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The project is also a way for the Hutch to help lead social and scientific change in the Pacific Northwest, he said.

As an important Seattle employer, our support of social justice in our city is critical to our role as citizens of Seattle and [the] Puget Sound [region], Lynch said.

The initiatives leaders envision the Public Art and Community Dialogue Program as a new avenue for the Hutch to connect with people who may feel that sciences doors are closed against them, and to further break down the barriers that can cut science off from the broader community.

Engaging in this dialogue is a way to sustain the change that we need to make as society as we work toward greater inclusion and equity, Buckley said.

The Hutch raised its Black Lives Matter banner and flag in June 2020 in support of racial justice and equality, and the first commissioned piece to go on display will feature a message of solidarity created by a Black artist.

We are remaining committed to that effort. We recognize that in raising the [Black Lives Matter] flag, it is also raising someone elses message. This is an opportunity for us to explore our message and communicate our message with as much strength and power as the Black Lives Matter flag communicates, in solidarity with the Black community and with careful reflection on our mission and purpose, Buckley said.

The new initiative is a chance to send a message that will resonate within the Fred Hutch and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance communities, and beyond, said SCCA patient navigator John Masembe, who works with Black and African American patients, and is a member of the committee slated to review submissions from Black artists.

We want to let you know that we do hear you and see you. We're embracing your culture, embracing your background and respecting your values, said Masembe, who is the son of Ugandan immigrants, and envisions a message that embraces the interconnectedness of Black, African American and African immigrant communities.

Participating artists will draw inspiration from their own experiences, from their communities, and from exchanges with Hutch researchers. As part of their creative process, selected artists will meet and engage with scientists and science supporters in all areas of the centers administration. Buckley, Masembe and other project leaders, including Hutch diversity, equity and inclusion educator and learning specialist Nikkita McPherson, hope that this exchange of perspectives will inspire new insights for everyone involved enhancing both artistic and scientific aims. The effort will be a collaboration between the artist and the scientific community at the Hutch.

The beautiful part of this is we're creating it together, right? said McPherson, who will be facilitating the dialogues between artist and Hutch employees. And we're not making any assumptions. We have no preconceived ideas about what will come out of it. This is putting into practice what we've been talking about for over a year in terms of our anti-racist work and doing so through a medium I love, which is art.

McPherson, who is also a member of the committee slated to review submissions from Black artists, noted that the programs ideals have deep roots at the Hutch. The Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortiums Office of Community Outreach & Engagement, or OCOE, conducts and facilitates research that connects with underrepresented and underserved communities throughout Washington to reduce inequities in cancer care and research. The HIV Vaccine Trials Network, headquartered at the Hutch, helped spearhead inclusive HIV vaccine science and was the model for inclusive studies of COVID-19 vaccines. Several of the Hutchs high school and undergraduate internships are designed to foster young scientists from underrepresented backgrounds.

To say we're anti-racist is to say that we're willing to be in community together, McPherson said. We have to be willing to be in dialogue, which is different than debate, which is different than conversation, which is different than discussion. And to be in dialogue with each other means that we are saying that we are going to address [injustice] and also create something together to move forward with. [With this new project,] Im joyous about what could happen, and optimistic about what could happen.

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New Fred Hutch initiative to foster inclusivity in science and health via art and dialogue - Fred Hutch News Service

Some might view games as merely entertainment but for Prof. Emanuele Dalla Torre at Bar-Ilan University in Israel and his team, playing games is useful for measuring the effectiveness of todays commercial quantum computers.

In a recent study published in Advanced Quantum Technologies, Dalla Torre and two of his students, Meron Sheffer and Daniel Azses, describe how they ran a collaborative, mathematical game on different technologies to evaluate 1) whether the systems demonstrated quantum mechanical properties and 2) how often the machines delivered the correct results. The team then compared the results to those generated by a classical computer.

Of the technologies tested, only the Quantinuum System Model H1-1, Powered by Honeywell, outperformed the classical results. Dalla Torre said classical computers return the correct answer only 87.5 percent of the time. The H1-1 returned the correct answer 97 percent of the time. (The team also tested the game on the now-retired System Model H0, which achieved 85 percent.)

What we see in the H1 is that the probability is not 100 percent, so its not a perfect machine, but it is still significantly above the classical threshold. Its behaving quantum mechanically, Dalla Torre said.

The mathematical game Dalla Torre and his team played requires non-local correlations. In other words, its a collaborative game in which parts of the system cant communicate to solve challenges or score points.

