IIT Madras joins IBM Quantum Network to advance quantum computing in India

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras has become the first Indian institution to join the IBM Quantum Network to advance quantum computing skill development and research in the country, IBM (International Business Machines) said on Monday. As member of the IBM Quantum Network, IIT-M will get cloud-based access to IBM’s most advanced quantum computing systems and IBM’s quantum expertise to explore practical applications and realise the wide-ranging benefits of this technology for business and society. IIT Madras’ Centre for Quantum Information, Communication and Computing (CQuICC) will focus on advancing core algorithms in research areas like Quantum Machine Learning, Quantum Optimization, and applications research in finance, a release said.

IBM Quantum services will be used alongside the open-source Qiskit framework to explore areas such as quantum algorithms, quantum machine learning, quantum error correction and error mitigation, quantum tomography, and quantum chemistry and to advance and grow the quantum computing ecosystem in the country. Researchers from IIT Madras will lead advancement of research in the application of quantum computing with support from IBM Research India to such domains that are relevant to India, the release said.

IBM and IIT Madras have a long association in education and research areas like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Last year, IIT Madras joined IBM’s Quantum Education Program to provide its students and faculty access to IBM quantum learning resources, quantum tools, and quantum systems for education and research purpose.

In August last year, IBM Quantum and IIT Madras also jointly offered a course on quantum computing on the NPTEL Platform to over 10,000 participants. The present initiative makes IIT Madras join more than 180 members of the IBM Quantum Network, a global community of Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, academic institutions, and research labs working with IBM Quantum technology to advance ‎quantum computing and explore practical applications.

The IBM Quantum team and its global ecosystem of network organisations are researching and exploring how quantum computing will help a ‎variety of industries and disciplines, including finance, energy, chemistry, materials science, ‎optimization, and machine learning. Speaking about this collaboration, Prof V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “we intend to continue this relationship to greater heights and aim at setting up an IITM-IBM Quantum Innovation hub at IIT Madras.” “It builds on our successful collaboration on quantum computing education, last year, and promises to open up new avenues and directions for research and innovation,” said Dr Anil Prabhakar, professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras. “Becoming a part of the IBM Quantum Network will provide our faculty direct access to state-of- the-art quantum hardware and software. It enables us to use our interdisciplinary expertise to tackle some of the challenging problems in the domain of quantum computing today,” said Dr. Prabha Mandayam, associate professor, Department of Physics, IIT Madras.

Welcoming IIT Madras to the IBM Quantum Network, Sandip Patel, managing director of IBM India, said the collaboration will open new avenues to work with industry partners to accelerate research, make quantum real and create a vibrant quantum ecosystem in India. “We believe the joint work will contribute towards India’s National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications to grow and prepare India for the future, further advancing India as one of the global powerhouses in computing,” Patel said.

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