IBM Quantum Network & Poznań center become first quantum hub in CEE.
In February 2022, the IBM Quantum Network was joined by the Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center to become the first quantum hub in Central and Eastern Europe. It is affiliated to the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry at the Polish Academy of Sciences and intends to deploy advanced quantum solutions in artificial intelligence, space, metrology and crisis modeling.
“This was an important day for Polish scientific and technological transformation” said the Secretary of State for Digital Affairs Janusz Cieszyński. In December 2022 IBM Quantum Network was also joined by the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.
Quantum computing is the world’s most advanced and rapidly developing information technology utilizing quantum mechanics to accomplish tasks too difficult for ordinary computers, which are based on bites that are binary, i.e. either “0” or “1”. Quantum computers are based on qubits in the so-called superposition, in which “0” and “1” exist at the same time, so their computing possibilities are practically unlimited, even not entirely comprehensible to science.
The first quantum calculations took place in the mid-1990s and the first 7-cubit computer was presented by IBM and Stanford University in 2001. In January 2019 IBM launched its first commercial quantum circuit Quantum System One based on a 27-qubit Falcon processor. In March 2020, it was joined by the first European member, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft from Ehningen in Germany, the largest European industrial research and development organization of 66 institutes. In June 2021, IBM deployed the first unit of Quantum System One in Ehningen as its headquarters.
Today, the IBM Quantum Network is the largest global network, with 210 members from all over the world, including Fortune 500 companies, universities and laboratories. They all benefit from IBM’s knowledge, tools and systems, including the top 127-qubit Eagle processor, which is more powerful than all computing systems on Earth combined.
“Launching the IBM Quantum Hub in Poland is a disruptive step towards expanding our quantum ecosystem. Cooperation with IBM opens enormous analytical possibilities” said Marcin Gajdziński, IBM Polska General Manager.
