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Quantum computing requires meticulously prepared hardware and big budgets, but cloud-based solutions could make the technology available to broader business audiences Several tech giants are racing to achieve “quantum supremacy”, but reliability and consistency in quantum output is no simple trick Covid-19 has prompted some researchers to look at how quantum computing could mitigate future pandemics with scientific precision and speed Quantum computing (QC) has been theorized for decades and has evolved rapidly over the last few years. An escalation in spend and development has seen powerhouses IBM, Microsoft, and Google race for ‘quantum supremacy’ — whereby quantum reliably and consistently outperforms existing computers. But do quantum computers remain a sort of elitist vision of the future or are we on course for more financially and infrastructurally viable applications across industries?

Getting to grips with qubits How much do you know? Ordinary computers (even supercomputers) deploy bits, and these bits comprise of traditional binary code. Computer processes – like code – are made up of countless combinations of 0’s and 1’s. Quantum computers, however, are broken down into qubits. Qubits are capable of ‘superpositions’: effectively adopting both 1 and 0 simultaneously, or any space on the spectrum between these two formerly binary points. The key to a powerful, robust, and reliable quantum computer is more qubits. Every qubit added exponentially increases the processing capacity of the machine.

Qubits and the impact of the superposition give quantum computers the ability to process large datasets within seconds, doing what it would take humans decades to do. They can decode and deconstruct, hypothesize and validate, tackling problems of absurd complexity and dizzying magnitude — and can do so across many different industries.

Wherein lies the issue then? Quantum computing for everybody! We’re still a way off – the general consensus being, it’s 5 years, at least, before this next big wave of computing is seen widely across industries and use cases, unless your business is bustling with the budgets of tech giants like Google, IBM, and the like. But expense isn’t the only challenge.

Frail and demanding — the quantum hardware Quantum computers are interminably intricate machines. It doesn’t take much at all to knock a qubit out of the delicate state of superposition. They’re powerful, but not reliable. The slightest interference or frailty leads to high error rates in quantum processing, slowing the opportunity for more widespread use, and rendering ‘quantum supremacy’ a touch on the dubious side.

Quantum computing (QC) has been theorized for decades and has evolved rapidly over the last few years. An escalation in spend and development has seen powerhouses IBM, Microsoft, and Google race for ‘quantum supremacy’ — whereby quantum reliably and consistently outperforms existing computers. But do quantum computers remain a sort of elitist vision of the future or are we on course for more financially and infrastructurally viable applications across industries?

Getting to grips with qubits

How much do you know? Ordinary computers (even supercomputers) deploy bits, and these bits comprise of traditional binary code. Computer processes – like code – are made up of countless combinations of 0’s and 1’s. Quantum computers, however, are broken down into qubits. Qubits are capable of ‘superpositions’: effectively adopting both 1 and 0 simultaneously, or any space on the spectrum between these two formerly binary points. The key to a powerful, robust, and reliable quantum computer is more qubits. Every qubit added exponentially increases the processing capacity of the machine.

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Our mindset is everything: what one person sees as a crisis, another person sees as opportunity.

The magnitude of economic and social disruption caused by COVID-19 (25% of small businesses have closed, bankruptcies are up 26%) means that many existing business models are being upended. In some cases, entire industries.

As an entrepreneur, you should be asking yourself: What challenges or problems can I solve? What are new digital business models I want to experiment with?

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When Nanoracks was created a decade ago it became the first company in the world to own and market its own hardware on the International Space Station. In doing so it faced a number of philosophical challenges, in particular because the notion of a private company wanting to own research hardware, market the results and set its own prices was something of an alien concept for NASA at the time. Here, in an article based on his presentation at the Asgardia Space Science & Investment Conference (ASIC) in October, CEO Jeff Manber reflects on the company’s pioneering commercial journey and looks at challenges that lie in the future.

The business model of Nanoracks has essentially been to grow, not through increasing investment but by building increasingly more complex hardware. I like to think that we’re not actually in the hardware business but, in reality, we are — and it’s where we have found a niche in the market.