Its a collaborative game based on some mathematical rules, and the players score a point if they can satisfy all of them, said Dalla Torre. The key challenge is that during the game, the players cannot communicate among themselves. If they could communicate, it would be easy but they cant. Think of building something without being able to talk to each other. So, there is a limit to how much you can do. For the machines in this game, this is the classical threshold.

Quantum computers are uniquely suited to solve such problems because they follow quantum mechanical properties, which allow for non-local effects. According to quantum mechanics, something that is in one place can instantaneously affect something else that is in a different place.

What this experiment demonstrates is that there is a non-local effect, meaning that when you measure one of the qubits, you are actually affecting the others instantaneously, Dalla Torre said.

Dalla Torre attributes the performance of the Quantinuum technology to their low level of noise.

All commercial quantum computers operating today experience noise or interference from a variety of sources. Eliminating or suppressing such noise is essential to scaling the technology and achieving fault tolerant systems, a design principle that prevents errors from cascading throughout a system and corrupting circuits.

Noise in this context just means an imperfection its like a typo, Dalla Torre said So, a quantum computer does a computation and sometimes it gives you the wrong answer. The technical term is NISQ, noisy intermediate scale quantum computing. This is the general name of all the devices that we have right now. These are devices that are quantum, but they are not perfect ones. They make some mistakes.

For Dr. Brian Neyenhuis, Commercial Operations Group Leader at Quantinuum, projects such as Dalla Torres are useful benchmarks of early quantum computers and, also help demonstrate and more clearly understand the difference between classical and quantum computation.

After seeing the initial results from the H0 system, he worked with Dalla Torre to run it again on the upgraded H1 system (still only using six qubits).

We knew from a large number of standard benchmarks that the H1 system was a big step forward for us, but it was still nice to see such a clear signal that the improvements that we had made translated directly to better performance on this non-local game, Dr. Neyenhuis said.

Dalla Torre and his students completed the experiment through the Microsoft Azure Quantum platform. Being able to do this kind of work on the cloud is vital for the growth of quantum experimentation, he said. The fact that I was sitting in Israel at Bar-Ilan University and I could connect to the computers and use them using on the internet, thats something amazing.

Dalla Torre and his team would like to expand this sort of research in the future, especially as commercial quantum computers add qubits and reduce noise.

Reference: Playing Quantum Nonlocal Games with Six Noisy Qubits on the Cloud by Meron Sheffer, Daniel Azses and Emanuele G. Dalla Torre, 22 January 2022, Advanced Quantum Technologies.DOI: 10.1002/qute.202100081

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Quantinuum H1 Quantum Computer Beats Classical System at ...

The Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) and the Defense Ministrys Directorate of Research and Development (MAFAT) announced on Tuesday that they will allocate NIS 200 million (about $62.1 million) to build Israels first quantum computer.

Quantum computation ability will lay the technological foundation for an Israeli ecosystem that will lead to future developments in security, economics, technology, engineering, and science, the organizations said.

Quantum computers, unlike classic computers, are based on the properties of quantum physics to store data and perform vast amounts of computations. They can be extremely beneficial for certain tasks where they could considerably outperform even the best supercomputers.

Quantum computing significantly reduces calculation time frame and therefore constitutes a significant leap in computational capabilities, a joint statement from IIA and MAFAT said.

Israels investment in the quantum computer will be directed towards two tracks. In the first track, the Israel Innovation Authority will focus on building and developing a quantum computational infrastructure for running calculations directly or via cloud access, to optimize or improve different elements in quantum computing. The infrastructure will assess existing algorithms and will implement research and development in all layers of software and hardware, but will not include fabless installations. Technology from abroad may be partially used initially, but then the infrastructure will be integrated with Israeli-developed quantum processors and technologies.

The Defense Ministry said MAFAT will establish a national center with quantum capabilities that will be at the center of an Israeli ecosystem that will establish local capabilities. The center will collaborate with academia, industry, and the organizations that make up the National Research and Development Infrastructure (TELEM) to deal with the numerous layers in developing a quantum processor, such as hardware, control, optimization, algorithmics, and interfacing aspects. The goal is to develop a complete quantum computer

Quantum computing, on all levels, is showing signs of being an important future component of the states security and its technological superiority. Starting this process in the framework of the national program constitutes a significant step towards achieving Israeli independence in this area. said Dr. Danny Gold, head of MAFAT.

