Illinois and IBM officials announced a partnership Friday, Dec. 13, to develop the new National Quantum Algorithm Center.
Gov. JB Pritzker joined IBM’s Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna, University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos, Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP) CEO Harley Johnson, and industry stakeholders to announce the new partnership.
The center is expected to be fueled by IBM’s next-generation, modular quantum computer (“IBM Quantum System Two”), and will aim to advance the exploration of quantum-centric supercomputing across industries, furthering Illinois’ status as a leader in emerging technology and a global quantum computing capital.
“We’re making Illinois the global quantum capital and the center for job growth in the quantum industry, a true center of innovation with the power to solve the world’s most pressing and complex challenges and create jobs and investment for our state,” Pritzker said.
The new center will initially operate out of Discovery Partners Institute and the University of Chicago, and the IBM Quantum System Two will be located at Hyde Park Labs. As construction on the IQMP advances, IBM and IQMP aim to transition the IBM Quantum System Two to a permanent home on IQMP’s campus.
Quantum computers have the potential to solve the complex problems and challenges that companies and society face. This center will address a critical gap facing the quantum industry, state officials said.
As quantum hardware rapidly advances, that hardware necessitates significant advances in the algorithms and software that run on the quantum hardware. Developing those algorithms will require intense collaboration between experts from industry, academia and the public sector. That collaboration will create significant demand for the large, skilled workforce to develop and refine algorithms to solve real world problems.
“We are proud of the progress we have made to bring useful quantum technology to the world, and this new partnership with the State of Illinois and its thriving innovation ecosystem brings us one step closer to defining the future of computing,” Krishna said.
IBM’s deployment of its most performant quantum system in Illinois will help spur additional commercialization opportunities for entrepreneurs, making the state an even more desirable destination for leading global technology companies, which will spurjob creation and private investment.
This year, Governor Pritzker also announced the new Illinois Quantum Microelectronics Park, a 128-acre quantum campus on Chicago’s South Side which will promote research, federal partnerships, and business development.
To support National Quantum Algorithm Center, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) is providing a $25 million grant to the IQMP to purchase equipment and make the technical preparations needed to deploy an IBM Quantum System Two at the facility.
The state projects that IQMP could generate up to $20 billion in economic impact and create thousands of jobs. IBM is the first Fortune 500 company to locate a quantum computer at IQMP and that presence will support the growth of the campus as it builds out a network of co-located companies, startups, federal research offices, national laboratories, and universities.
“IBM’s decision to bring their System 2 Quantum Computer to Illinois and become a partner in the National Quantum Algorithm Center shows the strength of our region’s innovation ecosystem,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said.
