(January 21, 2016) Quantum
computing will change lives, society and the economy and a working system is
expected to be developed by 2020 according to a leading figure in the world of
quantum computing, who will talk tomorrow [21 January 2016] at the World
Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
Professor O’Brien, Director of the Centre for Quantum
Photonics at the University of Bristol and Visiting Fellow at Stanford
University, is part of a European Research Council (ERC) Ideas Lab delegation
who have been invited to talk at the annual meeting to industrial and political
leaders of the world, including Prime Minister David Cameron. The session will discuss the future of
computing and how new fields of computer sciences are paving the way for the
next digital revolution.
Quantum computing has the capability to unlock answers to
some of humanity’s most pressing questions that are presently unsolvable with
current computing technologies. In 2014,
the UK government invested over £270 million in the development of quantum
technologies, ensuring that the UK becomes the epicentre of a technology
revolution and Professor O’Brien has been leading the development of quantum
computing using light in its quantum state – the photon- as the key ingredient.
Professor O’Brien said: “In less than ten years quantum
computers will begin to outperform everyday computers, leading to breakthroughs
in artificial intelligence, the discovery of new pharmaceuticals and beyond.