Science has been seeking answers to many physical phenomena in quest to discern the unknowns. Whether it is study of dark matter, or radio telescopy of distant planets and extra celestial objects, or simulation of collision of atomic particles, or environmental modelling for an accurate climatic prediction, or sequencing a genome to decipher secrets about human body ailments, or modelling a molecular structure for drug discoveries, or simulation of traversal of a re-entry vehicle, all these phenomena require a very significant amount of computing power in real time to acquire a deeper understanding of the underlying processes and find solution to the related problems. As the data generated in any of these phenomena is exceptionally large, the computers of the current times tend to fall short of the capacity to decipher from the data in a decent time and with manageable resources.

Certain developments took place during 1980s that laid the foundation of quantum computing as a realizable system of very high-end computing.

• In 1981 Paul Benioff proposed a quantum mechanical model of the Turing Machine placing a theory for realization of quantum computer.
• In 1982 Richard Feynman envisioned the process of quantum computing.
• In 1985 David Deutsch described a universal quantum computer.

Subsequent years witnessed the efforts towards extensive research and engineering of a working model of quantum computer. In this context, contributions of D-Wave Systems, MIT, IBM, Microsoft, Intel and Google have been noteworthy.

Computing technology by itself has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last few decades both in terms of hardware and software. Thanks to the semiconductor technology, classical computing improved at breakneck speed with emergence of highspeed processors and parallel processing architectures, following the realization of Moore’s law of doubling the processing power every 18 months. However, the race to build densely packed processor chips is now close to hit the physical limit to a point semiconductor electronics approach the atomic level dimensions, that can avoid one individual component from impacting the neighboring one on the chip. There is therefore a limit a classical computer can deliver power much beyond today’s powerful supercomputers even as software developments towards new architectures, efficient algorithms and application speed ups have successfully pushed the application of classical computers to solve numerous scientific problems in the physical world.

It is here the concept of a quantum computer has spawned which could potentially deliver power way beyond the power delivered by the fastest Supercomputer today.

Principles behind working of a quantum computer

As the name suggests, quantum computing works on a quantum mechanical phenomenon. That it works with particles, like electrons, photons or neutrinos, which represent quantum bits (just as binary bits in a classical computer), called Qubits, which can take values of 0 or 1 or both at the same time, as decided by their spin or polarization. It exploits the collective property of quantum states 0 or 1, such as superposition or entanglement. In superposition the particles can exist in either or both states, whereas in entanglement the states are inextricably linked. It is these quantum phenomena that allows computations at much faster speeds through manipulation of states in a physical system, where n qubits in a quantum computer can store 2*n inputs.

 A typical quantum computer would comprise of,

•  an area that houses qubits (kept at a temperature just above absolute zero to maximize their coherence),
•  a process to transfer signals to qubits (such as microwave, laser or voltage difference), and
•  a classical computer running a program and to send instructions to perform the desired computations.

To draw parallel with classical computers, they operate using binary bits, storing data and running processes using 1’s and 0’s. Quantum machines, however, operate with multi-state components, qubits, which can reach the “superposition” of essentially being both 1 and 0 while also “entangling” in combined states of 1 and 0. In layman’s terms, that implies quantum computers can do all such tasks classical computers cannot in a reasonable time and with reasonable resources; for example, crunching massive amounts of complex data faster than a traditional computer would do. 

Challenges in building quantum computers

The challenges in building a quantum computer primarily are twofold.

• Qubit superimposition state is highly sensitive, in that even minor environmental disturbance or material defects can cause qubits to err and lose quantum information – a phenomena called decoherence which limit useful lifetime of qubits.
• Controlling qubit to perform logical function is achieved through finely tuned pulses or electromagnetic radiation, and in the process enough electromagnetic noise can be generated to cause decoherence.
• The challenge is therefore to protect qubits from potential disturbance while allowing them to be manipulated for computation.

Two technologies are used in engineering design of a quantum computer.

• Superconducting - which uses flows of paired electrons in which below a certain temperature its resistance goes away.
• Trapped ion- in which individual atom is a qubit. Lasers are used to control charged ions.

Realizing a fully capable practical size fault tolerant quantum computer thus would require significant investments focusing on solving following three major research challenges.

