NEC Corporation, a worldwide provider of IT and network solutions, and D-Wave Systems Inc., the leader in development and delivery of quantum computing systems, software and services, announced that they have started activities together to merge the compute power of NEC’s systems with the quantum computing power of D-Wave’s systems, software and cloud service in order to bring those combined capabilities to customers in Japan. NEC has made a USD10 million investment in D-Wave in connection with this initiative.
Together, both companies will work on the growth of hybrid quantum or classical technologies and services that combine the best features of quantum computers and classical computers; the development of new hybrid applications that utilize the services and joint marketing and sales go-to-market activities to boost quantum computing.
This partnership focuses on the following areas:
- Development of Hybrid Technologies and Services
NEC and D-Wave will develop on the current hybrid tools of new windowLeap quantum cloud service of D-Wave to make hybrid services able to solve large combinatorial optimization problems at a high speed, by combining D-Wave’s quantum annealing technology with NEC’s supercomputers.
The customers of both companies will be able to access the newly developed services through Leap.
- Development of Hybrid Quantum Applications
NEC and D-Wave will use Leap and the new joint hybrid services to make practical business and scientific quantum applications in fields ranging from transportation to materials science to machine learning.
The two companies will apply D-Wave’s collection of more than 200 early customer to six different markets recognized by NEC, including manufacturing, distribution, and finance.
The two companies also will look into the possibility of enabling the utilization of NEC’s supercomputers on D-Wave’s Leap quantum cloud service.
- Marketing and Sales Activities
NEC and D-Wave will perform joint marketing activities, such as conferences, training, media activities, use case collateral, as well as quantum computing challenges later in 2020 in order to urge companies start building hybrid quantum applications.
The companies also will develop joint go-to-market programs to bring quantum computing further into the enterprise in Japan.
NEC also will keynote Qubits, D-Wave annual user conference. Qubits is an invite-only event for customer, partner and user that brings the quantum pioneers’ community in one place to share, learn and extend the practice of building quantum applications. Hosted in Fall 2020, Qubits is going to be a virtual event that covers multiple time zones, mainly focusing on Japan Standard Time to make sure global access and benefit.
“We are very excited to collaborate with D-Wave. This announcement marks the latest of many examples where NEC has partnered with universities and businesses to jointly develop various applications and technologies. Our work with D-Wave has a special focus on developing hybrid quantum computing services and enhancing related hybrid quantum software applications, accelerating commercial-grade quantum solutions globally,” said Motoo Nishihara, Executive Vice President and CTO, NEC.
“This collaborative agreement aims to leverage the strengths of both companies to fuel quantum application development and business value today,” he added.
“Japan has long been a global leader in quantum computing, from the advent of quantum annealing to today’s continued commercial research and development. By combining efforts with NEC, we believe we can bring even more quantum benefit to the entire Japanese market that is building business-critical hybrid quantum applications in both the public and private sectors,” said Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave. “NEC is a proven pioneer of world-changing technology, and we’re united in the belief that hybrid software and systems are the future of commercial quantum computing. Our joint collaboration will further the adoption of quantum computing in the Japanese market and beyond.”
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