Universities across the globe continue to expand access to quantum education by partnering with companies that can help them to build the quantum ecosystem they need in order to train the next generation of qualified workers in quantum computing.
A talent gap in quantum technology roles threatens to halt the progress made in quantum use cases if by 2025 significant interventions occur for qualified talent to cover the number of job postings that will exist by then. A McKinsey research study reveals that there is only one qualified quantum candidate for every three quantum job openings.
Being aware of this, industry and academia continue to work together through strategic partnerships. Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS) in Canada and Multiverse Computing, a global leader in quantum and quantum-inspired software, are collaborating to develop quantum computing educational materials that UdeS will use to prepare students for careers in quantum computing.
Multiverse Computing will provide UdeS students from the Quantum Information Science bachelor’s degree program access to its Singularity quantum computing Software-as-a-Service (qSaaS) platform for internal testing and development of quantum computing educational materials.
Multiverse Computing will support the work already being done by the Université de Sherbrooke to train highly qualified talent in quantum, whereas both partners are committed to the following:
- Identify joint research educational projects and collaborate to advance quantum computing
- Leverage student feedback on Multiverse Computing’s software to further develop quantum computing educational materials
The partnership with Multiverse will enhance the University’s efforts to offer an optimal learning experience to their students, according to Vincent Aimez, Vice President of Partnerships and Knowledge Transfer at UdeS. “[The partnership] makes perfect sense with respect to the fast development of DistriQ, the quantum innovation zone born in Sherbrooke,” he said.
“More specifically, Multiverse Computing’s Singularity platform will enable students to visualize how quantum computing can solve complex problems, advancing their understanding of the technology and potential real-world applications, and providing them with attractive skills for the numerous high skill jobs offer in this area,” said Sarah Blanchette, Executive Director of the Quantum Information Science Bachelor’s at UdeS.
Singularity uses quantum and quantum-inspired algorithms to solve real-life challenges for large enterprises. Singularity’s user interface incorporates familiar tools such as Microsoft Excel plug-ins which allow the use of the platform’s core algorithms without having prior experience with quantum computing. It is the first of its kind for solving real-world problems using quantum classifiers.
Earlier this year, Multiverse Computing announced that Singularity is being leveraged by IESE Business School in its Master in Management (MiM) program to demonstrate how quantum algorithms can solve problems more efficiently than classical algorithms. “IESE is one of the first business schools to add quantum computing in the classroom using Metaverse’s technology,” said Roberto García-Castro, Professor and Head of the Managerial Decision Science Department at IESE Business School.
“Our students were thrilled to learn how quantum computing can more effectively solve prediction problems,” said García-Castro. The classroom problem focused on the global financial crisis of 2008, which forced financial institutions to increase the rigor of its banking practices. As the availability of credit became limited, banks tightened their lending systems and needed to anticipate risky loans more accurately. Data science teams were created to assess whether clients could repay their loans within the stipulated time.
The IESE students formulated the challenge as a machine learning problem and proposed a classification algorithm that considered the default status of the client based on characteristics such as client’s checking balance and work status as well as the loan amount and duration, among other multiple factors, which made this use case an inherently complex problem. Using the proposed classical machine learning algorithm, the students were able to correctly forecast 74 percent of all loan defaults, according to a press release.
Using Metaverse Computing’s Singularity Excel add-in, the IESE students were able to solve the same problem using a quantum machine learning algorithm on a D-Wave quantum machine with 54 active qubits. During the in-class demo, students achieved an accuracy of 78 percent. Using larger datasets and additional Multiverse Computing’s algorithms, accuracy can increase to about 90 percent, in some cases. Another advantage is that quantum algorithms only require a very small fraction of the energy consumed by classical computers to solve complex problems, which might prove to be the key feature that will accelerate the quantum revolution.
IESE’s full-time MBA is one of the top three programs in the world. One of the reasons for IESE’s high position in the 2023 Global MBA Ranking is the diverse, international learning environment IESE provides students, according to the Financial Times. In Barcelona, Spain, “IESE is pioneering the use of quantum technology in the classroom, and we look forward to more educational institutions following in its steps,” said Enrique Lizaso, CEO of Multiverse Computing, who is also the Treasurer and Member of the Governing Board at the European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC).
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