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Saudi Researchers Use Quantum Computing To Design More Efficient Airplanes
To build its quantum expertise, KAUST has partnered with Zapata Computing, a quantum software company based in Boston, Massachusetts.
It’s estimated that air travel produces roughly two percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. That alone is a good enough reason to explore innovative designs and create more efficient airplanes, but there’s also the fact that airlines operate on very slim margins, so every bit of fuel they manage to save can go a long way in helping them make more profit.
While computers have been helping engineers and designers optimize the aerodynamic properties of airplanes for decades, researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) are the first to explore the absolute cutting edge of what is currently possible in science and engineering by using quantum computing.
Unlike regular computers, which can, at the most fundamental level, represent only two states using transistors (0 = off, 1 = on), quantum computers can be in a 1 or 0 quantum state, or in a superposition of the 1 and 0 state, which essentially means that they can be on and off at the same time. This allows them to represent all possible system states simultaneously, massively speeding up certain specialized computations.
To build its quantum expertise, KAUST has partnered with Zapata Computing, a quantum software company based in Boston, Massachusetts. Zapata will provide its Orquestra toolset, which promises to greatly simplify the process of conducting research in quantum computing.
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“Quantum computing is still very novel, but it’s going to be a truly disruptive technology that will provide enormous cross-industry opportunities,” said Matteo Parsani, Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics and Computational Science at KAUST. “Building a knowledge base of quantum expertise at KAUST in the interdisciplinary field of computational fluid dynamics can only be a good thing both for the university and for the Kingdom.”
The potential of quantum computing to accelerate progress the same way traditional computers have is truly immense, but the technology is still in its infancy, and it may take researchers some time to produce useful results. Hopefully, the team at KAUST will be able to design more efficient airplanes taking us further in a cleaner fashion.
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Lebanon Ministers Meet Visa Over National Digital Payment Platform
Finance and technology ministers say a comparative study and roadmap will follow before any decision on adopting a model.
Lebanon’s finance and technology ministers met representatives from Visa last week to discuss a proposed unified national digital payment platform for government services, according to a readout from the Ministry of Finance.
The meeting brought together Finance Minister Yassin Jaber, Minister of State for Technology and Artificial Intelligence Kamal Shehadeh, a Visa delegation, and experts from both ministries. Discussion focused on whether Lebanon could establish a single platform through which citizens and institutions would pay taxes, fees, fines and other official transactions electronically, using mobile phones and other digital channels.
The Visa delegation presented examples from countries that have adopted unified government payment platforms, including the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Estonia and Jordan. According to the readout, the examples were presented as having increased collection rates and expanded financial inclusion.
Talks covered settlement mechanisms, direct transfer to the treasury account, financial reconciliation, risk management, cybersecurity, fees, and an operational model that would involve the private sector. The parties agreed to continue technical and institutional consultations, prepare a comparative study, and develop an implementation roadmap before any decision on adopting a model for Lebanon.
Jaber said the Ministry of Finance had already enabled citizens to pay using credit cards and e-wallets through transfer companies, but described the proposed platform as a further step. He framed the development of electronic payment and collection systems as a priority within the ministry’s modernization plan.
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Shehadeh outlined the citizen-facing concept as a single mobile application through which users could settle obligations to ministries, government institutions and other bodies.
“The idea, in short, is that any citizen downloads an application on their mobile phone, through which they can pay all service obligations for all ministries, government institutions, or those owned by the Lebanese state, and others as well, as the platform is not limited only to state institutions,” he said.
Shehadeh added that the platform would not displace banks and money transfer companies that currently provide collection services to the state, calling it complementary to their work.
Lebanon Ministers Meet Visa Over National Digital Payment Platform
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