Most people who aren’t immersed in the tech industry may have heard of quantum computing and know that it’s “faster” than classical computing, but they’re likely unclear on the details. In the end, though, for most businesses and consumers, the details of quantum computing don’t really matter. The question they really want answered is, “What will it be able to do?”
Quantum computing may have near-limitless possibilities, but what’s likely to fire the imaginations of many laypeople is quantum’s impact on the constant—but pressing and serious—issues businesses and society as a whole face. It turns out that quantum computing may soon be making everyday work easier and genuinely improving our quality of life. Below, 14 members of Forbes Technology Council discuss a few of the business functions and social challenges that may soon be better managed through the power of quantum computing.
1. Health And Life Span Prediction
Predicting disease, and even mortality, could be done with more accuracy and precision using quantum computing. Computing comprehensive health data, genome sequencing, sensory data and other information from devices and wearables simultaneously could provide a comprehensive prediction of someone’s future health status and life span. – Trisha Swift, PricewaterhouseCoopers
2. Creation Of New Materials
Material sciences and manufacturing processes will benefit from quantum computing. The creation of new materials at atomic and subatomic levels requires quantum computing to understand the physical and chemical processes of nature as well as new manufacturing processes. By solving supply chain issues and developing new manufacturing methods, quantum computing will lead society and businesses into new paths. – Spiros Liolis, EYP Mission Critical Facilities, Part of Ramboll
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3. Solutions Analysis
Optimization problems arise in various fields, including logistics, finance, healthcare, manufacturing and many others. To find the best solution among a vast number of possibilities, we must consider multiple variables, constraints and objectives. Quantum computing harnesses qubits, which can exist in multiple states simultaneously and explore many possible solutions in parallel. – Shailesh Kunnath, Staynex
4. Drug Discovery
Quantum computers have the innovation potential to speed up the resolution of some of today’s most unsolvable problems, including drug discovery, in a realistic time frame. Hybrid quantum approaches, which research multiple variables at once with quantum computers and feed them into a classical environment, can assemble new combinations of molecules with high accuracy to spur the discovery of new drug treatments. – Jeff Wong, EY
5. Mental Health Monitoring
The mental healthcare backlog is a longstanding challenge for individuals, businesses and society as a whole. Applied judiciously, quantum computing could help solve this problem by helping clinicians spot potential risks, make diagnoses more quickly and easily, and get people who need support access to the right care for their needs, faster. – Oliver Harrison, Koa Health
6. Weather Forecasting
Quantum computing could significantly improve weather forecasting. Today’s computers can’t process all the tiny details that influence weather fast enough. Quantum computers can analyze vast amounts of data at once, allowing for more accurate and quicker predictions. This means we could get better warnings for storms or natural disasters, potentially saving lives and property. – Margarita Simonova, ILoveMyQA
7. Data Encryption
Quantum technology may revolutionize how we protect important data. Most data is transmitted in encrypted form to prevent third parties from “sniffing” sensitive messages. Quantum technology may render most current encryption methods ineffective and decode or break protected information in a short time. Quantum encryption may be a stronger solution for protecting sensitive data and withstanding known attack methods. – Alex Gudilko, AJProTech LLC
8. Climate Modeling
Climate modeling is an area where quantum computing could offer significant improvements. The complexity of climate systems requires great computational power to accurately model interactions between the oceans, atmosphere and land. Quantum computing’s ability to process information through superposition and parallelism could enable more detailed and faster climate simulations. – Marc Rutzen, HelloData.ai
9. Genomic Data Analysis
Genomic data analysis is a crucial, yet computationally demanding, task in healthcare. With its immense processing power, quantum computing could analyze vast genomic datasets more efficiently than classical computing. This could accelerate personalized medicine, enabling treatments that are tailored to a patient’s unique genetic makeup, thereby improving patient outcomes. – Marc Fischer, Dogtown Media LLC
10. Financial Risk Management
The power of quantum computing may be able to overcome the difficulty of optimizing sophisticated finance and risk-management systems. Its capacity to process enormous amounts of data and intricate computations concurrently can result in better risk analysis, quicker decision making and sophisticated investment strategies, revolutionizing the financial sector and fostering innovation. – Neelima Mangal, Spectrum North
11. Traffic Management
Quantum computing could help address traffic congestion. By predicting and optimizing traffic flow using quantum algorithms, it can solve problems involving thousands of variables in parallel, which is beyond the scope of traditional computing. It’s like having multiple traffic controllers working simultaneously to ensure the smooth flow of vehicles, resulting in more efficient transportation systems. – Andres Zunino, ZirconTech
12. Disaster Prediction And Response
Quantum AI could revolutionize disaster prediction, including wildfire forecasting. By analyzing complex data at unparalleled speeds, it enhances predictive modeling for natural calamities. It can help with targeted resource deployment, minimizing loss of life. This fusion represents a tangible, human-centric advancement in community resilience, fostering trust in technology. – Gaurav Aggarwal, Avanade Inc.
13. Energy Management
Quantum computing can help our efforts to promote sustainability. Because quantum computers outperform classical computers by doing more in less time (thereby using less energy), conservation of resources becomes more possible. Further, by performing complex calculations at unprecedented speeds, quantum computing can be applied to the task of optimizing energy consumption to help reduce energy waste and improve overall energy efficiency. – AJ Abdallat, Beyond Limits
14. Supply Chain Management
Quantum computing can revolutionize supply chain management by addressing its intricate optimization challenges. With complexities including routes, storage and demand forecasting, when it comes to supply chain management, classical computations fall short. Quantum’s ability to simultaneously evaluate myriad possibilities allows for unprecedented efficiency and optimization of supply chain operations. – Andrew Blackman, EZ Cloud
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