• Building an efficient error corrected quantum circuit; would involve designing of error correction codes with a practical size hardware of qubits
• Realizing quantum interconnects; to research on transfer of an already fragile quantum information from one quantum processor to another
• Hardware that would run an application software; need to design efficient algorithms with a suitable size hardware.

The consequent concerns with using quantum computers are ; its high price at present that makes it unaffordable by smaller enterprises, usable technology is commercially unavailable at present due to the problem of electron getting damaged by imperfections in the environment, there is vulnerability like with every other computer as such important information as nuclear arsenal codes can get hacked, vulnerability also due to noise, temperature change, vibration or electrical fluctuations due to which data with qubits can be lost, cooling qubit house at very low temperatures is often difficult to achieve, need very many quantum algorithms to reach full potential capability, lack of enough experience on various aspects of the quantum mechanical operation, and finally, unavailability of enough experienced resources and talent to understand and handle these challenges.

A significant amount of research is therefore underway on overcoming these concerns, a prerequisite for realizing a practical working size quantum computer. The technology is approaching an inflexion point where the focus is now shifting from a mere scientific - physics problem to an engineering problem, so that commercial availability of quantum computers is not a distant dream.

The three major advantages of quantum computing expected to be realized are its speed with which it performs any computational task compared to classical computing; accuracy that makes it suitable for servicing nationally important programs; and energy efficiency as it utilizes much less energy while in operation compared to classical computing.

Some notions associated with quantum computing

The question often asked is if the emergence of quantum computers a need driven. Yes, there are numerous complex science problems in the physical world that are in quest of solutions which are not fully known, and current computing technology falls short in capacity to help solve. Even as quantum mechanical phenomena has been known for many years, its usage for computing to be need driven has been of a relatively recent origin.

There has been an opinion that a quantum computer would never work, whereas the fact of the matter is that quantum computers with qubits of a few 10s have already been made. Encouraged by its potential, research and development efforts are underway to build efficient fault tolerant cost effective quantum computers.

On the other hand, it has been stated that quantum computers would replace classical computers, whereas the current developments do not give an indication of that kind. In fact, the two are complementary to each other. As far as is known, classical computers do not have quantum algorithms, and quantum computers themselves are to use classical computers to build on the system of computing.

Some evangelists opine that within the next few years quantum computers would plug into a classical computer like graphic cards plug into them. Basis the current state of development, quantum computers that have to operate within the environment of classical computer do not exist as of now, and unlikely to be available in this decade.

D -Wave already has been offering quantum computer, but it is a very specialized device showing performance in solving specialized problems.

It is stated that quantum computers require high fidelity error corrected qubits to deliver high performance computing, whereas with the developments and refinements so far scientific simulations can be carried out using non error corrected qubits.

Aided from the experiences of classical computing, it is presumed that software and algorithms for use in quantum computers will be a minor technological issue, and there is a need for building a cost effective practically usable stable quantum computer with a robust software and algorithms eco system.

It is visualized that qubit technology is following the same path as of Moore’s Law in classical computers. If gains in qubit technology development in the past decade is any indication, solving complex science problems with a given number of qubits quantum computers showing quantum supremacy may not be a distant dream, as for example, adding one qubit would double the performance of a quantum computer.

What is Quantum Supremacy?

Quantum supremacy, a phrase coined in 2011 by John Preskill, refers to a state of achieving a milestone at which a quantum computer will perform a task that a classical computer is unable to do in a practical time and with practical resources. It primarily relates to the speed at which quantum computer performs with manageable technical resources. In theory a quantum computer could solve a computational problem in minutes that a classical computer does in a millennium. It can be better understood by working with such applications that involve a physical process that require very high amount of computing power to discern. It is for such applications in science and engineering that a quantum computer is developing as a suitable resource candidate to serve.

Google has claimed to achieve quantum supremacy with which a quantum computer is able to perform calculations in 3 minutes 20 seconds which would take Summit, the fastest Supercomputer at current time, 10,000 years. Predictions have also been made in this regard in 2018 - 2019, by Google, for a quantum computer to solve data problem using AI technology to be 3 million times faster than Summit. In this regard, however, IBM have expressed some reservation on the comment made on the capability of Summit, designed by them. 

