Category: Tech

The Strategic Advantage of B2B Networking

In the fast-paced world of technology, the importance of building robust business-to-business (B2B) relationships cannot be overstated. For companies looking to thrive, networking within the tech industry offers a strategic advantage that can lead to new opportunities, partnerships, and avenues for growth. Management Events understands that at the core of successful B2B networking lies the ability to connect with the right people, at the right time, and in the right context.

Effective networking goes beyond mere social interactions; it’s about creating value for both parties. By engaging with peers, thought leaders, and potential clients, tech companies can gain insights into emerging trends, customer needs, and innovative solutions. This exchange of knowledge is crucial for staying ahead in a sector where the only constant is change.

Building Meaningful Connections

Networking in the tech industry is not just about collecting business cards; it’s about building meaningful connections that can evolve into long-term partnerships. Management Events emphasizes the importance of genuine engagement, where interactions are driven by a shared interest in technology and business success. By focusing on quality over quantity, tech professionals can cultivate a network that is both supportive and beneficial.

Meaningful connections are often forged through shared experiences and challenges. By participating in industry events, forums, and conferences, tech professionals can find common ground with their peers, laying the foundation for collaborative relationships. Management Events orchestrates such platforms, enabling tech leaders to connect and share their expertise in a conducive environment.

Maximizing Event Participation

Attending industry events is a powerful way to expand your B2B network, but it’s not enough to simply show up. Preparation is key to maximizing the benefits of event participation. Before attending an event, it’s crucial to set clear objectives, identify key attendees you want to meet, and familiarize yourself with the topics that will be discussed. Management Events provides attendees with the tools and information needed to make the most of each event.

During the event, engaging in meaningful conversations, asking insightful questions, and following up with new contacts can help solidify the connections made. Post-event, it’s important to maintain the momentum by reaching out, scheduling follow-up meetings, and exploring potential collaborations. Management Events facilitates these interactions, ensuring that the connections made during events continue to grow and flourish.

Leveraging Technology for Networking

In today’s digital age, technology plays a pivotal role in B2B networking. Platforms like LinkedIn, industry-specific forums, and virtual events provide ample opportunities for tech professionals to connect with like-minded individuals from around the globe. Management Events harnesses these digital tools to create a seamless networking experience, enabling professionals to engage with their network anytime, anywhere.

Moreover, technology can help personalize networking efforts. By utilizing data analytics and AI, tech professionals can identify potential partners and clients who match their strategic interests. Management Events leverages such technologies to curate personalized networking opportunities, ensuring that every interaction is relevant and has the potential to lead to fruitful collaborations.

Nurturing Your Network

Building a network is just the beginning; nurturing it is what yields results. Regular communication, sharing valuable content, and offering assistance are key to keeping your network engaged. Management Events encourages members of the tech community to actively participate in discussions, contribute to knowledge sharing, and support their peers’ endeavors. This approach not only strengthens existing relationships but also positions you as a thought leader within the tech industry.

Remember, the strength of your network is not measured by the number of contacts you have, but by the quality of the relationships you maintain. By providing consistent value and showing genuine interest in your connections’ success, you create a robust network that can support your business objectives and drive innovation.

Conclusion: The Future of Tech Networking

The tech industry is continually evolving, and so are the ways in which professionals network. Embracing new technologies, participating in targeted events, and nurturing relationships are all part of the dynamic landscape of B2B networking. Management Events remains at the forefront of this evolution, offering platforms and opportunities for tech leaders to connect and succeed in this ever-changing environment.

As we look to the future, the power of networking in the tech industry will only grow stronger. Those who invest time and effort into building a solid network will find themselves well-equipped to navigate the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. With Management Events as your partner, the potential to unlock new possibilities through B2B networking is limitless.

The development of quantum computing technology is happening faster than we think. How should IT leaders start the quantum conversation in their organizations if it’s not viable for business use just yet? In this exclusive interview, Raul Palacios, President at OneQuantum (Chile Chapter) and Multicloud Solutions Director at Gtd, shares valuable insights on the current and future business landscape of quantum computing, the relationship between AI and quantum computing, and why business leaders must jump on the quantum train before it’s too late.  

