The PlanQK project (Platform and Ecosystem for Quantum-Assisted Artificial Intelligence) will receive a significantly higher funding volume from 2021 onwards and gains four additional consortium partners. As a result of these innovations, nearly 30 quantum applications from a wide range of industries will now be brought to the platform, for which additional components will also be developed.
The PlanQK consortium, which was launched in 2020, will receive additional funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy – a total of around 35 million euros will be invested in the lighthouse project of the AI innovation competition. Under the leadership of the Berlin-based software company StoneOne AG and the University of Stuttgart, this provides the opportunity to work on even more use cases through new consortium partners and to provide new development tools for applications in the field of quantum-assisted artificial intelligence. To this end, four additional partners with new use cases are added to the PlanQK consortium: With Deutsche Bahn AG, the municipal IT service provider Komm.ONE (AöR), the medical diagnostics company Smart Reporting GmbH and the software agency Virality GmbH, experts from different industries and with new approaches will enrich the work of the consortium.
To demonstrate the practical applicability of PlanQK and quantum applications in the industrial sector, the consortium will use the additional funding to significantly increase the number of research fields. Not only the new partners bring exciting ideas, but also existing partners expand the spectrum. In total, almost 30 application areas are being researched, ranging from chemistry, public administration, health and education to energy, finance, manufacturing, transport, telecommunications and customer service, thus also underlining the diversity of the consortium.
During the past year, PlanQK has helped increase understanding and readiness for quantum computing and artificial intelligence in the business community by providing webinars and other knowledge-sharing formats. To further support this growing community, which is now over 60 institutions strong, the expansion will explore additional insights into quantum algorithms, the required knowledge profiles and dedicated development tools to enable the usability of this technology for all beneficiaries – in the public, academic and industrial sector.