The investment in quantum computing is added to the investments of tens of millions of shekels that has been carried out so far in the technological development among companies and researchers, as part of the National Quantum Science & Technologies Program, which was launched around two years ago by the TELEM Forum (National Research and Development forum), with a budget of NIS1.25 billion (about $388 million.) This forum is made up of MAFAT, the Israel Innovation Authority, the Planning and Budgeting Committee, the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, and the Finance Ministry. Implementation of this key element constitutes an important milestone in the national program.

The Israel Innovation Authority and the Defense Ministrys Directorate of Research and Development ( will continue to work to position Israel as one of the international leaders in quantum.

Quantum computing is a technology Israeli industry cannot ignore. The industry must develop knowledge and access to infrastructure in which it can develop growth engines for activities in which it will decide to lead, said Dror Bin, Israel Innovation Authority CEO.

In December, NoCamels called quantum computing one of its 7 Tech Trends Where Israel Could Make An Impact In 2022.

Prior to the announcement that Israel would build its first quantum computer, the Israeli government made a strong effort to push Israel forward in this field.

In 2019, the Knesset committed nearly $400 million to a five-year National Quantum Initiative which included $60 million towards the effort of producing a quantum computer at the time. Israels National Quantum Initiative is a joint venture between the Council for Higher Education, the Israel Innovation Authority, the Ministry of Science, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Finance. The organizations confirmed that activity in quantum computing is booming and that there is already there is a 30 to 40 percent increase in academic activity, and a jump from a small number of industries to several dozen industries, both small and large.

The Israel Innovation Authority under itsMAGNET Consortiums project, has created a consortium that includes members from the industry and academia. DubbedThe Quantum Technologies Development Consortium, the group includes companies like Quantum Machines, the creator of complete hardware and software solution for the control and operation of quantum computers, QuantumLeap, a startup specializing in quantum-as-a-service (QaaS) solutions, and Nitromia, a privacy solution that bridges and enables quantum-safe transactions on any platform (on private or public networks) to provide complete privacy for any type of data, among others.

The consortiums research is aimed at gaining improved technologies by cooperation between the researchers, which will boost the industry towards improved quantum sensors, namely, atomic clocks, quantum magnetometers and quantum gravimeters.

In October Physics Today magazinereported that Israel has become a powerhouse in quantum technologies, thanks to a supportive govermment, available capital, and world-class academic institutions, as well as other factors. The publication also reported that there has been a leap from five to 30 quantum-based companies in Israel over the last two years.

Also in December, Hebrew University Physicist, Dr. Shlomi Kotler, won Physics Worlds 2021 Breakthrough of the Year award, presented by the UK-based Institute of Physics to two research teams who advanced the understanding of quantum systems.

His team successfully quantum-mechanically entangles two drumheads that can be used as quantum sensors or nodes in a quantum network.

Physics World editors chose this years winners from nearly 600 published research articles andwrotethe winners demonstrated important work for scientific progress and/or the development of real-world applications.

Itamar Sivan, CEO and co-founder of Quantum Machines toldPhysics Todaythat he has no doubt that quantum computing will become influential and its ultimately a question of When?He also credited his companys success to the easy accessibility to funding for quantum based-firms.

Jon Medved, CEO of Israeli active crowdfunding platform OurCrowd said 2022 will see quatum computing atract continued strong inerest from investors and that global quantum VC investment will more than double from 2021s $1 billion.

In a decade from now, Quantum will be ubiquitous, and will be an order of magnitude larger in investment and revenues, he told NoCamels.

With reporting by Adam Shnider

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Israel To Invest More Than $60M To Build First Quantum ...

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This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration ofThe European Stingwith theWorld Economic Forum.

Author: Ibrahim Almosallam, Consultant , Saudi Information Technology Company

It is hard to underestimate the power of quantum computers. Compared to a classical computer, a quantum computer is like a plane is to a car. They operate fundamentally differently and no matter how fast a car is, it cannot fly over a river. Quantum computers use different physical principles, or quantum mechanics, to communicate and process information in such a way that no classical computer can ever do using classical physics.

A classical computer can only hold one bit of information at a time (0 or 1), whereas qubits in quantum computers can be in a superposition state and have aspects of both 0 and 1 simultaneously. However, the result of an operation will also be in a superposition state and manipulating superposition states to extract the desired answer is the field of quantum algorithms. The focus of this article is on how to govern this technology to ensure a secure future.

