Meity, AWS open second round of applications for quantum computing lab

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity), in partnership with cloud and technology provider Amazon Web Services (AWS), has opened applications for a second batch of companies for its Quantum Computing Applications Lab (QCAL). The facility, which enables researchers and scientists to access quantum computing infrastructure from Amazon, will also see the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA)’s office offer outreach and engagement activities to increase awareness. 

The QCAL was set-up by Meity and AWS in January 2021 to enable quantum computing research, and development of applications and solutions in the quantum domain for government, ministerial and public services. 

Along with the PSA office, this year, the Meity-AWS collaboration to offer quantum computing as a service to researchers and academicians also includes Bengaluru-headquartered technology services firm Mphasis, and Indian data analytics and artificial intelligence firm, Fractal. 

Abhishek Singh, chief executive of Meity’s National e-Governance Division (NeGD), said that the QCAL initiative will help academicians “identify and deploy technologies promoting innovation and discovery, to help India advance and achieve a more sustainable future.” 

“Quantum computing has the extraordinary potential to help countries leapfrog technology generations, achieve scientific leadership and deliver answers to complex economic and social challenges,” Singh further added. 

AWS said in a statement that the first batch of applicants to use the QCAL for various quantum computing research applications saw 16 finalists from various universities such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) and others. The finalists were awarded credits to purchase and use quantum computing infrastructure through AWS’ cloud platform — for work on quantum hardware simulators, quantum algorithm exploration and more. 

While AWS claims that the QCAL venture with Meity is a one of a kind offering in the quantum computing space, other similar services exist in the commercial space. For instance, multinational tech services firm Capgemini announced Q-Lab, a quantum computing laboratory in January this year, in partnership with IBM. 

During the announcement, Capgemini said that its Q-Lab could be used by companies to build their own quantum applications for commercial purposes.