Quantum Computing: Thinking Differently

Our 2024 4YFN award winner Qilimanjaro, is hoping to pave the way to a new computer paradigm.

Computer scientists are trying to harness the laws of quantum mechanics to develop a new computing paradigm that can both solve intractable problems and process large amounts of data far more efficiently than classical computing. But with digital quantum computing facing significant technical challenges, some experts are exploring an alternative way forward. Barcelona-based 4YFN award winner Qilimanjaro, for example, is developing an analogue QASIC (quantum application-specific integrated circuit) architecture. Its “full-stack” quantum computers, encompassing the chip, the accompanying software, the operating system and the access layers, are designed to address complex problems across the economy and applied sciences, as well as dramatically lowering the energy costs of training the neural networks that underpin AI.