It is the company’s second quantum data centre in the world and marks a significant expansion of its fleet of advanced, utility-scale quantum systems available to global users via the cloud.
Now online in Ehningen, Germany, Europe’s first IBM Quantum Data Centre includes two new utility-scale, IBM Quantum Eagle-based systems, and will soon feature a new IBM Quantum Heron-based system. These systems can perform computations beyond the brute-force simulation capabilities of classical computers.
First introduced late last year, IBM Heron is the company’s most performant quantum chip yet, enabling users to increase the complexity of algorithms they are exploring on real quantum hardware.
When the IBM Heron-based system is made available at the IBM Quantum Data Centre in Europe, it will be the third IBM Heron installed across IBM’s fleet of quantum systems that can be accessed by the company’s global quantum network of more than 250 enterprises, universities, research institutions, and organisations. IBM Heron offers up to a 16-fold increase in performance and 25-fold increase in speed over previous IBM quantum computers as they were measured two years ago.
When it is deployed alongside the now-available utility-scale systems installed in the new IBM Quantum Data Centre, the IBM Heron-based system will expand the more than a dozen quantum computers IBM currently offers through the cloud – the largest fleet of its kind in the world.
The opening of the new quantum data centre was celebrated at a ribbon-cutting event attended by senior government officials, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and IBM CEO and Chairman Arvind Krishna (pictured).
Additionally, the event was attended by several senior leaders of European-based global enterprises, including Crédit Mutuel, Bosch, E.ON, Volkswagen Group, and others, as well as research institutions who are among the more than 80 European-based organisations within the IBM Quantum Network, who will now have the opportunity to access the systems within the IBM Quantum Data Centre in Europe.
“The opening of our first IBM Quantum Data Centre in Europe marks a pivotal moment for the region’s technological development, demonstrates our commitment to Europe, and underscores the key role of collaboration with industry, academia and policymakers for a pan-European quantum ecosystem. This state-of-the-art facility will foster innovation around quantum computing, creating new opportunities for talent attraction and ensuring that Europe remains at the forefront of global technological advancements,” said Ana Paula Assis, General Manager and Chairman of IBM Europe, Middle East and Africa.
The IBM Quantum Data Centre in Europe can be accessed through the IBM Quantum Platform, supporting IBM’s stated mission to enable the development of quantum computing use cases and to support clients as they press forward with algorithm discovery in the era of quantum utility, and towards quantum advantage.
