The advent of practical quantum computers will represent a profound change in what we are able to do in computing and the applications of computing (which is most things nowadays). My guess would be another 5 years before we see practical technology available for use, probably via services provided by the Internet supergiants (Google, IBM, Microsoft, etc). One of the things I'm keen to start looking at is how we communicate this enormously complex technology to senior decisions makers (politicians, CEOs, etc) who typically (there are exceptions) don't understand the potential impact of advanced tech. We need to foster widespread understanding of the tech if the UK is to be well placed in the post-quantum world (see? we need better phrases than that! ?).

Andrew, what practical quantum computers could deliver will be game changing (and I don't just mean to neuter current asymmetric encryption with Shor's algorithm); however, within your 5 year window, it is more than likely, quantum technologies will change a lot of what we do today. The quantum tech landscape of sensing, timing, imaging and comms r&d is equally if not more game changing.

Agreed. In terms of practical technologies derived from quantum technologies, there is an almost silent revolution taking place in many areas. Breaking the Internet using (one of) Shor's algorithms is obviously eye-catching and given everyone's increasing reliance on things digital, needs to be surfaced and better understood. Does anyone know the latest state of play in the NIST competition?

There is also a need to clarify what you mean by 2nd Generation Quantum Technologies  and why you think there is a breakpoint from conventional - we no longer consider atomic clocks to be exotics, nor high mobility transistors, nor superconducting magnets and yet they are clearly  components that rely on QM, they have just been subsumed over recent years into the design engineers catalogue of available components. We do not suddenly stop using all the stuff that came before, unless there is a clear advatage to the new.

Personally I do not expect a sudden shock or revolution, more of a movement of techniques and components from the R and D lab to the D and I lab over time,  and steady upwards specification creep (much as the microprocessor has done with computing over the last 50 years), yes the face of engineering will change, but that on its own is not new or revolutionary - recall the horn gramophone or delta shadowmask CRT anyone ? I suspect QM devices will not affect the operation of door hinges or sanitary plumbing, for which stable solutions exist, nor to questions like how far away a radio wave of given power and modulation scheme can be detected, as the physics is broadly fixed. The changes will be to things that are currently on the edge of very hard or impossible in terms of speed and power, and I agree the cutting edge will be computing.

IF this advance is not to leave the UK behind, we do however need to be able to support those who struggle to keep up, with accessible and digestible publications and application notes etc if we expect the techniques to be used, but again this is not an issue specific to QM.

Hi Andrew, the NIST Round 3 candidates were announced on 22nd July 2020 (7 finalists and 8 alternates) https://csrc.nist.gov/projects/post-quantum-cryptography/round-3-submissions with the Round 3 Seminars being 'kicked-off' on 27th October 2020. Draft standards somewhere between 2022 & 2024! the Timeline is available here: https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/post-quantum-cryptography/workshops-and-timeline Lets hope factorising large numbers is still problematic then. Don't forget 'Mosca's Theorem' - if y = time to 're-tool' with Quantum Safe or Resistant Cryptography, x = how long your information needs to be 'safe' and it it takes z years to build a large-scale quantum computer, then if  x + y > z  the information may not be safe.... 

Indeed. I wrote a short piece on LinkedIn which, I hope, captures the essence of the argument. See https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-breaking-internet-curing-cancer-why-quantum-matters-rogoyski/?trackingId=eubwEQ90T%2BK5y7tC9qTpBg%3D%3D