Examples of physical processes in science that are a right candidate for quantum computer to discern

Here are some examples of the problems concerned with a physical environment which require enormous computational resources to discern and find solution to the underlying, hitherto intractable, problems.

CERN is an apt example of such a science problem. Experiments in Large Hadron Collider project typically produce1pettbytes of data per second. Analyzing this huge data to fully understand the physical phenomena of a billion particles collisions occurring would require almost an estimated 7 million CPU cores of classical computer spread over 170 locations across the world. A public private partnership funding model has been used to accelerate development of a quantum computer to solve this gigantic and complex problem in science. Particle physics simulation using quantum computers thus can better develop our understanding of particles such as in the process of particle collision, photosynthesis, superconductivity, complex molecular formation, dark matter etc.

Computational Chemistry is a branch of chemistry which uses computer simulation to assist in analyzing chemical reactions. Development of energy efficient batteries, as example, that are needed in Electric Vehicles is not just an engineering problem but requires a study of molecular level interactions as a chemical reaction in the electrolytes of different compositions and enabling optimization. And that requires a quantum computer for the analyses. Volkswagen, along with Google and D-Wave, and IBM, along with Daimler, as example, are adopting use of quantum computer to simulate the key molecules such as lithium-hydrogen or lithium - sulfur and carbon chain and decide the right composition for the battery on the basis of criteria such as weight reduction and maximum power density. Such simulations are quite complex, and given the state of development in quantum computing, it is hoped to get the simulation done that was difficult to realize with classical computers. The resulting benefits are more efficient products, besides high energy density batteries, such as solar cells, pharmaceutical drugs, fertilizer, materials for room temperature superconductors which have been a long time demand.

Radio astronomy has experienced an explosion of data. As a part of astronomical studies, a vast amount of data in collected from giant radio telescopes the world over to build an image of the enormous portion of the sky and the galaxies and discover distant planets. As an example, the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), the world’s largest radio telescope, generates over an exabyte of data every day. A quantum computer, which is capable of processing large data sets at much faster speeds, is ideally suited for AI technologies to use such data and analyze at a more granular level to identify the patterns and any anomalies in astronomical studies.

Quantum computing also promises to use cryptography for data encryption and data transmission so that data cannot be accessed by hackers, possibly even by those who have quantum computing resources of their own. The best-known example of quantum cryptography is quantum key distribution which offers a secure solution to the key exchange problem. Conversely, quantum computers are also capable of generating new threats with the use of mathematical equations that take classical computers months or even years to solve, that can be solved in moments by a quantum computer using algorithms like Shore’s algorithm. Specifically, RSA and ECC encryption algorithms use mathematical equations that can be solved quickly by quantum computers, compromising cyber security, data communications and digital identities. Even as many of such capabilities are conceptual and still to be proven in the field, the developments in quantum computing technologies are taking place at a pace to witness the realization of quantum safe cryptographic algorithms and quantum key distribution.

Computational biology is another important field of science that has enabled the use of biological data to develop algorithms in order to understand biological systems more accurately and help reduce time to sequence a genome. Whether it is an area of molecular modelling, or designing new drugs, or sequencing genomes, all deal with a huge amount of data that is to be analyzed and build newer algorithms to help unlock secrets about human biological systems and find medicines for disastrous diseases. The special properties of quantum computers make them ideal for such deep level simulations and analyses.

It would thus suffice to state that the significant applications of quantum computers are in the processes that deal with optimization, simulation, machine learning and search. Consequently, the sectors of applications are healthcare, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, banking & financial, defense, energy, manufacturing & logistics, supply chain management etc. Some of these applications are discussed below where quantum computing technology scores over classical computing which behave as laggard.

Artificial Intelligence

In fields such as medical research, consumer behavior or financial transactions, a humungous (petabytes per second) amount of data is getting generated to a point that if such data sets are to be processed in real time for analysis and discern the useful information contained, to be of value to the user, a hugely powerful computer is required. A quantum computer could empower machine learning using powerful algorithms and enabling artificial intelligence programs to search through such gigantic data sets and derive intelligence for a decision support in the application of interest.

