Towards Quantum Technologies and Services in Telcos

There are evidences of increasing efforts and investments in innovation activities on Quantum Technologies. Notable example are activities of Microsoft, IBM, HP, Toshiba, Google, NASA, Intel, Alibaba, BT, TID, KT and several other Academia and Centers of Excellence.

Quantum technologies and architectures are showing different levels of maturity, but it is believed that first commercial systems are likely to be available in the range of five to ten years: advanced prototypes, an in some cases commercial solutions, are already available.

A future breakthrough in the development of Quantum technologies and services at affordable prices will have systemic and far reaching impacts, e.g.

• Quantum Internet capable of exchanging information through fully optical networks and processing it, optically, in the form of encoded photons (higher level of security than today);

• the development of disruptive applications in the areas of cryptography, cyber-security and anti-counterfeit transactions with “quantum money”, finance, but also in bioinformatics, quantum machine learning and quantum intelligence;

• radical implications in other sectors and industries, such as new faster ways of processing genetic big data, quantum biology and medicine or developing of new nano-tech smart materials.

It is likely that quantum systems will eventually be available in five to ten years:

Current efforts are on: 1) materials/chipsets; 2) scalability by implementing error correcting codes; 3) design and engineering quantum architectures.

Once available, quantum systems (and quantum algorithms) have the potential jeopardizing the current security systems (source ETSI).

Products and trends tend to follow a standard innovation cycle starting with early adopters who pay high premiums, and ending with commoditized product offerings with abundant competition. Quantum will reset the innovation cycle for many common commoditized security, and the real costs of concern are related to switching to new “quantum safe” technologies.

Eventually, it can be argued that if the “Softwarization” of Telecommunications is going to “commoditize” the digital infrastructures (by opening an OPEX cycle) a breakthrough in quantum technologies would have the potential to (re-)open a new CAPEX cycle, by requesting large investments for deploying future quantum infrastructures. 

Presentation @ GSMA available at this Link 

The emergence of the 4th Brain …

Neuroscience has provided many important insights about structure and functions of the human brain. One of the most shared models was proposed by neuroscientist Paul MacLean: the so-called 'Triune Brain'.

Three separated brain structures are often referred as separate 'brains', operating almost independently but simultaneously.

1. basal ganglia (found at the center of the human brain) referred to as the reptilian brain, in charge of controlling our innate and automatic self-preserving behaviors, ensuring survivability;
2. limbic system (which consists of various component brain structures, such as the amygdala and hippocampus), in charge of controlling emotions;
3. mammalian neocortex (which is implicated in conscious thought, language and reasoning). 

Today technology advances (in the systemic digitalization of reality and Artificial Intelligence) are likely to create a 4^th digital brain, on top of the mammalian neocortex. 

There are several virtual assistants or intelligent personal assistants which are becoming  very popular today, as capable of performing tasks for individuals, In some sense these software smart agents are augmenting human intelligence in the digital cyberspace. In the near future these virtual assistants or intelligent personal assistants will become more and more intelligent, capable of being proactive and autonomous. 

But there is more.

Ray Kurzweil predicts: within 30 years direct links will be established between the human brain and computer circuitry. The implications are mind-boggling. Such links could mean that the entire contents of a brain could be copied (and preserved) in an external database. Not only would the human brain be supplemented with enormous amounts of digital memory, it would also be linked to vast information resources like the internet — at the speed of thought.

Source: http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-new-york-times-the-soul-of-the-next-new-machine

Eventually, in a few years, the three biological human brains will be supplemented with enormous amounts of processing and memory capabilities - which means A.I. - and it is likely that they will be linked to the immense information resources offered by the web, almost instantaneously.

Indeed one may look at this as a 4^th brain, on top of the mammalian neocortex !

The only big problem is that it was Nature to design and create directly this fourth brain.

So, this would have inevitably enormous implications and terrifying dangers, but hopefully an Artificial Immune System will be develop to defend civilization from this dangers.