Quantum Matters
Quantum computing is a Board issue. Boards of Directors are, however, not aware of this, except in a minority of well-publicised cases.
Does this matter, even as billions of dollars pour into the industry, M&A is on fire – there are rumours that Alphabet is due to spin out its quantum unit – universities ramp up their teaching, and governments publicise their ever-larger contributions? It does. Without buy-in from the Boards of listed and unlisted companies, experimentation is held back, user cases are fewer, and progress in the quantum ecosphere is missing the firepower of the private sector, except for specialised venture capital firms.
Quantum Matters – Quantum Culture
“You think you are the messiahs!” cries out Lily, the super-hero of BBC series Devs, to the bosses in charge of the secretive quantum unit.
That slur can just as easily be applied to the Big Tech chiefs, who started out with missions encapsulated in Google’s motto “Do no evil,” yet proceeded to abuse their monopolistic powers, promote addictive behaviours and allow hate speech to flourish.
Can quantum save the City?
This month we comment in The Quantum Daily on why the City needs to become involved in Quantum Computing, a $10bn market over the next few years. There is a great opportunity in servicing the UK’s 73 quantum start-ups – the second largest number in the world after the US – with fundraising & consultancy, while machine learning for portfolio optimisation, and cybersecurity and MedTech are all going to benefit from it.
Quantum needs to be part of the the City Corporation’s recovery plan.
Green Finance Blossoms
The perfect storm is right now
The world is facing the perfect storm for environmental change. We are at the most exciting time to fight climate disaster in the last four years. The US is set to rejoin the Paris Agreement, China announced it will be carbon neutral in 40 years, and the mid-November Green Horizon Summit hosted by the City of London saw a handful of key regulatory and financial advances.
Despite weather-related catastrophes like wildfires in California and massive flooding in parts of Asia during his term, outgoing President Trump stuck to his early decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. Incoming President Biden, instead, affirms his intention to lead a diplomatic initiative to go beyond its current goals of keeping the temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius this century. Sustainability is central to the President-elect’s agenda.