Leveraging the potential of Artificial intelligence and quantum computing, a model of Digital Twin of the earth can be created to understand earth’s past, present and future developments and forecast extreme climate change events.

Climate modelling & Weather forecasting

Building accurate climate models require a large number of parameters of interplay. Quantum computers could help build better climate models to give insight into how the environment is impacted by human activities and give an estimate of future environment vitiating so as to point towards corrective actions to be taken to bring about a calculated improvement in the environment. Weather forecasting, similarly, involves solving complex mathematical equations governing weather processes in real time that can be better analyzed by quantum computers in good time for the weather to be forecasted more accurately in short to medium to long ranges.

Financial Services

Quantum computers are right candidate to be used for complex financial modelling and risk management in banking and financial sector by determining new ways to model financial data and isolating key risk factors. Monitoring of the stock markets and observing financial market patterns to detect problems in time for the corrective action to be taken by Governments and investors is an area requiring huge computations to be carried out in real time. These require a huge computing power and near real time application for which classical computers show lacking in adequate capacity.

Optimization

In areas such as surface traffic flows in metropolis, airline logistic and scheduling, inventory management, production order execution, workforce employment, energy production versus consumption as a function of time, supply chain management of fastmoving consumer durables, all require processing of huge amount of real time data for optimizing strategies to gain maximum returns to the businesses, and thus truly monetize the data. It is believed that quantum computers would lend themselves amenable to solving such business computing related problems in the time to come.

Search

It is known that the data emanating from almost every field of activity, be it healthcare, agriculture, finance, hospitality, advance manufacturing, are unstructured, besides being very large in size, being produced every minute. As per the IDC estimate, global data is increasing at 40 % an year to reach a level of 163 zettabytes by 2025 from the current 40 zettabytes. Searching through such data sets to yield meaningful results on search queries require use of efficient algorithms and ultra-fast computing. Quantum computing using Grover’s algorithm, as example, is a potential tool for yielding maximum probable answers to the search queries from such data sets.

Ongoing developments globally

Realizing the potential quantum computing has to serve several fields of applications, and even as intense research is ongoing at several research centers across the world, practical realization of cost effective quantum computers has been the field of activity primarily with the countries such as USA, China, UK, Germany, France, Netherlands and Canada. And the companies that have been active are D-Wave Systems, MIT, Stanford University, IBM, Microsoft, Intel, and Google. Others that are engaged with development in quantum technology are Strangeworks, Zapata Computing, ColdQuanta, QC Wave, Bleximo, Atom Computing, Alibaba etc.

In USA, after the setting up of Federal Interagency Coordination of Research in 2014, research and development was made a national priority in 2018 via a National Quantum Initiative Act, under which an allocation of US $ 1.2 billion was reported to be made for a decade. Several R&D supported programs with clear-cut objectives are underway since then in the area of quantum computing.

China made quantum technology a key priority under its 13th five-year Plan (2016-2020). It launched an initiative Quantum Experiments at Space Scale in 2016, better known as Micius, with an aim to carry out experiments in quantum communications. They have also reported a planned buildup of a US $ 10 billion worth laboratory for developments in quantum information science. In 2020 they announced development of Jinzhang, a 76 Photon quantum computer, while a number of programs to support quantum research are underway. Alibaba has also planned to build a 50-100 qubit quantum computer by 2030.

In Europe the EU launched quantum technologies flagship, a program reported to support research in quantum technologies, and allocated Euro 1 billion fund. Even as traditionally UK and Germany have been leading countries, France has also not lagged behind, and reportedly announced a national plan to set up R&D institutes, such as CNRS, Inria and CEA and created an investment fund Quantonation.

Status of developments at some of the key Organizations in selected countries, as reported in commercial literature, is presented here.

D-Wave Systems, a Canadian company by origin, is the early developer of quantum systems. World’s first commercially available quantum computer was a 128-qubit system developed in 2011 for Lockheed Martin. Thereafter, they brought out 512 qubit system (2013) for Google/NASA, a 1000 qubit system (2015) for NASA, a 2000 qubit system (2017) for Los Alamos Laboratory, and a 5000-qubit system (2019/2020), called Pigasus, for Lockheed Martin. These are categorized as Annealing quantum processors.

