Drivers of the next generation of computing

- So why might classical computing not continue to meet our needs? What is driving our rapid movement towards a next generation of computing power? I've been involved in using and working with computers for over 30 years. In that time, processing speed has continued to increase rapidly with each new generation of microchips. The cost of computing has also rapidly dropped. Just look at storage costs. In the 1990s, a gigabyte was almost $100,000. Today, it is less that 10 cents. Software capability has empowered remarkable new business models, from on-demand mobility to global online commerce. At no time have our expectations of what technology can provide plateaued. Moreover, our appetite for innovation has only increased. I've come to expect, like you, that computing technology will just continue to get faster, better, and cheaper as time passes. We're not yet near a time when current capabilities will fail to meet our needs. This is particularly true in the consumer and enterprise space. Today's computing continues to take us places we didn't expect with fast, re-imagined, and connected services. Available on our ever-expanding number of devices. A hyper-connected, data-driven planet though doesn't stand still. As every organization becomes a technology organization at its core, as more data is created, stored, and leveraged, as software drives more solutions and computing intelligence gets baked into everything, as our ambition and confidence increases to tackle our most intractable issues, our needs are catching up with the capacity for classical computing to deliver. Here are a few specific examples of drivers of a next generation of computing. The first example is our need for better cybersecurity. Old benefits of a digital connected world have only increased the potential for security issues. A day doesn't pass where we don't hear about another significant security breach. Cybersecurity technology is innovating quickly, but bad actors are evolving quickly too. Current approaches, including widely adopted encryption technologies, will eventually become less effective. Ironically, it may be quantum computing that eventually breaks current encryption techniques. To insure a more secure, appropriately-scaled response to our hyper-digital, connected future, we'll require new approaches and new technology. In it's absence, a lack of public trust will hinder progress and may have limiting consequences, such as burdensome regulation, that we may later come to regret. Quantum is poised to offer the kind of cybersecurity that the future will demand. Now the second example. Our need to advance our understanding of biology, physics, and chemistry. While we've come a long way in understanding our universe and our planet, there's still much we don't understand. Supercomputers are enabling us to better understand molecule interactions, but modeling takes time and has processing constraints. Anticipating the weather and more broadly understanding our climate over time already tests the most advanced computers. Drug research needs better performance capabilities to design a new generation of treatments, including the creation of personalized solutions. A drug designed for a single individual for their unique body and health issue. Surprisingly, quantum computing may also be essential to furthering our understanding of quantum computing and the quantum mechanics space in general. I know, that's very meta. Researchers are excited about the possibilities of this new technology helping to understand and advance innovation in quantum itself. And finally the third example, global competitiveness. Can we possibly imagine a world were one nation is powering forward with significantly better computing power than others? For example, could the United States continue to rely on classical computing, while China, Russia, and the European Union rapidly make advances in computing that is millions of times faster? Today, an economy left behind in technological capability will quickly struggle. After all, the painful evidence of history already proves this. The promise of a new computing performance is motivation enough for many countries to be in this race. And in it they are, with quantum computing nations big and small across the world are investing heavily. And many have made it national priority.