IBM has announced that it has contracted with Fundación Ikerbasque to install and manage a new Quantum computer system, including Qiskit Runtime Services, in the Basque Country. The 127-qubit system will be located on the Ikerbasque Foundation main campus in San Sebastian, Spain, and will be the first quantum system in the country. IBM plans to complete the system installation by the end of 2024. The system will be used to advance discovery and solutions in physics, information science, and materials science using quantum computing.
Spain has a long tradition of high performance computing, collaborating with IBM since 2000 and installing the Marenostrum supercomputer in a lovely chapel in Barcelona in 2012. I was lucky enough to visit the chapel at that time, and the beauty of the site takes your breath away.
The Marenostrum Supercomputer in the chapel in Barcelona in 2012 IBM
As a leader in quantum computing research, IBM now has deployed over 60 quantum computers for external use and has over 200 members of the IBM Quantum Network, a global community of Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, academic institutions, and research labs working to advance quantum computing and explore practical applications.
“The IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center is further proof of our commitment in building open communities of innovation to tackle the most challenging problems of our time,” said Dr. Darío Gil, Senior Vice President and Director of Research, IBM. “This partnership will bring to bear the full scope of IBM’s quantum technologies to The Basque Country’s world-class scientific and industrial communities. We are proud to be working with the Government of The Basque Country, as well as private sector and academic partners, to take innovation in Spain to the next level.” The IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center is the second such IBM Quantum Computational Center to be announced in Europe.
Conclusions
IBM continues to lead in quantum computing research, and has fostered a network of research scientists around the world to advance the development of quantum circuits. With the 2nd IBM Quantum system now slated for installation in Europe, local researches will have greater access to the potential magic of quantum computing.