 

What is the current landscape for quantum computing?

Quantum physics is 100 years old so it’s quite new in comparison to traditional physics.  Thus, a differentiation between quantum computing and classical computing. This new science creates anxiety to be understood and used in today’s technology. However, when quantum science starts to become quantum technology, it will eventually become a possible solution to different problems that cannot be tackled with the current tools we have. Quantum computing and technology will start to become more in vogue and eventually create hype and excitement. New science and technology in tools can help us achieve different results in the case of very complex problems. Nowadays, our society is growing, and we face more complex challenges every day, from climate change to economics to cybersecurity. Those come with complex problems that tend to be quite challenging for existing classical computing tools.    

 

Would you consider 2024 as the absolute breakthrough year of quantum computing?

There is no such thing as an absolute year. But what we can see is that several companies are working on roadmaps for the development of the technology. During the last eight years, they’ve been successfully delivering on those roadmaps. We think about this absolute thing, and we go back to this binary wall, it is, or it is not.  

We are in a situation like what happened at the beginning of the computing stages.  Computers were mainly focused on solving very complex and expensive problems. There were no tools for day-to-day users. The adoption of computing for business happened 30 to 40 years later, depending on the maturity and location of the company.  

Today, computing is everywhere compared to the early days when it was used mostly in the private sector, and eventually in the space race. So, there were no computers at home or the office. Now, everybody’s expecting to have a quantum smartphone. That is not going to happen. So, when you take this into absolute mode, we’re going to be disappointed. It’s not going to happen in the next year, but we already see that the roadmaps are delivering as expected.

 

Are there quantum computing use cases impacting consumers already?

There’s a long way to go for quantum technology in the B2C realm in terms of owning a quantum smartphone or laptop. However, there are many areas where analysts are seeing quantum computing produce short or mid-term value. These areas include the sciences, simulation, finance, optimization, and cybersecurity.  

Cybersecurity is everyone’s business because day-to-day communication happens through an encrypted channel with standard encryptions. Those standards may be threatened by the power of quantum computing. The problem is not if, but when, and that ‘when’ has been accelerated. The industry has set this idea of a quantum breakthrough near 2030. That’s when they expect a quantum computer powerful enough to break current encryption systems.  

However, these expectations are based on the estimations of Shor’s algorithm. Based on the data I saw a few months ago, there have been improvements in the approach of Shor’s on how to break up the algorithm quicker and make it a prime factorization, which is the actual mathematical tool that will eventually break the encryption. When that happens, we’re going to be in serious trouble. Every kind of transaction that happens on the Internet may be exposed.  

Updating or enhancing IT security infrastructures can take easily 10 years, maybe five in the best-case scenario, putting aside quantum. For instance, if we see how the industry has progressed in upgrading to the AES encryption system, it’s been taking 30 years and counting. So, if we think there’s tool that could endanger our cybersecurity within 10 years, then we’re in trouble.  

Every corporation should face quantum technologies soon. Jumping only when the technology materializes will be too late.  

 

Although quantum computing has a long-term scope, why should business leaders make it a priority in their agendas today?

Quantum computing will have a short and long-term impact on two areas – cybersecurity and optimization.  

Optimization is pretty much infused into many different businesses. In terms of cybersecurity, ransomware is a trillion-dollar business. They are very effective attacks targeting IT people. So, we get certain vectors to reduce or mitigate the impact of ransomware. Ransomware uses these kinds of encryption techniques and data capture. This is why we need better encryption and prediction systems that need to be evaluated today.  

I know that it’s hard to create a quantum case because first, you need to start explaining what quantum is. Secondly, you need to create the business impact. Especially in security, it’s always difficult because some businesses are super focused on the short-term and that means they’re focusing on how they’re going to make the numbers by the end of the year, instead of focusing on cybersecurity and protection, which may be a three-year plan that does not fit with current business strategies.  

It’s challenging to make quantum tangible and build a business case around it.  

