Creating a Labor Pool to Leverage Quantum Computing’s Opportunities
Building a Quantum Computing Workforce from the Ground Up
Selected notes…
+ Although quantum computing is still in its infancy, its potential means it has already become one of the fastest-growing STEM fields. Consequently, industry and academia are now starting to tackle the problem of creating a labor pool that can leverage the opportunities provided by this new field.
Shabani noted: “We all like to talk about the great potential of quantum computing, but these great capabilities come with great challenges. So we need to be careful about the hype and explain to students the realities of these great challenges and that they also create great opportunities.”
+ The experiences of Shabani, Asfaw and Brower-Thomas all confirmed that even if you engage people early, broaden the spectrum of people who come into the field, a key issue is being able to offer students realistic and practical expectations of what they can expect in the immediate future for the themselves.
+ IBM has been trying to pull both industry and academia together to prepare for the day when quantum computing requires a large number of trained professionals. One of IBM’s initiatives has been its Qiskit Global Summer School for future quantum software developers (prerequisites are the ability to multiply two matrices and basic Python programming experience). Qiskit has already had over 5,000 students from around the world apply to it.
Source: IEEE SPECTRUM. Dexter Johnson, Building a Quantum Computing Workforce from the Ground Up…
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