Poznan to welcome first quantum hub in CEE

The centre will become part of the IBM Quantum Network

The first quantum hub in Central and Eastern Europe will be established in Poznan, the Polish city reported on Monday. There, local scientists from the Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Centre (affiliated to the Polish Academy of Sciences), together with IBM, will develop quantum computing technologies and their applications as part of the IBM Quantum Network.

Stepping up with innovative technologies in Poznan

As the city website points out, quantum computers allow to carry out the most complex, multi-factor and multi-parameter simulations in complex and dynamic processes in the field of materials engineering and life sciences, including chemistry and biomedicine as well as innovation in the pharmaceutical industry.

The project website further states that quantum algorithms in conjunction with the use of the computing power of supercomputers are able to cope with complex mathematical and IT tasks incomparably faster than those commonly used today. The Polish state will use them for the purposes of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, also as support for innovative solutions in industry, space technologies, metrology, or in crisis modelling.

A turning point in the process of gaining access to a quantum computer were the arrangements made in November 2021 at the IMPACT conference in Poznań when Minister for Digitization Janusz Cieszyński and the Chancellery of the Prime Minister embraced the initiative. The PSNC project will be financed with a special-purpose subsidy of the Prime Minister from the funds at the disposal of the Minister of Digitization.

Jacek Jaśkowiak, Mayor of Poznań, who attended the signing of the launch agreement, congratulated the representatives of the government, science, business and self-government on the cooperation that brought about the event.

He then commented: “The world is changing, and digitization and the Internet are accelerating this process unprecedented in history. This also applies to our country. For years, we have been observing the West, trying to reduce the distance that separates us from the local business and scientific solutions. Today we can be not only the best in certain areas, but even the first”.