Quantum Ready: The State of Quantum Computing in 2021: Part 2 of 4
The People Side of Quantum Computing: Our Workforce
In the first part of this four-part series, I wrote about the overall quantum computing environment and the speed at which it was progressing globally. In other words, the macro view. Yet what about the individual? How does one prepare for the ‘Age of Quantum Computing’? When so few people understand what quantum computing means (is entanglement and superposition part of your everyday language?), how can they understand the implications of the new technology?
Today’s workforce is reeling from the impact of technologies like artificial intelligence. Whether it’s speed of progress, privacy issues, ethical use, or Terminator-type predictions, AI’s benefits and risks continue to be explored and certainly remain only partially known. Job candidates must deal with robot resume filters and interviewers. Radiologists compete with AI-powered systems with greater and greater precision and reliability. Yoga instructors either augment their practice or compete with tools that hyper-accurately analyse their clients’ movements and recommend improvements. Prognosticators have predicted for years that there will be millions of job losses while others suggest AI will augment existing jobs (much like previous industrial revolutions have resulted in more net new jobs).
Then along comes quantum computing or QC. A technology based on the smallest particles of our universe — atoms, photons and electrons — and the way they interact creating vast new ways to compute. So, if you are one of the billions of people in today’s workforce or soon to be entering it, do you need to worry? Or is this technology merely in the realm of academia or the laboratory? How can business leaders achieve a reasonable level of comprehension on such a complex subject? While the timing of commercialized quantum computing may be in question, the eventuality is not.
The most complex problems are now at our doorstep to be solved. Covid-19 is being fought with systems like Canada’s D-Wave. Financial institutions like JP Morgan Chase leverage quantum computing to protect client accounts and make better investment choices. Where else is the technology being applied? Cybersecurity, drug development, battery advancement, cleaner fertilization, traffic optimization, weather forecasting and climate change.
The Human Factor
With every industrial revolution, humans have leveraged the newly available to pursue and solve new problems. So too with quantum computing. And human interaction will not fade, thus requiring people to continue to interact with others. Healthcare jobs, for example, are exploding around the world (“much faster than the average for all occupations” according to the US Dept of Labor) even as technology takes new leaps.
As with AI, being creative and innovative is as important as the tools with which to explore opportunities and challenges. Those are human elements. Dr. Jaclyn Lee of Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) describes the future of jobs in her 2020 book “Accelerating Organisation Culture Change: Innovation Through Digital Tools.” She contends “…more jobs will move from physical manual labor to work that is creative and innovative” and goes further to predict that “skills that will be in demand will be the ability to work across disciplines, being creative and innovative, and possessing good communication and people skills.” In that vein, instinct, judgment and empathy are vital skills or capabilities yet to be replicated by advanced technology. So the employee of the future needs to leverage humanity and advanced technology in combination.
Becoming Quantum Ready
Learning about quantum computing should be a multi-faceted endeavor. Academic institutions, real-world experience, periodical sources like Medium.com, and connecting with quantum leaders are excellent ways for the workforce of the future to prepare.
IBM suggests that “building a quantum workforce requires interdisciplinary education and the promise of real jobs”. Does every employee of the future need to be a PhD? Does one need to have started to learn about QC at an early age? Can one learn at least something about the field from YouTube or free education platforms like edX? The answers are no, no and yes. I am avid user of both of YouTube and edX platforms to learn about advanced technology including QC, each time learning about a new research development or use case at no extra cost.
If you’re a scientist and considering the world of quantum computing as your next endeavor, University of Waterloo’s Quantum Information Graduate program may be for you billing itself as it “prepares students not only to participate in this quantum revolution, but to lead it.” CERN’s quantum computing course offered me first-hand access to one of the world’s quantum thought leaders in Elias Fernando Combarro-Alvarez; a course I suggest readers investigate. MIT’s xPro Quantum Computing Fundamentals comes highly recommended by a recent graduate and colleague Esperanza Cuenca Gomez of Madrid, Spain. Or plan on digging into tutorials and lab tours from companies like D-Wave.
Developers should apply their efforts in the real world, trying the IBM Quantum Experience where one can get “cloud access to the most advanced quantum computers available…to learn, develop, and run programs.” Your programs. Or Microsoft’s Quantum Development Kit samples. The options are significantly more vast than just a few years ago.
My favourite sources for learning more about quantum computing? I get information pushed to me from periodicals like Swiss Quantum Hub, The Quantum Daily, Medium.com articles and Google updates. In the span of just 12 months, I’ve collected over 400 unique articles about QC and QC breakthroughs. And I’m avidly curious. If you’re on the edges of quantum computing, as a leader or employee, these periodicals can provide the insights into this field that you need.
If you’re a quantum rookie, meetups are a great way to meet others interested in speaking, presenting and merely being curious about the field of quantum computing. Over 17,000 people in 74 quantum meetup communities in 55 cities from 20 different countries are connecting today.
Conclusion
Roles within our workforce are changing. The “quantum engineer” is not a futuristic position, rather one of today. Equally important is the quantum storyteller, the person who can bridge organizational needs with quantum capabilities. Understanding traditional computing and combining that capability with newer methods to achieve an organizations performance goals is rare in the AI ecosystem let alone the quantum universe. Striving to be that bridge would be a useful target for those interested in quantum computing today or in the future.
As we asked at the beginning of this article, do you need to be a PhD to understand quantum computing, its challenges and opportunities. Not at all. Yet like artificial intelligence, the quantum workforce will need to devote time to comprehending the technology and working with teams of skilled, creative people to solve some of our world’s most complex and urgent problems.
We’ve offered up a long list of learning and doing opportunities. In 2021, the list is longer than ever, and will continue to grow. It’s an exciting time and I wish those who are or will become part of the quantum workforce a wonderful journey.
#quantumcomputing #artificialintelligence #quantuminternet #ai #aiforbusiness #quantumtech #technology #quantum workforce
Brian’s upcoming book “Quantum Boost: Using Quantum Computing to Supercharge Your Business” is available for preorder on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon.ca
This article was originally published on LinkedIn on October 17, 2020 and has been updated here.
Copyright 2021, 2020 Aquitaine Innovation Advisors
Brian Lenahan is the author of four Amazon-published books on artificial intelligence including the Bestseller “Artificial Intelligence: Foundations for Business Leaders and Consultants”. He is a former executive in a Top 10 North American bank, a University Instructor, and mentors innovative companies in the Halton and Hamilton areas. Brian’s training in quantum computers comes from CERN/University of Oviedo, and Technische Universiteit Delft, and he writes extensively on quantum computing. His new book “Quantum Boost: Using Quantum Computing to Supercharge Your Business” will be released in early 2021.
Email: ceo@aquitaineinnovationadvisors.com
Aquitaine Innovation Advisors: www.aquitaineinnovationadvisors.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-lenahan-innovation/
