World's first quantum computing super hub boots up in Lethbridge
Businesses in Lethbridge, Alta., are the first in the world to experience a brand-new technology that will soon be spread across the planet.
It's been dubbed the 'ChatGPT of quantum computing' by its founders and economic experts are eager to see it in action.
'We are so excited to have the super quantum hub here in Lethbridge,' said Renae Barlow, vice-president of entrepreneurship and innovation at Economic Development Lethbridge.
While it all sounds exciting, what is a super quantum computing hub? Well, Muhammad Khan, founder and CEO of SuperQ Quantum Computing, the company behind the hub, says it's as simple as adding a few components together.
'The whole value proposition for the super platform is it leverages a combination of classical and quantum hardware. It used Nvidia GPUs, it uses (quantum parts), it uses gate-based quantum machines, it uses classical CPUs, GPUs. It figures out how to best solve the problem using a combination of these architectures.'
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While the details ca be left for the experts, the Tecconnect team and Economic Development Lethbridge say it will make a big impact on the local area.
'Having this type of access for our southern Alberta companies and industries puts us ahead. We're now leading as the only quantum hub. Well, (businesses) have got access to technology that nobody else does,' said Barlow.
But why was Lethbridge chosen to be the pioneers of such a groundbreaking technology? According to Barlow, it's the industries around here.
'The industries that we have here are producing massive amounts of data. When you think about agriculture alone, just in precision ag, agri-food, agri-tech, we have manufacturing here, we have logistics here. All of those have massive amounts of data.'
The man spearheading the operation, Eyren Uggenti, says it will be more than just businesses that can benefit from the hub.
'There's going to be students coming from the University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge Polytechnic who are going to have the opportunity to immerse a little further in these technologies and also, there's new initiatives propping up as we move forward. Even the access for researchers is a very exciting proposition with the hub being open now.'
Khan says the next hub is expected to be opened in the United Arab Emirates, with others planned across different countries and continents in time.
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