Today, quantum computing is still often perceived as a theoretical, purely scientific concept. This is not surprising, because already the technical background of quantum technology is difficult to imagine for most people: Unlike in the digital world, where there are only the two states “0” and “1” for the classical bits, in quantum computing the two states can also overlap – Quantum effects such as superposition and entanglement allow quantum bits (qubits) to process a significantly higher amount of different solutions in a much shorter time. Specific results on “quantum supremacy” over conventional supercomputers were provided by researchers at Google, among others, with the development of the quantum processor “Sycamore” (53 qubits). According to the developer, this will be able to perform calculations that would take a conventional supercomputer approximately 10,000 years to complete in 200 seconds.
But according to a potential analysis by management and technology consultants Sopra Steria, only 34 percent of the 158 surveyed managers and specialists from companies currently see quantum technologies as very or quite relevant for their own industry; for their own company or administration, the figure is only 28 percent. However, 64 percent of the respondents expect that quantum technologies will gain “noticeable influence” on their company or administration by 2030. After all, 59 percent of the surveyed decision-makers from the banking sector see “potential fields of application in controlling and in optimizing financial flows.” In industrial companies, 26 percent can imagine “improvements in logistics processes”. Today, comprehensive quantum strategies still exist in only a few companies – in many cases, the necessary background knowledge and an awareness of the revolutionary potential of quantum technologies are still missing.