 

How can business leaders ensure that their organizations benefit from quantum computing in the long run?

Companies tend to devise their strategic plans in a period between three to five years. That’s the standard for traditional businesses today. The quantum evaluation may take a longer time. Some companies prioritize innovation, and they have teams working towards that. These teams may have a longer timeframe to work and evaluate and present future concerns. This is the main reference on how to tackle the challenges of quantum computing and quantum technologies in our current IT conversations. In the three-year timeframe, we may just start to see the quantum conversation moving forward. For those with a yearly plan, they tend to be a bit more reactive. They are not yet in the proactive mode of innovation because of budget or other reasons. So, those businesses are going to probably be the followers. Those that are more proactive and have plans to evaluate technologies may experience long-term business impact.  

 

What is the relationship between AI and quantum computing?

That’s a very interesting topic lately. For businesses who want to move forward, they are putting these into their innovation tracks. This will help them face disruptive technologies in a different timeframe. There is a certain traction lately with AI and there’s a specific field in the matter called quantum machine learning. However, there are a lot of data-related and computing-related challenges. Maybe we have a lot of small data, but the problem is too complex for the computing capacity to resolve. These are the areas where we currently see AI and quantum computing intersect.  

If you recall, just before AI we saw a lot of data science topics capturing headlines. Many data science topics have evolved to become AI-related topics. Nowadays, AI is quite oriented to processing large volumes of data. If we add the complexity of understanding that data, then we have an increased value of using quantum with AI. Quantum may help bridge the crossroads between large volumes of data. That’s why most of the ChatGPT moments are based on large language models, and then we get this idea of large data volumes. To solve complex problems, large volumes of data need to be processed. This is where quantum algorithms or quantum-inspired algorithms can help.  

The latest research points to reducing the amount of data required to produce better results from the AI perspective. This is also an area where the quantum computing way of thinking may help us to improve the technology. 

 

What quantum computing technological milestones have already made a short-term impact?

Counting qubits is fine for a specific technology approach but we should consider some other technology approaches. The quantum world is not only in superconducting qubits. We have quantum annealing and photonics, and there are many different technologies that may be measured. They have different KPIs so understanding those KPIs is important. The main milestone is achieving any kind of demonstrated success from the quantum perspective. Our current high-performance computing may produce results but if we see that, at a certain point, quantum may promise and improve performance computing and energy consumption, that’s something worth double-checking.  

 

What are your quantum computing predictions for the upcoming year?

Companies like IBM, Inq, and D-Wave Systems have been delivering roadmaps and are aggressively working to accelerate quantum. There is also a growing interest in quantum from a broader audience. A few years ago, the quantum community was small, but it’s been growing very fast. More IT and business leaders are keen to learn more about quantum.  

That’s a call to action for the quantum people. We need to translate what is required for our newer audiences. That’s a challenge because, in the next 12 months, we’re going to see more non-quantum people jumping into the technology. Existing quantum conversations were super technical, talking about qubits and physics, and it’s very hard to digest. Quantum experts need to figure out how to translate the value of the technology for business leaders.   

Sectors that can benefit from quantum computing the most are finance, telco, and retail. Most private companies are investing and researching related current technologies, security, process optimization, and energy consumption. There will be improved quantum processor units (QPUs) that may be on the same track as traditional CPUs and GPUs. There will be improvements in how we develop algorithms and how the technology integrates into existing system infrastructures.  

 

What are immediate things business leaders can do to get ahead of quantum technology?

It needs to be on the radar for innovation.  

Companies need to be given support to participate in quantum conferences and events. There are a lot of clever people making statements and clarifying what can and cannot be done. It’s also getting external support. Some companies may not be able to afford to hire experts, but they may afford to hire consultants to help them get on track. You don’t need to develop your own quantum computer; you can already consume the technology available using cloud computing. Anyone can use a credit card and start consuming and testing quantum ideas right now. 

 

*The interview answers have been edited for length and clarity. 

