IBM Q Hub at NTU Launched to Boost Quantum Computing Research

The IBM Q Hub at NTU was launched on January 17, 2019, and the “NTU-IBM Q: Initial Workshop in Taiwan” was held during January 16-18 along with the launch ceremony. The launch of the IBM Q Hub at NTU through the support of Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) provides Taiwan with a great opportunity to educate and train talented students, as well as partner with industry to do research and develop new software in the field of quantum computing.

The ceremony was attended by leaders in both academia and industry, including NTU Executive Vice President Ming-Syan Chen (陳銘憲), IBM’s Vice President of Science and Technology Tze-Chiang Chen (陳自強), the MOST Department of Engineering and Technologies’ Director General Shawn S. H. Hsu (徐碩鴻), Institute for Information Industry (III)’s CEO Cheng-Hong Cho (卓政宏), who gave remarks at the ceremony. Other attendees included IBM Japan Vice President of Research and Development Noly Morimoto, IBM Q Network’s Global Business Development Leader Kenneth Wood, Prof. Yuh-Renn Wu (吳育任) from the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), and Principal Investigator Ching-Ray Chang (張慶瑞) and other participants of the project “IBM Q Hub at NTU.”

For the workshop, the IBM Q Hub at NTU invited a professional team of eight IBM experts to design and create training sessions on quantum information software development. The event drew over 160 participants from the IBM Q Hub at NTU, research collaborators, and other related fields. Moreover, NTU and IBM signed an agreement that allows NTU, NTU’s two research partners (i.e., III and ITRI), and contractors (i.e., individual researchers from other universities in Taiwan) to access IBM Q 20-qubit quantum computing systems from January 1, 2019.

Quantum computers have just in the last two years gone from theory to a reality that everyone can learn about and use. They hold the potential to solve problems that are intractable for traditional computers, providing us with a new tool for specific applications. As quantum computer hardware continues to advance, now is the time to get “quantum ready” and develop quantum computing hardware and software skills for scientific and commercial applications.

The IBM Q Hub at NTU provides a service platform for the research community to access IBM Q systems, facilitating quantum computing research and education in Taiwan. The major goal of the IBM Q Hub is to promote further R&D activities in this novel field, as well as cultivate and train students for the quantum computing era.

For more information, visit IBM Q Hub at NTU.