Ten years ago, when we started with Nanolabs, it was the first time that miniature (10 x 10 x 10 cm) space laboratories had been standardised. I made a decision right at the start not to patent the Nanolab and its power frame because I wanted to create an ecosystem. Today, we are competing with ICE Cubes (a public-private partnership between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Belgium-based Space Applications Services) and Space Tango (a Kentucky, USA-based company that builds research and manufacturing systems into compact smart containers, called CubeLabs, installed in hubs on the International Space Station (ISS). We want to see the market develop and so, as much as possible, we try not to patent. However, at the same time, we believe we’ll be better at getting the customers and building the market.

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The Study

Now, Format Medical Research takes on two high profile clinical trials involving the antibody cocktail known as REGN-COV2. Garnering national attention, this investigational therapy targeting COVID-19 has receive a lot of attention. The Ventura County Star reports that the SMO will commence the first study, representing one of 150 sites in North and South America, this Friday. The goal: determine if the antibody medicine offers a safe and effective treatment for those who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

The second study focuses on those participants who are actually healthy but “at risk” of the virus. In this study, the participants will take the therapy to determine if there are prevention properties and the sponsor seeks up to 2,000 participants.

Although perhaps not a household name among big pharmaceutical sponsors perhaps that may change as FORMAT Medical Research in Oxnard, California, recently secured a major contract with Regeneron to participate in their highly watched, Operation Warp Speed-funded REGN-COV2 double antibody COVID-19 clinical trial. The Southern California-based research organization starts two trials with the New York State-based sponsor chief, Nicholas Focil, who now faces “the most important study of my career.”

The SMO

The Oxnard-based research company “facilities clinical trials.” The “Integrated Research Organization” also known as a “Site Management Organization” (SMO) was profiled as part of the TrialSite’s global SMO survey back in early December, 2019. An independent operation, Format Medical Research has aligned with the hyperCORE International, a “Super Site Network” that purports to standardize systems and processes including business development. With over a decade of experience conducting Phase 1 to 4 clinical trials across a variety of therapeutic areas, they offer SMO and site services for up to 50 sites, SMO employs between 25 and 50 employees. Format claims to have in its network over 10 million patients it can access for studies.

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On March 11, 2011, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake triggered a powerful tsunami, generating waves higher than 125 feet that ravaged the coast of Japan, particularly the Tohoku region of Honshu, the largest and most populous island in the country.nnNearly 16,000 people were killed, hundreds of thousands displaced, and millions left without electricity and water. Railways and roads were destroyed, and 383,000 buildings damaged—including a nuclear power plant that suffered a meltdown of three reactors, prompting widespread evacuations.nnIn lessons for today’s businesses deeply hit by pandemic and seismic culture shifts, it’s important to recognize that many of the Japanese companies in the Tohoku region continue to operate today, despite facing serious financial setbacks from the disaster. How did these businesses manage not only to survive, but thrive?nnOne reason, says Harvard Business School professor Hirotaka Takeuchi, was their dedication to responding to the needs of employees and the community first, all with the moral purpose of serving the common good. Less important for these companies, he says, was pursuing layoffs and other cost-cutting measures in the face of a crippled economy.nn

As demonstrated after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Japanese businesses have a unique capability for long-term survival. Hirotaka Takeuchi explains their strategy of investing in community over profits during turbulent times.

