Tech Partnership to Drive Finland’s Quantum Computing Project to Build 50-Qubit Quantum Computer by 2024

(ComputerWeekly) https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252494884/Tech-partnership-to-drive-Finlands-quantum-computing-project. Finland’s plan to build a 50-qubit machine stacks up reasonably well in terms of ambition and scope, compared with projects being run by global tech giants Google and IBM.
The VTT-IQM co-innovation partnership aims to deliver a 50-qubit machine by 2024, drawing on international quantum technology expertise to augment Finland’s home-grown quantum capabilities.
The partnership combines VTT’s expertise in supercomputing and networking systems with IQM’s capacity to deliver a hardware stack for a quantum computer while working with VTT to integrate critical technologies.
The financing element of the project saw IQM launch a new series A funding round in November. The Helsinki-headquartered company raised €39m in new capital in the funding round, bringing to €71m the total amount raised by IQM for quantum computing-related research and development (R&D) project activities to date.
State-owned VTT is providing financing for the project in the form of grants totalling €20.7m from the Finnish government.
The VTT-IQM project will proceed in three stages. The first will involve the construction of a five-qubit computer by the year of 2021. The project will then be scaled up in 2022, parallel with enhancement of support infrastructure, to deliver the target 50-qubit machine in 2023.