IBM has just announced plans to build its first European quantum data center. The chosen location involves the German town of Ehningen, southwest of Stuttgart.
The data center could become operational as early as next year. First, it will serve as the center of IBM Quantum’s European operations. Researchers in the quantum computing field will be able to use it. IBM says the data center is designed to comply with European regulations. Data processing laws mostly demand that European user data be processed on the continent itself.
Second from IBM
This brings the tally in terms of quantum data centers for IBM to two. The facility in Ehningen will have been built a few years after the establishment of The Big Blue’s very first quantum data center in New York (2019).
IBM Fellow and VP of IBM Quantum Jay Gambetta sees great opportunities for the new data center. He thinks Europe has some of the most advanced quantum computing users, and that interest in quantum computing is only accelerating now that processors using the technology can be deployed at scale. Quantum computing could address the world’s most challenging problems, he believes.
The company reveals that there are already 60 organizations in Europe using quantum hardware and software. These include parties such as Bosch, the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN) and T-Systems (which is part of Deutsche Telecom, parent company of T-Mobile). At the latter company, chief executive Adel Al-Salah readily explains the additional access to this quantum tech. He points at that T-Systems work to combine quantum and classical computing in association with IBM. This should give a foolproof and scalable experience for our customers who want to explore quantum applications. “Having access to a quantum data center dedicated to Europe helps lower the barrier to entry,” Al-Salah goes on to say.
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