Keio University is the only host in Asia of the IBM Q Hub for quantum computing
Published online 30 July 2018
Entrance to the common room at the IBM Q Network Hub at Keio University's Yagami Campus in Yokohama.
© Keio University
On 17 May 2018 Keio University announced the launch of the IBM Q Network Hub at its Yagami Campus in Yokohama. "This is the first IBM Q Hub in Asia configured and authorized to access the IBM Q cloud computing system," says Naoki Yamamoto, an associate professor and the chair of the Keio University Quantum Computing Center. "We are building on Keio University's 20 years of expertise in quantum computing to work with specialists at IBM to support academic and industrial organizations to discover and harness the power of quantum computing for both scientific and business applications." The first four industrial partners in Japan to join the IBM Q Hub are JSR Corporation, MUFG Bank, Mizuho Financial Group, and Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation.
To date IBM has offered free access to its IBM Q 5 qubit system, enabling more than 50,000 users from over 150 academic institutes worldwide to undertake over 1.5 million experiments and produce more than 25 research publications.
Meanwhile, members of the Keio University IBM Q Network Hub are able to access IBM Q's commercial 20 qubit cloud system, and will in future also be able to access a 50-qubit IBM Q system.
The Keio University IBM Q Hub is part of a network of six IBM Q Hubs across the world. The others are located at IBM Research (USA), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (USA), The University of Oxford (UK), North Carolina State University (USA), and The University of Melbourne (Australia). The hubs provide access to IBM Q systems, technical support, educational resources, and networking for collaborative research.
Members of the Keio hub have multidisciplinary backgrounds and include researchers from private industry, specialists hired to work at the hub, and Keio University students and researchers, including overseas invited researchers.
"Education and nurturing the next generation of experts in quantum computing, or 'Quantum Natives' is a major goal for us," says Yamamoto. "We are organizing programs for both our domestic and international students to use the IBM Q Hub for writing algorithms. We have high expectations."
About the researcher
Naoki Yamamoto ― Associate Professor
Department of Applied Physics and Physico-Informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology
Chair of the Keio University Quantum Computing Center
Naoki Yamamoto received his doctorate in Information Physics and Computing from the University of Tokyo in 2004. After academic appointments in the United States and Australia, he joined Keio University in 2008 and was appointed to his current position in 2011. His research on quantum control is based on mathematical engineering concepts.