Quantum computers offer the potential for a new level of computing power far beyond anything we’ve ever seen.  They are so powerful that they might be able to crack the strongest encryption we have in place today. That would take even our fastest current computers hundreds and maybe thousands of years to calculate.

Despite the amount that’s been written on the topic, we all have a lot of questions. How much is real versus what “might” happen one day in the future?  When will we see a commercial version of a quantum computer?   What, if anything should we be doing now to prepare for this new world?  Last, but not least, how will computing be different for programmers and analysts?

For our Hashtag Trending Weekend Edition, we’ve managed to get Brian Lenahan, the chair of the Quantum Strategy Institute to help us answer these question and more.

The Quantum Strategy Institute is an international think tank, but its chairman and one of its founders is Canadian.

Lenahan is a former who, after 25 years in finance, decided he wanted to explore something new and exciting in technology.  He first spent time learning artificial intelligence (AI) but was drawn to quantum computing and how that would revolutionize not just finance, but a wide range of industries.

In a practical and accessible style, Lenahan walked me through the basics of quantum computing, where we are today and some practical examples of where we will be in the near future.

We talked about how different computing will be for those who do analysis and those who write computer programs.  We talked about some of the immediate issues that are being dealt with in terms of cyber security.  We discussed how a world of possibilities is opened for businesses to leverage the new capabilities quantum computing presents.

Join us for this interesting discussion, one which we agreed would be just the start of a “deeper dive” into the subject of quantum computing.

The post Hashtag Weekend: Quantum computing and what you need to know today with our guest Brian Lenahan, chair, Quantum Strategy Institute first appeared on IT World Canada.

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