Singapore must act now to be quantum-safe
Many public and private entities are unprepared for the cyberthreats that will be part of the next computing era
IN LESS than a decade, quantum computers have undergone one of the most impressive transformations in technological history. For example, what began as a lone, small quantum device on the IBM cloud running rudimentary experiments has evolved into a breakthrough, utility-scale tool used across industries and organisations to explore the frontiers of challenges in healthcare and life sciences, high-energy physics, materials development, optimisation, and sustainability. Today’s progress of utility-scale quantum computers has the industry on the verge of the next computing revolution.
Quantum computers are not just faster, better versions of classical computers that may be able to solve certain niche problems. They offer access to an entirely new branch of computation, built on fundamentally different rules that can access and discover completely new types of results that have never previously been known. However, one of the problems that quantum computers are getting closer to solving is factoring large numbers – which would make them a “cryptographically relevant” risk to many of today’s security standards.
In May this year, the Singapore government announced that it would invest close to S$300 million over the next five years to boost quantum technology research and talent. As part of the National Quantum Strategy, this initiative builds on the more than S$400 million that the Republic has already invested into quantum research over the past two decades.
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