Every company is now a tech company – with the exponential growth of computing and the value of data presenting itself as crucial to any organization’s success. Tech and business leaders alike understand the importance of having their fingers on the pulse of the latest tech trends or risk falling quickly behind and losing out on vast potential.  

World-renowned futurist, influencer, and thought leader in the field of business and tech, Bernard Marr, explored eight top tech trends that business leaders need to watch in 2024.  

 

1. Ubiquitous Computing

 

The first and foundational trend is ubiquitous computing. This was first enabled by cloud computing which allows as much data as you want to be stored in the cloud and processed almost immediately, and further enhanced with 5G connectivity. Edge computing is also part of this, allowing data to be processed directly on devices, making it a more efficient process.  

The exponential growth of computing power means that we now have reached the physical limits of how much computing power we can squeeze into a microchip. However, even this is changing.  

Bernard Marr noted: “Quantum computing is something that leverages the bizarre things that happen on a subatomic level where particles can be in more than one place at the same time. Instead of normal computers that process things sequentially, quantum computers can do it simultaneously, making complex computing tasks about a trillion times faster than the supercomputers we have today.” 

Eventually, quantum computing will be available on the cloud. Companies are already building these tools and integrating them into their cloud offering. Bernard projects that quantum computing will experience a big leap forward in 2024 and that in five years, it will be an important contribution to computing overall. Other data storage systems like DNA storage – where data is stored on DNA strands – will also contribute to ubiquitous computing.  

 

2. Datafication of the World

 

The second trend Bernard points out is datafication. Data has become an essential business asset to organizations. It is available at unprecedented levels – around 75 zettabytes of data, 90% of which was generated in the last five years. However, less than 1% of data is used in a meaningful way. In organizations, less than 0.1% of data is used. Data is also growing exponentially and is expected to grow to over 225 zettabytes by 2025.  

Using the example of how Netflix leverages data to drive its recommendation engine and create content, Bernard explained the importance of using the data you have to drive decision-making and business strategies.  

Another example is the use of satellite data by companies in the construction industry – in combination with machine vision technology – to keep tabs on their competitors’ progress and how they stack up against it.  

Crucially, Bernard highlights the importance of data literacy. He said, “When it comes to data, there is a challenge where we are lacking a lot of data literacy in our organizations. We have lots of people that don’t particularly like data. So, companies often build these big data lakes and warehouses, put nice analytics on the front end, and say that you can be your own data scientist and answer all your questions. But this doesn’t happen.  

What we need to do is more handholding. We need to put in place more help for people to understand what data they have and how they can use it.” 

Bernard shares the example of how Shell tackled this problem by building a data café at their headquarters. Here, employees can sit down with a data scientist to present their business challenges and questions and get help on how data can help them. Data scientists can help them understand what data they have access to and how best to use it. 

“It’s basically data translators. People that sit between business and data functions to help business units understand how to better use data in their everyday operations.” 

 

3. The Artificial Intelligence Revolution 

 

Ubiquitous computing and datafication lay the foundation for artificial intelligence (AI). Bernard emphasized that this is by far the biggest trend right now. This is where organizations should invest currently.  

“Every organization now is an AI business. AI is transforming pretty much any industry.” 

Citing Amazon as an example, Bernard talks about how AI is transforming the physical retail experience. Amazon Go stores utilize facial recognition technology and other AI tools to enable a smoother, easier shopping experience for their customers who can just pick stuff off the shelves, put it in their bags, and walk out as they are automatically charged for the items they bought.  

Another creative use of AI is in the fishing industry. A Norwegian salmon farming company connected their sea pens over 5G to a data center that allows them to track feeding systems with facial recognition technology to ensure all the fish are fed an equal amount and therefore mature at a similar rate. The connected sea pens also have a circular swimming system, in tandem with machine vision technology, that allows them to analyze the health of the animals, detect diseases, and isolate infected fish before the disease spreads to the entire population.  

On generative AI specifically, Bernard noted the significant advances in not only AI-generated text and images but also videos and voice. Though there are ethical concerns around generative AI, it can also be used for good such as in medical research to develop new drug formulas.  