IBM, on the other hand, with its Division IBM Quantum, leads the world in quantum computing. It offers quantum services through access to its powerful quantum computers, simulators, tools and software on the Cloud, besides facilitating services for quantum computing research and education. In the series of quantum computers developed by IBM are a 5-qubit system (in 2016), 14,16,17,20,50 and 53 qubits system (in Oct 2019). There are 20 quantum devices available on Cloud, of which 6 (5 and 20 qubits) are freely accessible. IBM has also targeted to debut its 1000 + qubit system in the current time for commercial exploitation. These are categorized as Circuit based quantum processors. IBM along with Stanford University demonstrated Shore’s algorithm on a quantum computer for building encryption systems. IBM is also promoting research in the quantum technology areas in different countries, for example it has installed a Quantum System One in Germany to be operated by Fraunhofer Research Institute - a Centre of Quantum Technology in Europe. It also installed a similar system in Japan under collaboration with University of Tokyo, for research in applications ranging from chemistry to finance.

Google developed a 20 (in 2017) and 72 (in 2018) qubit system and demonstrated a 53-qubit system for a complex technical computation. In (Oct 2019) partnership with NASA, they claimed to perform quantum computation that was not feasible with classical computers. It needed 200 seconds for the computation that would have taken 10,000 years by a classical computer.  Moving from here, they plan to make a million-qubit system (2029). Google were among the first to announce Quantum supremacy in 2018/2019.

Intel, as a part of their quantum testing device development activity, had developed a 17 and 49 qubit system (in 20117 and 2018). Rigetti also developed 8,16 and 19 qubit system in 2017 and 2018.

Microsoft released a quantum development kit on its Azure, to enable quantum circuit simulation by the developers and researchers.

University of Science and Technology, China under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, developed (in 2020) a 76-qubit system.

Xanadu Quantum Technologies, a Canadian company, announced development of 8, 12 and 24 qubit systems in 2020. 

Qu Tech at Delft University of Technology, Netherlands developed a 2 and 5 qubit system (in 2020).

Wallenberg center for quantum technology set up in Sweden (in 2018) earmarking a fund of SEK 1 billion to bring Swedish research and industry to the forefront of quantum revolution. As a part of this, it plans to build a 100-qubit quantum computer.

National university of Singapore built a nano satellite with a quantum communication payload.

UK earmarked US$ 400 million spread over 5 years for a new Quantum Hub Network for research in the quantum information science.

Israel has formed Israel National Quantum Initiative (INQI) as a joint venture between Council for Higher Education, Israel Innovation Authority and Ministry of Science, for carrying out research in quantum technology areas.

Developments in India

In India, the Government has recognized quantum computing as a potential technology to address needs in some of its key sectors like Military, Health, Finance, Logistics. Accordingly, the Government in its last year’s budget allocated INR 8000 Cr towards the National Mission on quantum technologies and applications to spur developments in quantum computing, cryptography, communications, and material science.

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) thus launched a mission in 2020 on Quantum Science and Technology (QuST) to support research in the multi-disciplinary areas. As a part of this, it has set up a research project at Hyderabad, known as Quantum Enabled Science and Technology (QuEST) at INR 80 Cr for promoting research and a target to build a 50-qubit quantum computer in 4/5 years.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has also taken one of the first initiatives to address the common challenge of advancing quantum computing research initiatives in India. As reported by MeitY, it has supported a project “design and development of quantum computer tool kit (simulator, workbench) and capacity building”, at the implementing institutions IISC, Bangalore, IIT Roorkee and C-DAC Pune.

Under this project a quantum computer simulator tool kit (QSim) has been developed to enable researchers and students to carry out research in quantum computing in a cost-effective manner. As the quantum systems are highly sensitive to disturbances from environment, so much so that even necessary controls and monitoring perturb them, and the quantum devices are noisy, there is a necessity to bring down the environmental error. QSim will allow researchers to write and debug quantum code and develop quantum algorithms under idealized conditions and run experiments on actual quantum computing systems. QSim is also designed to serve as an educational tool to develop skills of programming as well as designing quantum computing systems. The Simulator is also integrated with a GUI and allows existing algorithms such as Grover and Shore to familiarize with the performance.

