IBM to Build its First European Quantum Data Center

IBM announced plans to open its first Europe-based quantum data center to facilitate access to cutting-edge quantum computing for companies, research institutions, and government agencies. The data center is expected to be operational in 2024, with multiple quantum computing systems, each with utility-scale quantum processors, i.e., those of more than 100 qubits.

It will be located at IBM's facility in Ehningen, Germany, and will serve IBM Quantum's European cloud region. Users in Europe and elsewhere in the world will be able to provide services at the data center for their cloud-based quantum computing research and exploratory activity. The data center is designed to help clients continue to manage their European data regulation requirements, including processing all job data within EU borders. The facility will be IBM's second quantum data center and quantum cloud region, after Poughkeepsie, New York.

"Europe has some of the world's most advanced users of quantum computers, and interest is only accelerating with the era of utility-scale quantum processors," said Jay Gambetta, IBM Fellow and Vice President of IBM Quantum. "The planned quantum data center and associated cloud region will give European users a new option as they seek to tap the power of quantum computing to solve some of the world's most challenging problems.

"Our quantum data center in Europe is an integral piece of our global endeavor," said Ana Paula Assis, IBM General Manager for EMEA. "It will provide new opportunities for our clients to collaborate side-by-side with our scientists in Europe, as well as their own clients, as they explore how best to apply quantum in their industry.

The IBM Quantum Network currently has more than 60 organizations across Europe accessing quantum hardware and software via the cloud, including Bosch; Bundeswehr University; Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, including its technology subsidiary Euro-Information, and Targobank; Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY); the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN); Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft; Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center (PSNC); and, T-Systems. These clients across Europe are exploring potential uses for quantum computing, including material science, high-energy physics, energy transition, sustainability, and financial applications.