“This is such a powerful technology that I believe will impact all of your businesses from today,” he emphasized.  

 

4. The World Becomes Immersive

 

Bernard believes that the world will become more immersive largely through augmented reality, virtual reality, and other similar technologies. Companies like Bollé, the French sunglasses brand, and Dalmore, the whiskey brand, have incorporated augmented and virtual reality into their customer experience journey. Bollé developed an app with augmented reality to allow their customers to virtually try on sunglasses as well as see through them via their phone cameras for a full experience.  

Dalmore created a whole virtual journey for their customers to experience a trip to the Dalmore distillery in the Scottish Highlands to see how their whiskey is made. At the end of this virtual trip, customers receive their order of a Dalmore whiskey cocktail.  

Immersive technology goes beyond just enhancing customer experience. Formula 1 racing team, Red Bull Racing, creates digital twins of their cars, circuit simulators, and full-body haptic suits to create an immersive racing experience. This allows drivers and engineers to test out the cars before they’re manufactured and make any fine-tuning necessary before 3D printing components. 

 

5. A Digitally Editable World

 

This leads to the next trend of a digitally editable world. This means being able to manipulate the real world from a digital world. Nanotechnology enables us to manipulate materials at nanoscale, allowing scientists to create completely new materials such as graphene – the thinnest material on the planet that is also incredibly strong. This has led to designs such as bendable screens.  

Other uses include creating cultured meat, something that is already being done today. In fact, there are sushi restaurants in Japan that 3D print sushi. If they have your DNA analysis, they can even 3D print sushi with the exact nutritional values that you need.  

Technologies like CRISPR/Cas9 have opened a world of gene editing that offers a major avenue for fighting hereditary diseases and cancer. Bernard noted, “A lot of work in cancer research and other diseases research is going towards identifying gene markers. If we can identify them, we can take them out. With CRISPR/Cas9, we can do that. This is amazing.” 

However, as with any powerful technology, there are ethical concerns. Bernards stressed, “On the flip side, it’s really scary because we can modify pretty much anything about any plant or any human being or animal. If you want to improve someone’s strength, IQ, eye color, skin color, height – you can do that in the future. So, there are huge ethical concerns again, but this is coming.” 

 

6. Rearchitecting Trust with Blockchain Technology

 

Last year, there was plenty of hype over blockchain technology and NFTs, but it quickly disappeared as people realized that spending money on digitally created photos with no inherent value isn’t great. It was the same with cryptocurrencies.  

Bernard said that while there are plenty of developments in this area, there still isn’t a standard blockchain technology. There is also no interoperability. However, he believes this is coming and that this technology will have major implications in various ways.  

For example, the United Arab Emirates is putting its property documents onto the blockchain, making the house-buying process much simpler than it is now. “Lots of the middleman functions will be eradicated through blockchain technology,” Bernard warned.  

As for NFTs, while they have developed a bad reputation, some companies have used this technology in creative ways. The whiskey company, Glenfiddich, created a limited edition 43-year-old whiskey that they sell at auctions. Usually, the company won’t know what happens to the bottles once they are delivered to the auction houses. However, this limited series of just 10 bottles were auctioned with NFTs. Buyers receive a digital certificate proving that they own the bottle, which physically is located in Singapore. If they want to sell it, they simply sell the NFT. If they want to drink it, they can swap the NFT for the actual bottle which will be delivered to them. This way, Glenfiddich knows exactly how many unopened bottles there are, which can be verified digitally.

 

7. Resilience is Safety and Sustainability 

 

Bernard said that the second trend organizations should invest in is cybersecurity. Pointing out that resilience is about safety and sustainability, Bernard cautioned that keeping data safe has never been more important.  

“Quantum computing will be able to break all the encryptions we have today. If you think the data you have is nicely encrypted, quantum computers will break it. There’s now work on how we can make our systems quantum safe.” 

Today, bad actors are already stealing data sets that they know they can break into in the future once they have access to quantum computing. This is an alarming situation that needs to be addressed.  