A number of Start Ups have also emerged as a result, that are making inroads in this area. A few names to reckon with, as reported, are; Qunu Labs, Bangalore - which provides quantum security products and solutions for the Cloud and Internet, Automatski, Bangalore- working on quantum inspired software and simulate various quantum computing configurations, BosonQ, Bhilai- to build quantum computing software solutions in specific science areas, Qulabs,ai to provide services in quantum machine learning, communications and algorithms drawing help from scientists from a number of research organizations, QpiAI Tech, Bangalore-providing quantum model generation platform as a service to the industries, Quantica Computacao, Chennai-building a quantum artificial intelligence platform to develop software tools, algorithms and components required for building a quantum computer, Taqbit Labs offering solutions for deep technology area of quantum key distribution, Entanglement Partners in Kerala working to build quantum information and security products.

QRDLab, created by the researchers from Calcutta University, have envisioned to build a quantum eco system through Industry-Academia collaborative efforts. The areas of activities under this venture are quantum research, advanced education in quantum technology, and consulting. Currently their areas of research cover designing novel quantum algorithms, devising quantum safe cryptographic approaches for high level encryptions and key distribution, and classical- quantum hybrid machine learning solutions.

IBM India is working by allowing access to IBM Q, their first commercial quantum computer, to the various research and academic institutions in India, for contributing to IBM’s object of building the entire quantum computing technology stack.

A team of researchers at Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore, using its own developed qkdSim, a quantum key distribution simulator toolkit, have developed a quantum key distribution protocol as one of India’s first successful experiment with a potential commercial exploitation. RRI is also collaborating with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to develop secure quantum communication in space.

An important experimental group established at TIFR, Mumbai is working on superconducting quantum devices at their Quantum Measurement and Control (QuMAC) Lab, which has developed a new ultra-low noise broadband amplifier for quantum measurements and a novel 3 qubit processor called Trimon.

It is of interest to note that a 2019 study published by Progressive Policy Institute pointed out that by 2024 India will overtake US in the World’s largest developer population in quantum computing. It is therefore no surprise to note that there are a number of  institutions currently engaged in research in the area of quantum technology like; TIFR Mumbai, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Jodhpur, IIT Kanpur, IISc Bangalore, IISER Thiruvananthapuram, IISER Pune, University of Calcutta, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics Kolkata, Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata, NPL Delhi, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology Noida, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi.

Even as international journal publications from India in quantum computing area in the last decade have been less than 100, contributing less than 2 % of research publications to the world’s research outputs ( compared with 29% from the USA), this number is poised to increase exponentially in the current decade with a significant push by the Government on increasing both research quality and quantity, and a well programmed support to research at a number of well recognized institutions in India towards building capability to design useable quantum computing system and deploy the same for servicing selected applications.

Gauging from the current and proposed research at Indian institutions in the area of quantum technology, the sectors which are an apt candidate to spearhead scientific breakthroughs and boost quantum technology led economic growth are aerospace engineering, numerical weather prediction, cryptography, secure communications, financial transactions, advanced manufacturing, healthcare and agriculture.

In a recent statement the Minister of State for MeitY stated “we are coming to an era where conventional computing power growth through the traditional means of silicon and semiconductor chips is drawing to a close and now we are going to see that the next generation of computing power growth comes from a combination of software, new architectures, system redesign and new system paradigms, and that is where the quantum computing comes and is clearly going to be the cutting edge of the future demands of computing power”. This sums up the direction being sought for the developments in quantum computing in India.

Market projections

Even as research are in intense progress globally for technology developments in quantum computing, its market is still fledging. Their precise economic impact is, therefore, hard to predict. However, some market assessments have been made for the quantum computing products and services. These are for areas like consulting, products, applications, and software tools etc. Some assessments have also been reported region wise, such as north America, Europe and Asia Pacific, and application area wise such as healthcare, banking and finance.

Following the trends in software industry, Quantum computing as a Service (QCaaS) is emerging as a business towards consulting, system development, skill generation etc.

The numbers presented here, as reported by market consulting agencies, though are derived using own fair market research tools, are tentative and are most likely to undergo changes with the outcomes of the global research and development efforts in diverse areas of quantum computing. This is evident as the various estimates differ from each other very significantly.

