The future of Thailand and the second quantum revolution
written by Dr. Thiparat Chotibut,
translated to English by Dr. Jirawat Tangpanitanon,
click here for the Thai version.
The word “quantum technology” itself might remind you think of Star-Trek technology. Some Thais might even think of “a quantum coin,” a pseudoscience object claimed to offer a magical cure to diseases.
In fact, we have already been using technologies that exploit quantum properties, including smartphones, computers, GPS, lasers, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for medical science. These are the products of 20th century’s quantum science.
So what is quantum science? It is simply a branch of science that studies the properties of the atomic world. These properties are “weird”. For example, an electron can be in two different places at the same time — the so-called quantum superposition. Technologies that exploit quantum properties are called “quantum technology”.
The list of technologies mentioned above are results from the first quantum revolution. They still lack of the ability to control individual quantum particles. Erwin Schrödinger, the father of quantum physics, said in 1952, “We never experiment with just one electron or atom or (small) molecule. In thought-experiments we sometimes assume that we do; this invariably entails ridiculous consequences… we are not experimenting with single particles, any more than we can raise Ichthyosauria in the zoo” [Brit. J. Phil. Sci. 3, 233 (1952)]”
Not until the 21st century that we can build technologies to control individual quantum systems with unprecedented precision, culminating in Nobel-winning awards in 2012. These techniques allow scientists to bring out the full potential of quantum properties for information processing and sensor applications. The most intriguing feature among them is “quantum entanglement” — two entangled particles can instantly ‘feel’ what happens to each other even though there are extremely far apart.
Still too esoteric? In fact, exploiting quantum weirdness is key to disrupting a wide range of industries. Quantum computing and quantum cryptography are the prominent examples.
Nowadays, China, US, Canada, European Union, Australia, or even Singapore have invested several tens of billions USD, in total, on quantum technology research.
What causes the substantial global investment in quantum technologies?
Some of the answers were explored in the panel discussion “How to Solve Talent Shortage in Quantum Computing”, held in Techsauce Global Summit 2019, that recently and succesfully ended. The first reason is that conventional computing hardware is coming to an end. In the past 40 years, the speed and capacity of such hardware have been doubling every 18 months, a phenomenon known as Moore’s Law. This exponential growth implies that the size of each processor has to be smaller and smaller. When it reaches the size of a single atom, the quantum properties begin to play.
The second reason is cybersecurity. It is known among researchers that if a fault-tolerant quantum computer is built, it can be used to crack the RSA scheme, the standard cyber encryption used on the internet, in a matter of minutes. Although such a machine is still far-reaching, the return & the risk are high. Therefore, big countries like China and the US are in the race to own this technology.
Significant investments in quantum technologies have brought up fast-growing startup ecosystems, leading to a lack of talent supplies. The CEO of Zapata, a Havard spin-off startup based in Canada, wrote an article on New York Times predicting that quantum computing industry will suffer from the lack of talents in the near future. Soon after, world-leading universities such as MIT and the University of Toronto launched an online course for people with no physics background to learn quantum computing.
Although quantum computing is the holy grail for most people, applications of quantum technologies are not limited to computing industries but also on high-performance sensors. Sectors that need high precision synchronization such as GPS will get benefits from quantum-enabled atomic clock technology. Chemical and drug industries will get benefits from quantum simulations. Cybersecurity will get benefits from quantum cryptography.
Has Thailand made any moves on this second wave of quantum technologies?
From Techsauce Global Summit 2019 last month, there were three sessions on quantum computing. Each round was filled with audiences, and some had to stand. This shows tremendous interests from the deep tech community in Thailand on the topic.
There are local quantum experts in research institutes and universities. Most are focusing on building quantum technologies in the lab for publication, which is a crucial process for advancing science.
However, bringing quantum technology from the lab to the industry is a completely different beast. It is necessary to have a strong science and technology community to raise more public awareness and build deep-tech skills. It may sound complicated but not impossible as quantum technology has a broad boundary, allowing SME players to contribute to its development.
As an example, an small island of Singapore manages to create successful quantum startups due to its strong scientific community and continuous supports from the government and the private sectors. Horizon Quantum Computing, for example, is developing an interface for software developers and quantum computing hardware. The company emerges because there are software developers who are keen to learn quantum computing from the physicists in the team. Another example is Atomionics, who is atom-interferometry based sensing systems. The company is the result of the collaboration between physicists and engineers..
For Thailand, there are around 50 Thai scholars who are studying in/ graduated from world-class universities. These 50 people will play a key role in making Thailand a competitive country for quantum technologies. If there is a continuous support from the government and the private sector, a world-class Thai quantum startup might not be too far-reaching..
So does Thailand posses such as a quantum community?
Yes, we do! We have single-atom trapping systems at Chiang Mai University in collaboration with Thailand Centre of Excellence in Physics (ThEP). They will release their picture of trapped single atoms soon. Also, there are quantum labs being set up at Suranaree University of Technology, Mahidol University, Prince of Songkla University, Kasetsart University, Chulalongkorn University, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, National Institute of Metrology as well as a new startup “Quantum Technology Endeavor (QuTE)” to help promoting quantum technology to the public.
However, the interdisciplinary community that forms collaborations between academics and industry is still lacking. This gap is where “Quantum Technology Foundation of Thailand (QTFT)”, a social enterprise found by young Thai scientists and entrepreneurs, jumps in to play. Their goal is to build a community of those who “thinks quantum” to solve the biggest industry challenges. They regularly host webinars to the public and workshops to universities and corporates as well as conducting in house R&D, focusing on quantum machine learning.
In this coming 25th September, QTFT is collaborating with RISE to host a full-day quantum conference which is part of RISE Innovation Week. World-class quantum scientists from Google, Tencent, Baidu, Huawei, the Center for Quantum Technologies (CQT), and Russian Quantum Centre ( RQC) will share their expert views on the global research efforts, as well as the potentially disruptive solutions to real-life problems that will be enabled by successfully manipulating the quantum world.
We are still in the early stage of quantum technologies. It is, therefore, an excellent opportunity for Thailand to “catchup” with this fast-developing field. Industries need to be “quantum-ready” to make strategic decisions.
If we look back to the 20th century, there was no way for Schrödinger to correctly guess what he discovered would lead to a smartphone today. Or a decade ago, nobody would have imagined that artificial intelligence, alphoGO, would beat the world-best professional Go player or deep-learning that have been being used widely nowadays.
In the same way, if we only focus on the end product of the technology before we start developing one, we will be like a blind trying to find a shore in the sea. We will be too late to be the inventor, only a buyer. It is time for Thailand to stand up and build its STEM community to create STEM technologies for the world.
