Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC), which unveiled the UK\u2019s most advanced superconducting quantum computer in 2018, has launched the UK\u2019s first Quantum Computing-as-a-Service (QCaaS) platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a boost for the UK\u2019s ambitions to be a global quantum superpower, as well as for businesses looking to explore the increasing commercial and technical benefits of quantum computing, today\u2019s announcement is the latest in a series of firsts for the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having built and launched the UK\u2019s first superconducting quantum computer in 2018, today\u2019s announcement marks the first time OQC\u2019s proprietary technology is available to the enterprise via its private cloud. This announcement supports the startup\u2019s goal of pioneering the Quantum Computing-as-a-Service (QCaaS) market.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Potential of quantum<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr Ilana Wisby, the CEO of OQC, said: \u201cThe launch of our QCaaS platform is not only a remarkable achievement in the history of Oxford Quantum Circuits, but is a significant milestone in unlocking the potential of quantum computing both in the UK and globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe know quantum computing has the power to be revolutionary but for decades this power and potential has been relatively untested and unverified in the real world. By making our QCaaS platform more widely available to strategic partners and customers, we are offering the world\u2019s leading enterprises the chance to demonstrate just how far-reaching quantum will be within their industries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n OQC\u2019s Quantum Computing-as-a-Service platform takes its proprietary quantum technology to the market through a private cloud, where it will be used by strategic partners and customers to further experiment with quantum until ultimately they make breakthrough discoveries and tackle some of the world\u2019s most intractable problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n OQC\u2019s partner, Cambridge Quantum, will be the first to be given access to the private cloud to demonstrate its IronBridge cybersecurity platform, which extracts perfect certified entropy from quantum computers to generate unhackable cryptographic keys. To achieve this milestone \u2014 of national strategic importance \u2014 Cambridge Quantum will have access to one of OQC\u2019s systems, \u201cSophia\u201d, hosted at the company\u2019s state-of-the-art lab in the UK. The facility, which was built last year amid the global pandemic, is the first commercial quantum computing laboratory in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following OQC\u2019s convention of naming its systems after women in STEM, this system is named after Sophia Jex-Blake: a British physician who led the campaign to secure women\u2019s access to a University education when she and six other women, collectively known as the \u2018Edinburgh Seven\u2019, began illegally studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1869.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n