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These guys have a great idea…but In true Zuckerberg style how does one steal and supercharge the idea. With food having salmonella, people need to grow more food at home. What technology can be created that uses technology to help people in urban settings grow their own food. This will help many in a post covid world, and the food should be safer, and also may promote nutrition. nnAmerican farmers also are having trouble, and would see the loss in demand. Global food production needs to increase. Japan offered to boost the continent of Africa’s rice production through cooperation. The same cooperation needs to be done with American farmers to boost Africa’s food production. Technology would be used to partner American farmers with African village cooperatives. The farmers and cooperatives would work together and share profits. This way the American farmer has revenue coming from two markets and continents. The same model can also be used in Mexico to prevent immigration. This way American farmers would also have revenue coming from Central and South America, however people who normally would be farm workers would be partners, and make more than they would having to cross borders dangerously, to make less money. This model can both reduce poverty, as well and insure food security. The capital for investment would have to come from many sources. Crowdfunding is one that can be good as the money can be paid back with profit. This way a crowd fund investment would gain better returns than interest rates. The next of course would be USAID. A project can be developed, in which USAID provides American farmers with start up capital. They manage the project pay back the loans, while sharing profits. Agreements can be developed for certain periods of time, After which the American farmer turns the project over to the cooperatives…just thinking out of the box it is a bit crazy. The farmers would be like a new Peace Corps thing. #VillageEconomics nnPortfolio company #ApolloAgriculture was recently featured in a Forbes article highlighting their machine-learning and automated-operations technology that helps small-scale farmers access everything they need to maximize their profitability. #impactinvesting #agtech

Between 2011 and 2014, engineer and Stanford grad Eli Pollak worked in agricultural technology in the U.S. for a company called the Climate Corporation. The enterprise where he was one of the early employees (which in 2013 was acquired by Monsanto for over $1 billion) worked on providing customized recommendations to increase production of large scale commercial farmers. What caught Pollak’s eye during his tenure at the company, however, was that some countries were planting way more seeds, but producing dramatically less agricultural products than the U.S.

This prompted Pollak to team up with Climate Corporation colleague Earl St Sauver, and Benjamin Ngenga (who himself grew up on a farm) to start Apollo Agriculture, a Kenyan ag-tech company which uses machine learning and automated operations technology to help small-scale farmers access everything they need to maximize their profitability.

In late May, Apollo Agriculture raised $6 million in a Series A round. The round was led by Anthemis Exponential Ventures, with participation from Leaps by Bayer, Flourish Ventures (a venture of The Omidyar Group), Sage Hill Capital, To Ventures Food, Breyer Labs, and existing investors Accion Venture Lab and Newid Capital, among others.

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Many organizations will likely look to technology as they face budget cuts and need to reduce staff. “I don’t see us going back to the staffing levels we were at prior to COVID,” says Brian Pokorny, the director of information technologies for Otsego County in New York State, who has cut 10% of his staff because of pandemic-related budget issues. “So we need to look at things like AI to streamline government services and make us more efficient.”

For 23 years, Larry Collins worked in a booth on the Carquinez Bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area, collecting tolls. The fare changed over time, from a few bucks to $6, but the basics of the job stayed the same: Collins would make change, answer questions, give directions and greet commuters. “Sometimes, you’re the first person that people see in the morning,” says Collins, “and that human interaction can spark a lot of conversation.”

But one day in mid-March, as confirmed cases of the coronavirus were skyrocketing, Collins’ supervisor called and told him not to come into work the next day. The tollbooths were closing to protect the health of drivers and of toll collectors. Going forward, drivers would pay bridge tolls automatically via FasTrak tags mounted on their windshields or would receive bills sent to the address linked to their license plate. Collins’ job was disappearing, as were the jobs of around 185 other toll collectors at bridges in Northern California, all to be replaced by technology.

Machines have made jobs obsolete for centuries. The spinning jenny replaced weavers, buttons displaced elevator operators, and the Internet drove travel agencies out of business. One study estimates that about 400,000 jobs were lost to automation in U.S. factories from 1990 to 2007. But the drive to replace humans with machinery is accelerating as companies struggle to avoid workplace infections of COVID-19 and to keep operating costs low. The U.S. shed around 40 million jobs at the peak of the pandemic, and while some have come back, some will never return. One group of economists estimates that 42% of the jobs lost are gone forever.

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Governments and business leaders pledged $8.8 billion on Thursday to a vaccine alliance backed by the Gates Foundation.

The money was raised at the Global Vaccine Summit, hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, with funds going toward global vaccine alliance Gavi’s efforts to immunize children amid the coronavirus crisis.

The funding was raised at a U.K.-hosted summit, which saw world leaders pledge billions of dollars to global vaccine alliance Gavi.

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