JOHANNESBURG, June 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM
(NYSE: IBM) today announced the expansion of its quantum
computing efforts to Africa in a
new collaboration with the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits
University) in South Africa. Wits
University is the first African academic partner in the IBM Q Network and will be the gateway
for academic
collaboration across South
Africa, and to the other 15 universities who are part of the
African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA).
"This is the latest outcome of the joint partnership between IBM
Research and Wits, which started in 2016 when IBM opened its second
lab in Africa in Wits University's
Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct in Johannesburg. To expand the IBM Q Network to
include Wits will drive innovation in frontier-technologies and
benefit African-based researchers, academics and students who now
have access to decades of quantum computing capabilities at the
click of a button," said Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Wits
Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Postgraduate Affairs.
Quantum computing should be able to help to
solve certain problems – such as chemical
simulations and types of optimization – that will forever be beyond
the practical reach of classical machines. IBM first made quantum
computers available to the public in May
2016 through its IBM Q Experience quantum cloud service
and has doubled the power of its quantum computers annually since
2017.
IBM established the IBM Q Network™, a community of Fortune 500
companies, startups, academic institutions and research labs
working with IBM to advance quantum computing and explore practical
applications for business and science.
It is anticipated that researchers at Wits will
investigate the use of quantum computing and machine learning in
the fields of molecular biology with a specific focus on HIV drug
discovery and cosmology. The teams will also jointly study quantum
teleportation with IBM, a field pioneered by IBM Fellow Charles
Bennett.
"For Africa to remain
competitive for the coming decades we must get the next generation
of students quantum ready," said Dr. Solomon Assefa, Vice President, Emerging Market
Solutions and Director, IBM Research - Africa.
As part of the partnership between IBM and Wits, scholars from
the other fifteen ARUA
universities including: Addis
Ababa University; University of Ghana; University of Nairobi; University of Lagos; University of Ibadan; Obafemi Awolowo
University lle-Ife; University of Rwanda; University Cheikh Anta Diop;
University of Cape Town;
University of Kwa-Zulu Natal; University of Pretoria; Rhodes University; University of
Stellenbosch; University of Dar es Salaam and Makerere University,
will have the opportunity to apply for access to IBM Q's
most-advanced quantum computing systems and software for teaching
quantum information science and exploring early applications. To
gain access to the IBM Q quantum cloud service, ARUA scholars will
be required to submit quality research proposals to a scientific
committee of Wits and IBM experts for approval.
"Having access to IBM Q is pivotal for Wits University's
cross-disciplinary research program and allows our researchers in
quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and in the broad
natural sciences, including in laser technology, quantum optics and
molecular design, to leverage the next level of discovery research.
It's envisioned that the first results from this collaboration will
be forthcoming in the next two years," said Vilakazi.
IBM's recently unveiled IBM Q System One is the
world's first integrated universal approximate quantum
computing system designed for scientific and commercial use. IBM's
most advanced universal quantum computing systems are available
through the premium IBM Q Experience platform.
More than 10 million experiments have run on the public IBM Q
Experience and users have published over 160 third-party research
papers. Also, developers can work with Qiskit, a full-stack,
open-source quantum software development kit, to create and run
quantum computing programs.
To further increase skills development, IBM Q is hosting an
invite-only Qiskit Camp in South
Africa this December for 200 quantum researchers and
computer scientists where they will learn in an immersive
environment and receive hands-on training.
For more information about the IBM Q Network, as well as a full
list of all partners, members, and hubs, visit
https://www.research.ibm.com/ibm-q/network/
The agreement with Wits was signed in April 2019.
About IBM Q
IBM Q is an industry-first initiative to
build commercial universal quantum systems for business and science
applications. For more information about IBM's quantum computing
efforts, please visit www.ibm.com/ibmq.
IBM Q Network™ and IBM Q™ are trademarks of International
Business Machines Corporation
About Wits
The University of the Witwatersrand
(Wits) as a leading university, ranking first and second in
Africa in all major global
rankings, is transforming society and impacting positively on
humanity through its commitment to academic and research
excellence, and social justice. Whilst training scholars to explore
frontier discovery research and innovation in deep science,
technologies such as artificial intelligence, deep learning and
machine learning, Wits is always mindful of how it will impact
humanity, the future of our work and how we live, and our morals,
ethics and values.
About African Research Universities Alliance
The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), inaugurated
in Dakar in March 2015, brings together 16 of the region's
leading universities from different countries and different
historical backgrounds, in a network with a common vision: to
expand and enhance significantly the quality of research done in
Africa by African researchers.
This new network, from inception, was intended to be different from
any other regional university networks. The difference was to come
largely from the approach to be employed, namely bringing together
a number of peer African institutions that were willing to work
together by pooling their own limited resources, with a view to
generating a critical mass that could more effectively support
their limited, but growing numbers of researchers. Underlying this
was the conviction that they could thereby leverage this
effectively for additional resources from outside.
Media Contact:
Chris Sciacca
IBM Research Communications
cia@zurich.ibm.com
+41 44 724 8443
Chris Nay
IBM Research Communications
cnay@us.ibm.com
+720 349 2032
Erna Van Wyk
University of the Witwatersrand
Erna.VanWyk@wits.ac.za
+27 11 717 4023
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SOURCE IBM