The other part of resilience is sustainability. A huge global challenge is climate change. Bernards points out, “The cloud industry combined now has a bigger carbon footprint than the entire global airline industry because they are running huge data centers that use huge energy, resources, and water. We need to start thinking about how we make this better.” 

 

8. Talented People Still Matter 

 

Bernard said he believes that being able to work alongside machines and guide machines is one of the most important jobs. While it’s true that data science and math skills are needed to a certain degree, the vast majority of work won’t need those specific skill sets as machines will be able to do it better than humans. ChatGPT can already write and debug programs.  

“What we need in the future is to have people that have the human skills, the soft skills,” Bernard explained, adding that data literacy, technical skills, and awareness of cyberthreats are just some of the types of skills that we need to equip ourselves with.  

Beyond these digital-related skills, we need the skills that make us intrinsically human such as critical thinking, complex decision-making, emotional intelligence, and creativity, among others.  

“These are the kinds of skills that will set people apart in the future. What we need to look for, and what we need to develop in our organizations, is people that have those skills and that are able to work alongside intelligent machines, to get the best of both worlds.” 

Bernard added, “There are huge opportunities. We need to sort out some of the problems, but I believe that all of the technologies I’ve talked about today will help us solve the biggest problems we are facing on this planet.” 

 

*The insights have been edited for length and clarity.

Blockchain is the underlying technology of Web3 and can fundamentally change how an organization manages identity, data, brand, copyrights, and digital assets. Businesses must understand the latest consumer behavior and culture to implement blockchain successfully. Jakob Hansen, CEO of the Nordic Blockchain Association (NBA), walks us through the recent developments of blockchain technology, its role in enhancing security and trust, new innovations to expect in the next few years, and more.  

*This article is a recap of our interview with Jakob Hansen at the session, The Consumer Blockchain: Is It Time for the Next Evolution of Digital Enterprises and Brands? 

   

What should business leaders know before investing in blockchain technology?

The most important part is to understand the principle behind the project. We have got a great science-based blockchain in the Nordics called Concordium, where one of their key attributes is to simplify building an identity layer into a protocol. There are other protocols where high transaction volumes are extremely important. If you are working in TradeFI or financial institutions, you would want to work with a tool with a lot of speed. It’s important to identify what you want to create. First, the protocol layer and then the middleware or the ecosystem around it. Often, you are not trying to create a standalone system, you maybe need a wallet provider and security provider.  

 

Do you see the perception of blockchain becoming more positive?

I think it’s extremely important to distinguish between blockchain and fraud and TradeFi in general. That’s often done with cryptocurrencies. It’s when a company takes a token, lists it publicly, and trades with it. For me, that’s a trading issue and has nothing to do with blockchain technology. 

Transparency is an inherent part of blockchain that solves many fraud issues.  

I think it’s good that there’s been a lot of dialogue about these issues as it brought awareness to blockchain technology. That’s just a gateway into what the technology can provide. The NBA focuses on what the technology can do for businesses and for the world. 

 

How can blockchain enhance security and trust in applications and systems?

A blockchain process that businesses can put into place right now is product authentication. It provides good security for consumers. Blockchain enables authentication, supply chain visibility, product transparency, and warrant management. Brand loyalty is not the same as it was 10 years ago. Now trust is built on transparency.  

This is especially true for upcoming brands where customers need to figure out whether or not to trust them. Being able to scan a QR code to see the product’s entire supply chain to verify if everything the business claims is true, especially with a business’ sustainability practices, is useful. Imagine if you have a retail product that has been certified, how will consumers know for sure? There are many offline processes to ensure customers can trust a certain certification and is very time-consuming. In a fast consumer space, I think instant and fast verification would ease a consumer’s buying behavior.  

In addition, data security is extremely important, especially in the healthcare industry. Think about all the data that we are giving away. In Denmark, we have an amazing public healthcare system but I still have to provide sensitive information to both private clinics and insurance companies. There is a great project that is already live in South Korea. Basically, you put down your data on the blockchain, and only you have a private key to unlock that data. That means other parties can have your data but not read it.   

