World Economic Forum Development of quantum technology urgently requires a change in mindset

Today, governments around the world are rolling out quantum computing policies; at the same time, billions of dollars are committed to the development and protection of quantum information systems. Because the use of quantum computers promises to solve previously intractable problems, a range of industries are bracing for a revolution: including drug discovery, financial optimization, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

 

Filipe Beato

 

Duncan Jones

 

Itan Barmes

 

Recently, Duncan Jones, Head of Cyber Security at Honeywell Quantinuum, together with Filipe Beato and Itan Barmes from the World Economic Forum in Geneva, expressed their views on the development of quantum technology in enterprises accordingly. Photon Box collated the relevant core content as follows.

 

01Rapid development of quantum technology is expected to unlock trillions of dollars in economic benefits

 

Quantum information technology includes quantum computing, quantum sensing and quantum communication. Among them, the field of quantum cyber security, in particular, is gaining momentum.

 

On the one hand, quantum computers have the potential to disrupt the architecture of our existing cryptographic systems, leading to an urgent need to migrate systems to quantum security methods; experts and governments alike have emphasized the urgency of addressing quantum threats. The "Cloud Security Alliance" (CSA) has set "Y2Q" (the time when quantum computing breaks public key ciphers) to 2030, and the U.S. government has announced two advancement of quantum technology The U.S. government has also announced two presidential decrees to advance quantum technology, aiming to transition to post-quantum cryptography by 2035.

 

On the other hand, quantum technology could strengthen existing cryptography and is expected to be a $30 billion market by the end of the century. Today, countries are launching commercial products that use quantum computers to solve previously intractable problems in order to enhance cybersecurity.

 

02Two major mindset shifts: realizing the potential of quantum technology

 

Despite promising advances and opportunities, organizations may not be able to fully benefit from advances in quantum computing. To stay ahead of the curve and mitigate this risk, business leaders need to make two important mindset shifts.

 

1) Understand the quantum timeline, because adopting quantum technology is not an overnight task

 

Some business leaders believe that it will take 15-20 years for quantum computing to have an impact, which may be about the same amount of time as cybersecurity is threatened, and those with this mindset may be underinvesting in quantum skills and technologies, which could be a potential mistake; being pessimistic about quantum advances could also lead to cybersecurity risks for businesses; and lack of preparedness for quantum threats will potentially expose businesses to cybersecurity risks through quantum-driven attacks exposing sensitive data.

 

The needed shift in thinking is to recognize that quantum is evolving rapidly. Companies that fail to recognize this will pay a high price for losing a competitive advantage or suffering a catastrophic cyber attack. Quantum industry professionals believe that quantum will create value incrementally over the next decade and that many Fortune 500 companies should invest wisely and early to keep pace with their competitors.

 

2) Educate, empower teams to understand quantum impact and develop action plans

 

Despite a clear government mandate, quantum issues are often discussed at the periphery of companies. Even when there are quantum-focused teams, they are often small and isolated, facing a constant struggle to engage colleagues in meaningful projects. A surprising number of these quantum teams are grassroots efforts, as a handful of people self-organize a movement to address potential opportunities and risks. Top-down support and cross-functional integration is rare.

 

In cybersecurity, information silos have sparked a rift between the quantum and non-quantum communities, partly due to overblown claims and partly due to deep skepticism about it. Many quantum cybersecurity companies are developing useful technologies, but they are not aware of how to communicate them to the cyber community, nor are they successfully integrating them into real-world systems. The end result is that companies may miss out on security enhancements, such as quantum key generation (QKD), because their cybersecurity teams are skeptical of them.

 

03Four key actions to unleash the potential of quantum computing

 

To help build these new mindsets, here are four actions to generate momentum within your organization.

 

1) Explore early use cases for quantum in the next five years

 

Adopting quantum technology is not an overnight task. Companies should explore early use opportunities and plan pilot projects; instead of viewing quantum as a distant tool, business leaders should review near-term use and prioritize one or two niche areas.

 

Only organizations that prioritize exploration today will be able to make great leaps in the near future.

 

2) Addressing critical skills gaps

 

Quantum computers are very different from classical computers, and using them to solve problems requires different skills. To gain an advantage using quantum computing, organizations need to develop intellectual property (e.g., quantum algorithms) that will allow them to solve problems faster than their competitors. The skill sets required for these problems are in high demand, and top companies have been snapping up talent for years. It is unclear whether the inevitable increase in demand will be matched by an increase in talent entering the market.

 

Getting the right mix of talent is equally important. For example, in cybersecurity, it is important to balance quantum cryptographers with classical cryptographers to ensure the development of practical and realistic systems that account for all cyber risks and trade-offs.

 

In any case, companies that act early to ensure the availability of talent will be better able to take advantage of mature quantum technologies.

 

3) Plan and prepare for the quantum threat

 

The positive side of quantum is coming, but so is the negative side.

 

Today, organizations must prepare for the impact of quantum on their cybersecurity systems. For large organizations, this will require a significant amount of work. The need to simply understand existing systems before considering migrating them and working with numerous vendors is a daunting task.

 

Companies that begin this process now will be ready when Quantum arrives ("Q-Day").

 

4) Integrating quantum into business and technology strategies

 

To successfully integrate quantum technology into the enterprise, silos must be broken down. To address this, executives should focus on making quantum a major part of the company's strategy, rather than a grassroots enthusiast-supported fringe activity. One approach would be to require each department to incorporate quantum technology-related initiatives into its strategic planning on an annual basis.

 

In conclusion, participants said that by taking these steps, business leaders can be at the forefront of technologies that will change the industry. But only if the right mindset is applied.

 

Reference link：

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/quantum-mindset-shift/