Microsoft joins White House initiative to boost Quantum Computing Education

Microsoft has joined an initiative by the Trump administration to launch a national education partnership to expand access to K-12 quantum information science (QIS) education.

The public-private initiative with the National Science Foundation includes Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services, Boeing Co, Alphabet Inc’s Google, IBM Corp, Lockheed Martin Corp, the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago. The National Science Foundation is also awarding $1 million to QIS education.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy said on Wednesday said the initiative is designed in part to help introduce students to quantum information themes before college.

Quantum computing aims to operate millions of times faster than today’s advanced supercomputers and is expected to have a major impact on healthcare, communications, financial services, transportation, artificial intelligence, weather forecasting and other areas.

Microsoft is no stranger to Quantum Computing Education.  Last year Microsoft has partnered with Brilliant.org to create a new interactive course on quantum computing. Through this course, you can learn the basics on quantum computing and programming in Q#. Microsoft hopes that this new course will empower the next generation of quantum computer scientists and engineers.

In July the White House announced the award of $75 million for new institutes at three U.S. universities to boost quantum information research.

Via Reuters