Also, a smart contract is a business process in that you can wrap a digital lock around it and put it into motion when certain conditions are met. Smart contracts could optimize businesses tremendously. 

 

What are the key steps businesses must take to facilitate consumers in blockchain?

This is dependent on the company and its consumers. Think about what smart contracts and blockchain can do with customer login data. Both technologies can offer customers a digital wallet with their login credentials. Personally, one of my digital wallets is in a Chrome extension and I use that to sign into Web3 companies. For example, companies can offer customers private digital logins or digital wallets that give them access to certain features. They can also charge a fee if customers want to access more. This allows businesses to interact with customers in a transparent way and opens up a variety of new business models. 

   

Can blockchain reduce business costs?

Without a doubt. For example, I was part of a project where we tried to implement blockchain within the supply chain. However, it took some time for the suppliers to accept and learn it because it was a new technology platform. There are also initial implementation costs. From a supply chain perspective, implementation is quite fast if you control the whole supply chain. If you have smart contracts, you can agree on what needs to happen. You can do a consensus within your operations, which can be an expense claim from an auditor.   

I also did a lot of employment reimbursement. With smart contracts, you can set approval settings. You can authenticate it from an audit perspective, just think about the transparency that you have if you are doing transactions online. If you can implement that into your internal processes, you can save a lot of time. You can also have cross-border transactions, instant settlements, and more.  

 

What is your advice for business leaders who don’t know where to start with blockchain implementation?

Identify your purpose and why your business wants to work with blockchain. Is it to generate more revenue or become more cost-efficient? The tough part is that it’s a learning game where you need to cooperate. Blockchain is made on transparency and cooperation. I always say, “work together until lunch, compete in the afternoon.” Don’t try to solve problems by yourself.  I’m sure you have a sparring group within your industry so try to team up with them.  

Blockchain is a technology where you can create an infrastructure, and then you can compete on top of it. I would keep on being curious, and if you are not aware yet, ask around what the best use cases are. Organizations like the NBA are here to help. I know that you want to present a very clear plan to your superior or want to be very certain about a strategy. But with blockchain, being open-minded and asking for advice is the right way to go about it. 

 

Where are we now with the development of Web3?

Web3 is not defined yet, we are still in the learning phase. Also, Web3 is not only blockchain but AI and other tech as well. If we’re looking at the blockchain aspect of it, there are a lot of really good use cases coming up. Even though there is talk of a bad market or crypto winter, we don’t focus on that in the ecosystem. We must distinguish between blockchain and Web3.  

The way that I like to articulate blockchain is simple. It’s transparency, traceability, and trust.  

My passion for blockchain started when I was an auditor because I was tired of old receipts. Now I know there’s a ledger, I don’t need to spend time on paper receipts. Over the last few years, many people have jumped on the blockchain bandwagon. A number of large corporations already have a clear strategy for blockchain implementation. How it should start is to identify the need in the organization, from a shareholder perspective as well as a KPI perspective.  

 

What innovations can we expect in 2023?

We have talked a lot about data protection, and I think that will continue. Blockchain allows consumers to feel comfortable that their data and online presence are secure. 

Next, sustainability and traceability. My personal belief is that we are seeing a huge consumer wave in verifying that companies are acting transparently and complying with the UN’s sustainability goals. Transparency is going to be one of the big drivers that blockchain will be a huge part of. This goes back to what I said earlier about product authentication, supply chain visibility, and product transparency. Also, the Metaverse is going to keep on expanding and create a lot of revenue opportunities. Security and transparency are also key factors here. 

 

*The interview answers have been edited for length and clarity. 

As a rapidly growing market, McKinsey & Partners estimates that quantum computing will have a global market value of USD 1 trillion by 2035. In fact, more business leaders are considering the use of quantum computing, with 81% of senior executives expecting it to impact their industry, according to EY’s Quantum Readiness Survey. Almost half also believe that quantum technology will start to transform industries as early as 2025.  

