Over 500 global experts in quantum technologies will descend on Dublin in November this year for the European Quantum Technologies Conference (EQTC). Taking place Nov. 23-27 in Dublin, the event is the flagship event of the European Quantum Initiative a €1 billion initiative launched by the EU in 2018 to bring together research institutions, industry and public funders, to expand European scientific leadership and excellence in Quantum.
EQTC is an important stepping stone in positioning Ireland as an international global hub for quantum technologies and applications,” said Prof. Jean-Christophe (JC) Desplat, Director of ICHEC and Chair of the EQTC 2020 organizing committee. “Quantum computers will have the ability to solve complex problems that are beyond the capabilities of classical computers and will enforce the next genuine disruption to technical computing. The impacts of quantum computing will be significantly greater than those brought by supercomputers for key applications such as drug design, material science, financial services, digital security and potentially climate change studies.”
Researchers in Ireland are already working with industry on collaborative projects in quantum computing. Since 2018, ICHEC co-ordinates and runs the national Quantum Programming Ireland (QPI) Initiative which focuses on developing expertise in quantum computing software and applications for practically-relevant solutions.
All projects under the Quantum Programming Ireland (QPI) initiative at ICHEC are in close collaborations with a number of Irish and international industry and research partners to explore potential applications in areas such as environmental pollutants, genomics, natural language processing, engineering design and financial services,” said Dr. Venkatesh Kannan, Technical Manager at ICHEC and Co-Chair of the EQTC 2020. “Today, practical quantum computing is at a nascent stage. This is a great opportunity for Ireland to pioneer this emerging field globally. For a small country like Ireland, the importance of a coordinated approach to build quantum software and applications, along with efforts on the science and engineering of quantum computing platforms is key. ICHEC and the Tyndall National Institute (TNI) are working together to steer this national coordination, and EQTC 2020 is a key platform to stage the Irish ecosystem and engage with the international quantum community.”