We now live in a Wright brothers moment in quantum computing history. But when a commercial jet version arrives, it will deliver a new leap in information technology similar to what classical computation delivered in the 20th century, and, just like with any general-purpose technology such as the internet, electricity, and, for that matter, fire alongside great benefits, comes great risks.

Among the benefits are that quantum computers could be used to simulate quantum physical processes for much faster drug and material design; to accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) development and to provide new levels of security and information communication. But they could also be used to break public-key encryptions, to amplify current AI risks at a faster pace, or be misused in biotechnology to design bio-weapons or other risks.

As such, it is hard to imagine the success of such technologies without strong regulations and governance policies. Can you imagine a world without electricity regulations, internet protocols and fire safety standards? However, even though the risks of quantum computers are well understood, little has yet been done to mitigate them due to the unclear horizon as to their future.

Proper governance is key to minimizing the risks and maximizing the benefits of quantum computing. However, it is easy to get lost in all the detail about potential benefits and risks and, as an extension of classical computing, it will inevitably inherit them both.

So when forming quantum computing policies, it is more effective to first examine current policies to determine which needs to be:

One promising area of quantum computing is optimization, which will accelerate AI development, and, consequently, its risks, such as data bias. Therefore, it is vital to distinguish between what quantum computing will add and what it will multiply.

Taking cybersecurity as an example, without loss of generality, governance approaches can be grouped into three categories:

All three are equally important, but the latter is often overlooked. Procedural approaches are based on classical economic theory that assumes humans are rational, selfish and profit maximizers. On the other hand, behavioural techniques are based on modern behavioural economics that understands that humans are not perfectly rational and are influenced by their emotions and cognitive biases.

There are many ways to mitigate quantum risks through behavioural tactics, but well highlight two examples here.

A fault-tolerant quantum computer will be able to break most public-key encryptions that secure our modern communications. Even if the threat is still far away in the future, preparation has to start now because an adversary can store encrypted data today, then retroactively decrypt once the technology is mature enough.

This threat is an excellent example of how all the above tactics can be employed. A technical take on the problem, for example, is to develop new encryption schemes that are quantum-proof, which is already an active field of research in cryptography. Another technical approach is to use quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols combating quantum computers with quantum communication channels to exchange keys.

On the procedural front, the NISTs post-quantum cryptography competition and EUs OpenQKD projects are great examples of putting standards and agreements in place to pave the way for a quantum-secure future.

However, people need to be incentivized to walk down this path and this is where we think behavioural approaches can help. Simply raising awareness will not cut it; anti-smoking campaigns being a case in point.

Instead, creating a sense of urgency might be a more effective behavioural approach such as drawing an artificial deadline to transition to post-quantum cryptography. Deadlines, even if self-imposed, have shown to be effective in improving performance.

For example, after the NIST standards are announced, say within five years that any data encrypted using pre-quantum cryptography would no longer be protected legally. This way, consumers will pressure vendors to provide quantum-safe solutions, and, as a result, vendors will accelerate their transition efforts.

It is well known in the sociology sphere that humans tend to overestimate, and sometimes underestimate, their performance compared to their peers. A famous Swedish study published in 1981 found that 88% of US drivers think they have better than average driving skills.

This is an example of the Dunning-Kruger effect, a cognitive bias whereby people with limited knowledge tend to overestimate their abilities. Although the key term here is limited knowledge, it is also shown that people tend to acknowledge their weaknesses and improve themselves with performance feedback, especially when compared to others.

One experiment showed that people worked harder when told they would learn their ranking compared to another group where no feedback was given. We can imagine such tactics working on the macro scale. Accordingly, a global quantum-readiness index can be considered a form of feedback that would help nations assess their performance and track its trajectory.

Moreover, such relative rankings would create the social pressure needed to incentivize governments in order to enhance their quantum readiness. Although, such indices should be designed carefully not to discourage nations at the bottom of the list. For example, by subdividing the lists by regions and diversifying the metrics, such as having a dimension for quantum sensing, governments would be pressed to give it more attention, even if otherwise they are ranked at the top of the overall list.

Quantum computing is a new problem that requires our latest solutions. It is crucial not to let the old threats make us lose sight of the new ones. Behavioural approaches are very effective and inexpensive in that regard.

Cybersecurity

Next-generation technologies such as AI, ubiquitous connectivity and quantum computing have the potential to generate new risks for the world, and at this stage, their full impact is not well understood.