This trajectory is supported by Gartner’s prediction that 20% of organizations will budget for quantum computing projects by 2023, compared to less than 1% today. This means that quantum consulting as a service will also see a rise as organizations try to leverage quantum computing to extract a business advantage. 

The question still remains as to what kind of benefits quantum computing can bring and how it will impact businesses going forward. To iron out these mysteries, we spoke to Dr. Angie Qarry, a quantum physicist and entrepreneur,

   

Quantum technology is for optimization

 

Speaking on how quantum computing can be applied in the business world, Dr Qarry explained that it will be about using the technology to optimize or improve upon existing processes by applying quantum algorithmic thinking to solve problems. 

“It’s just thinking differently about computability. Taking this problem that you have and thinking differently in order to take advantage of this computability,” she said.  

While there is hope that quantum computing can solve many of the current optimization problems, Dr. Qarry cautioned that we must be careful with this thinking: “We can have an advantage only in the class of problems that quantum computing can solve. The technology cannot solve all the problems on earth, because these problems fall in a class of problems that do not have an efficient solution.” 

Once that is understood, business leaders may consider how this technology can solve certain optimization problems within their organizations to give them a business advantage.  

“The moment you start to accept and learn about emergent technology, or adopting it in your business use case, you will have the advantage when the technology is ready,” said Dr Qarry. 

Citing an example, Dr Qarry shared BMWs usage of quantum technology to discover optimal sensor positioning for their automated vehicles. This is an optimization problem that quantum computing can solve – finding the best position for each sensor while limiting interference. 

 

Building a quantum-ready workforce 

 

As with any emergent technology, there is a lack of talent in the current pool. On the question of what organizations can do to build a quantum-ready workforce, Dr Qarry suggested two pathways.  

First is to think about how to build internal quantum teams. Specifically, a quantum computer lead who understands the technology on a hardware level as well as quantum computer engineers and software engineers who will be able to run the circuit and applications.  

The other option is to simply outsource the talent.  

“What you need are thinkers who can map your business to the application, and then run it. This is a skill in itself,” noted Dr Qarry. She added that to start off, it may be easier for businesses to outsource this while building their own quantum team.  

However, she advised looking at this in a broader view. It’s not just about building a workforce to run new equations – it’s about building a new workforce for a new computability area.   

 

Security risks of quantum technology 

 

One of the main concerns with the advancement of quantum technology is the security risk it poses. The United States Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced in mid-2022 that it has chosen the first group of encryption tools designed to withstand attacks from quantum computers in the future.  

Apart from network security, quantum technology also poses a threat to certain aspects of blockchain technology, and therefore cryptocurrency. Specifically, Dr. Qarry singled out the risk to signature schemes in blockchain technology that are needed for authentication before a transaction. Though some cryptocurrencies are trying to stay ahead of the curve by adopting signature algorithms that are quantum-resistant for now, it is a race.  

On the other hand, Dr. Qarry also noted that quantum computing can help cryptocurrency by providing quantum verification. As with any emergent technology, it works both ways.  

 

Can quantum computers change the world? 

 

Though quantum computers have the potential to solve many problems, scaling remains a challenge due to issues like fault tolerance and error correction. This is one of the reasons skeptics don’t think the technology will ever scale.  

However, Dr. Qarry is more optimistic. She said, “In 25 years, we have increased the lifetime of a qubit from nanoseconds to 10s of milliseconds. In 25 years, we already have 127 qubits with IBM and 2,003 with D-Wave. So there is huge progress even if the technological or engineering aspects are extremely challenging.” 

As an emergent technology, quantum computing has the potential for major social impact. In fact, it may not even need to succeed in achieving a specific technological level in order to see the social impact.  

Dr Qarry added: “It’s in the development phase and there will be huge social impact if it scales. We’ll never know if we stop now.” 

Addressing business leaders, Dr Qarry said that waiting to invest only when the technology is ready may be too late.  

“Those that entered earlier have already prepared all the algorithms and applications to be ready with just one click, giving them the business advantage. So it depends on your level of risk-taking and how you accept emerging technologies.” 

 

*The insights have been edited for length and clarity.