Research Dive- projected the global market to reach US$ 667.3 million by 2027, up from US$ 88.2 million in 2019, with a healthy growth of 30 % CAGR. In this, consulting market is predicted to have a maximum share of US$ 354 million with the rest coming from systems supplies. North American and Europe markets are going to lead the global markets at approximately US$ 220 million each followed by Asia Pacific market of US$ 150.3 million. Banking and Finance sector is to exhibit the fastest growth to US$ 159.2 million. Machine learning segment will have the highest market share of US$ 236.9 million.

As per another estimate, the global quantum computing market is estimated to reach a value of US$ 948.82 million by 2025. It is also predicted that the quantum computing will give a substantial military and economic advantage to whichever countries stand out in global competition.

EMR -expected market to go over from US$ 393.3 million in 2020 to US$ 1798 million by 2026. Systems and services are gong to be the prime offerings.

Market Watch- has made two different research projections. First, global market size is projected to reach US$ 76 million by 2026 from US$ 67 million in 2020 at a CAGR of 14,1%. Second, market is to grow from US$ 140.3 million in 2020 to US$ 1520 million in 2027 at a CAGR of 36.5%.

Verified Market Research – market which was US$ 252.2 million in 2020 is projected to grow to US$ 1737.1 million by 2028 with a CAGR of 30.32 %.

P&S Intelligence - market is expected to reach US$ 1868.8 million by 2030.

AR Research – expects market to grow from US$ 81.6 million in 2018 to US$ 381.6 million in 2026 at a CAGR of 21.26%. In this the systems segment accounted 57% of the total, and consulting solutions offer highest CAGR of 27.46%

Global Market Insights Inc- recorded a valuation of US$ 5 billion by 2028 in which service segment is to grow at CAGR of 30%, and much of it is attributed to the Startups.

Data Bridge- accounted the global enterprise market to be US$ 14.3 billion by 2028 with a growth of CAGR of 34.7%.

CIR - estimated market to reach US$ 64.98 billion by 2030 up from US$ 567.1 million in 2019 at a CAGR of 56 %.

Bloomberg – forecast a revenue of US$ 667.3 million in 2027 up from US$ 88.2 million in 2019.

Tractica – projected the enterprise quantum computing market to reach US$ 2.2 billion by 2025, up from US $ 39.2 million in 2017.

To conclude

Quantum computing has caught the world’s attention the same way as the Artificial Intelligence technology did in the previous decade. It is commented that similar to the fast-growing Artificial Intelligence market, quantum computing, as another technology, has created a wave among the countries and the companies globally to get into a race and acquire a leadership position. That has been a prime reason to accelerate a significant growth in research and developments even as a regular commercial production may not be earlier than the end of this decade. On the application front, the requirement of speed up computing is expected to accelerate innovation in industry verticals and shall be fueled by technological breakthroughs.

Judging from the status of quantum computing technology, it is in its early stage of practical realization, as it is not been put to productively use a quantum computer to perform computations that are of value to a business or an accurate repeatable scientific experimentation. Scientists are currently carrying out the proof of concepts (POC) by attempting to identify promising applications and testing them, albeit at a small scale, and wait for the situation when the quantum computing hardware is fully ready to be deployed to run a given application at full scale.

As pointed out in this paper, the engineering of a stable quantum computing hardware is where the scientists and engineers are currently dabbling to resolve. Once that is achieved the algorithms and other software components will fall in place to realize a practical size quantum computer to business end.

The need of the hour therefore is simultaneously to build sufficient quantum computational capacity, develop skills into building and operationalizing a practical size and affordable cost quantum computer, continue research into realizing the various practical applications, and introduce contents into the educational courses at undergrad and post grad levels to develop quantum science and engineering as a discipline at the university level that will produce a large number of science and technology heads.

Twenty first century is the century of technology. Countries having edge in technology will score over. The economic progress is decidedly much through the adoption of technology. Among the emerging technologies of the twenty first century, quantum computing stands at the same level as the Artificial intelligence stood in the previous decade. Quantum computing is no more an illusion as it is potentially showing the road to promising applications across the major sectors of economy. Countries the world over, having realized it, are spending a colossal amount of efforts and investments to gain leadership position and first mover advantage.