There is an urgent need for collective action, policy intervention and improved accountability for government and business in order to avert a potential cyber pandemic.

https://www.weforum.org/videos/a-cyber-attack-with-covid-like-characteristics

The Forums Centre for Cybersecurity launched the Future Series: Cybercrime 2025 initiative to identify what approaches are required to manage cyber risks in the face of the major technology trends taking place in the near future.

Find out more on how the Forum is leading over 150 global experts from business, government and research institutions, and how to get involved, in our impact story.

That being said, this is not an argument to use behavioural approaches in place of technical or procedural approaches when considering governance for quantum computing, but instead to include them in the mix of possible solutions and considered when designing new quantum computing-related policies.

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Quantum computing will change the cyber landscape, heres why we need proper governance - The European Sting

Sanctuary is focused on creating the world's first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots.

The strategic industry investors reflect applications for human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots across a wide range of industry verticals and tasks. Using breakthrough technology in artificial intelligence (AI), cognition, and robotics, Sanctuary will improve the quality of the work experience, assist humans with difficult or dangerous tasks, create new jobs, bring new opportunities to those who might be less capable of physical work, and reduce the impact of labour shortages around the world.

Many companies are developing special-purpose robots and AI to address singular tasks or activities. In contrast, the Sanctuary team is taking a much more general-purpose approach to both hardware and software, drawing from fields including AI, cognition, computer vision, machine learning, theoretical physics, and quantum computing. Sanctuary general-purpose robots are similar to a person in size and shape because the world is designed for people. The robot's cognitive architecture is also designed to mimic the different subsystems in a person's brain. This approach defines the scope of the work to something that can be broken down into manageable and achievable pieces.

Sanctuary also announced today that the first female private space explorer, Anousheh Ansari, and former astronaut and commander of the International Space Station, Chris Hadfield, joined the Sanctuary Advisory Board. In the not-too-distant future, Sanctuary technology will help people explore, settle, and prosper in outer space. But first, Sanctuary robots will train alongside people here on Earth, helping them work more safely, efficiently, and sustainably.

"With unfilled vacancies, workplace safety considerations, increasing employee turnover, worldwide aging populations, and declining workplace participation, one thing is clear: many labour-related challenges are outside the scope of current specialized AI and robotics technology," said Geordie Rose, Co-Founder and CEO of Sanctuary. "We are addressing a systemic problem across the global economy. I am excited about the group of industry partners and investors we assembled. With interest from customers representing a dozen different industry verticals, we are working hard to make work safer, more accessible, and ultimately more productive."

"At Verizon Ventures, we believe that breakthrough ideas need extraordinary support and execution," said Michelle McCarthy, Managing Director, Verizon Ventures. "Sanctuary's novel approach and progress set them apart, as they look to build transformative innovations of tomorrow with the potential to reshape the future of work."

"Our investment in Sanctuary is in complete alignment with our mission at Evok Innovations to protect the environment and strengthen the economy," said Marty Reed, Partner, Evok Innovations. "We believe that Sanctuary has the fastest, lowest-cost, and most commercially viable path to building human-like intelligence in machines. It's been exciting to participate in this funding round, and I look forward to what's in store for the future."

"Globally-leading networks like Bell's pure fibre broadband and Bell 5G enable emerging technologies like Sanctuary's to flourish," said Mirko Bibic, President and CEO, BCE Inc. and Bell Canada. "Bell is proud to help support the work Sanctuary is doing and the opportunities it will bring for Canadian industry in the years to come."

Interested parties can learn more at the official Sanctuary website: http://www.sanctuary.ai.

About SanctuaryFounded in 2018 by Geordie Rose, Suzanne Gildert, Olivia Norton, and Ajay Agrawal, Sanctuary is a Vancouver, Canada-based company. Sanctuary is on a mission to create the world's first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots that will help us work more safely, efficiently, and sustainably. And in the not-too-distant future, help us explore, settle, and prosper in outer space.

Members of the Sanctuary team foundedD-Wave(a pioneer in the quantum computing industry),Kindred(first use of reinforcement learning in a production robot), and theCreative Destruction Lab(pioneered a revolutionary method for the commercialization of science for the betterment of humankind). The team has experience launching market-defining innovations rooted in previously unsolved and deep scientific problems.

SOURCE Sanctuary Cognitive Systems Corporation

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Sanctuary Cognitive Systems Closes C$75.5 Million (US$58.5 Million) Series A Funding, Accelerating its Mission to Create the World's First Human-Like...