'Fighting fire with fire': Protecting data in the quantum age
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Quantized Technologies Inc., a quantum networking spin-out from the University of Calgary, has garnered investment of around $5 million since its founding in 2020 and full-fledged launch in 2023.
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The company aims to leverage quantum technologies to secure data on today's networks from threats that emerge as a result of quantum computing, according to Jordan Smith, CEO and co-founder.
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He also expressed gratitude for support from the U of C, the City of Calgary, the Government of Canada and Government of Alberta over the years, among others. Quantized Technologies is also in the middle of another fundraising round, seeking $5.5 million from 'interested partners.'
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But what are quantum technologies?
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Quantum technologies is the overarching name for three separate 'loosely categorized' innovations: quantum computing, quantum sensing, and quantum communications and networking, according to Smith.
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Quantum sensing, for example, can enable the detection of anything from gases in the mining process to national defense threats, earlier than currently possible, he said.
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The technology works by collecting data at the atomic level and sensing changes in motion, and both electric and magnetic fields. Quantum sensing can 'vastly improve the accuracy' of how we measure, navigate, study and more, according to aerospace company BAE Systems.
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Quantum communications, on the other hand, uses the laws of quantum physics to protect data by allowing particles to take a state of superposition.
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According to MIT Technology Review, superposition means particles can represent multiple combinations of one and zero simultaneously.
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For computing, quantum computers don't rely on the binary (ones and zeros) system of conventional computers.
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Instead, quantum computers rely on quantum bits (or qubits), which are not restricted to being one or zero.
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