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This year has, so far, been a momentous one for quantum. With countries across the globe announcing their quantum investment strategies and supporting the commercialisation of quantum technologies, we can see the beginnings of a democratised and accessible quantum ecosystem. One key part of this has been the instalment of quantum computers in data centres. From finance, to logistics, energy and beyond, businesses across the board can benefit from this application; improving security, encouraging real data processing over synthetic, and reducing the locality and proximity challenges associated with the gap between classical and quantum capabilities.
The buzz around quantum computers in data centres has grown louder over the past few years, and understandably so. We have seen Quantum Brilliance’s installation of their quantum accelerator into Pawsey Supercomputing Centre and Oxford Quantum Circuit’s world-first integration of their quantum computers in a colocation data centre with Cyxtera, as well as its partnerships with Equinix in Japan and, in collaboration with Fujitsu, CESGA in Spain.
It’s safe to say that this is not a passing trend, and here at Oxford Instruments NanoScience we too are playing our part. Our wonderful customers, like OQC, are using our dilution refrigerators to power their quantum computers now being implemented in data centres. OQC’s collaboration with Cyxtera, the U.S.-based global leader in colocation and intercommunication services, allows customers throughout Cyxtera’s UK data centres to access OQC’s quantum computer via the Cyxtera Digital Exchange, dramatically reducing transfer delay times for quantum algorithms and use cases.
“The impact quantum computing will potentially have on the world’s toughest challenges is immense, and we’re pleased to make the power of that technology more accessible through our data centres,” said Charlie Bernard, Director Growth Strategy EMEA, Cyxtera. “In addition to OQC, we’re bringing a number of leaders in AI and quantum together in our Centre of Excellence in the U.K., providing a lab environment where companies can explore, test, validate and integrate the latest AI and quantum technologies.”
Similarly, OQC’s partnership in Japan with Equinix, a global digital infrastructure company based in the US, will see the integration of one of the most powerful quantum computers into an industry environment, in which businesses from Equinix’s global platform will be able to benefit from access to quantum computing as if on-site.
By making quantum computers directly available as a service within data centres, as OQC has done with Cyxtera and Equinix among others, quantum computers are becoming even more accessible, making their once theorised entrance into the mainstream a possible reality. Plus, with Japan’s Financial Times running a front-page feature on quantum computing, made possible by OQC, it’s hard to deny its advance into the mainstream is very much underway!
The introduction of quantum computers in data centres has benefits beyond accessibility and more streamlined business processing. By allowing a larger range of people to access quantum computers, trial and error practices can take place more efficiently and thoroughly, meaning processes can be tested and corrected while the technology develops.
As Ilana Wisby, CEO at OQC, says, “the world has been waiting for quantum computing to mature to the point that it can change our lives. Installing quantum computing in … data centre[s] brings us a step closer to this reality.”
In all of these partnerships, Oxford Instruments NanoScience provides the key enabling technology. Our Proteox dilution refrigerators sitting at the heart of data centres worldwide makes us incredibly proud. We’re excited to be contributing to this expansion as more and more quantum computers are installed in data centres, encouraging the technology’s move out of the lab, and into the commercial world.
© Oxford Instruments 2024