IBM Announces Quantum Computing Data Center in Europe
IBM has announced its plans to open a quantum computing data center at its location in Ehningen, Baden-Württemberg, becoming the first European quantum data center. The move aims to grant European research institutions access to IBM’s computers and ensure that data used are processed entirely in the EU. The data center is expected to start operating in 2024.
Still, IBM is keeping a low profile on the available quantum computers and left technical information out of the press release. All that is known so far is that the Ehninger RZ will “have several IBM quantum computer systems with quantum processors of more than 100 qubits.” IBM said the new data center is being planned because some of the world’s most advanced users of quantum computers are in Europe, and interest in quantum computing development is increasing.
Over 60 European institutions are part of the IBM Quantum Network, researching potential areas of application for quantum computers in various fields. The announcement did not clarify whether the new center will only grant access to network members. IBM has had a quantum cloud data center at its home location, Poughkeepsie, USA, since 2019.
IBM chose the Ehningen location intentionally as it installed the first IBM quantum computer outside of the US there, near Stuttgart, earlier in 2021. Alongside the new hardware, IBM also announced new software designed to improve the routing of quantum computing workflows. The software layer, named the “Multichannel Scheduler,” will sit between users and the cloud services and regulate access to the various quantum cloud regions. It will be ready when the Ehninger data center starts, resolving practical and legal challenges raised by parallel use of classical and quantum computers.
