n states. So, 2 qubits represent 4 states, 3 qubits 8 states, 4 qubits 16 states, and so on. And now imagine the many states IBMs 1121 qubit system can represent.
An ordinary 64-bit computer would take hundred years to cycle through these combinations. And thats exactly why quantum computers are being built: to solve intractable problems and break-down theories that are practically impossible for classical computers.
To make such large and difficult calculations happen, the qubits need to be linked together in quantum entanglement. This enables qubits at any end of the universe to connect and be manipulated in such a way that not one can be described without referencing the others.
Why are qubits difficult?
One of the key challenges for processing in qubits is the possibility of losing data during transition. Additionally, assembling qubits, writing and reading information from them is a difficult task.
The fundamental units demand special attention, including a perfect isolation and a thermostat set of one hundredth of a degree above absolute zero. Despite strict monitoring, due to their highly sensitive nature, they can lose superposition even from a slightest variation. This makes programming very tricky.
Since quantum computers are programmed using a sequence of logic gates of various kinds, programmes need to run quickly before qubits lose coherence. The combination of superposition and entanglement makes this process a whole lot harder.
Other companies building quantum computers
There has been a lot of interest in quantum computing in recent times. In 2016, IBM put the first quantum computer in the cloud. Google launched Sycamore quantum computer last year, and said it was close to achieving quantum supremacy.
This month, IBM released its 65-qubit IBM Quantum Hummingbird processor to IBM Q Network members, and the company is planning to surpass the 100-qubit milestone with its 127-qubit IBM Quantum Eagle processor next year. It is also planning to roll out a 433-qubit IBM Quantum Osprey system in 2022.
D-Wave systems, a Canada-based quantum computing company, launched its cloud service in India and Australia this year. It gives researchers and developers in these two countries real-time access to its quantum computers.
Honeywell recently outlined its quantum system, and other technology companies like Microsoft and Intel are also chasing commercialisation.
The ongoing experiments and analysis speak volumes on how tech companies are viewing quantum computers as the next big breakthrough in computing.
Quantum computers will likely deliver tremendous speed, and will help in solving problems related to optimisation in defence, finance, and other industries.
IBM views the 1000-qubit mark as the point from where the commercialisation of quantum computers can take off.
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IBM plans to build a 1121 qubit system. What does this technology mean? - The Hindu