The Russian quantum project is designed to ensure the country's confident position in the group of global technology leaders. At the current stage, when the focus of the global quantum race is on the development of quantum computers, Rosatom is steadily moving in this direction, not only developing «quantum hardware», but also preparing the ground for the practical application of quantum innovations. Ekaterina Solntseva, Director of Digitalization at Rosatom State Corporation, spoke about new developments and plans for implementing innovations in an interview.
– In recent years, Rosatom has been the driver of quantum technologies in our country. After the first Future Technologies Forum (FTF), this topic went beyond a narrow circle of specialists into society. Do you welcome the interest of a wide audience in “quanta”?
– We believe that very soon quantum technologies will determine the landscape of human life and will fundamentally change our capabilities in a variety of areas. In order for us to be able to understand them and use them, we need to talk about the development of “quantum” thinking in society today. This is necessary to form a wide range of researchers, engineers, and practitioners who will develop and apply such technologies. Therefore, we can only welcome the emergence of the quantum topic on the media agenda. For now – in the section on the unknown future, but very soon – in the section on applied technologies.
– If we look at the history of the development of quantum technologies in Russia from a broader perspective – how did they develop in our system of world coordinates and where are we now?
– Scientific and engineering activity in the development of quantum technologies in the world has long been significantly higher than in Russia, both at the level of large corporations and at the level of government programs. It cannot be said that nothing happened in this area, but for a long time it remained at the level of enthusiasts represented by scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs.
Strengthening work in this direction began in 2019, when Rosatom became the coordinator of the quantum computing direction as part of an agreement of intent for the development of certain high-tech areas between the Russian government and the largest state-owned companies.
In 2020, a roadmap for quantum computing was approved, which the State Corporation developed jointly with the academic community and experts. At that time, our country was lagging behind the leading countries involved in quantum technologies: we estimated it at 7-10 years. Today, we are quickly reducing this gap: Russia, along with the United States and China, is among the three leading countries that have created quantum computers on all four platforms that are considered a priority in the world as the basis for quantum computers. These are superconductors, ions, neutral atoms and photons.
The first Forum of Future Technologies in 2023 brightly highlighted the first results of the domestic quantum project. The operation of a 16-qubit Russian ion quantum computer was demonstrated for the first time to the President of Russia. Decisions were also made to form a new national project “Data Economy” and the idea of a scientific award in the field of future technologies “CHALLENGE” was supported.
And already at the second Future Technologies Forum in February 2024, quantum computers on all four technological platforms were presented to the president: atoms, two types of ion platforms — ytterbium and calcium, as well as photons and superconductors. Thus, we managed to join the number of countries demonstrating a specific result — a functioning quantum computer. Some countries have spent much more money, have more publications and registered results of intellectual activity, but they do not have functioning quantum computers. In our country, scientific research and engineering developments are interconnected and give impetus to each other's development.
– How close are we today to the practical application of quantum computers?
– In order for our country to confidently be among the leaders at the new technological level, along with research, we must ensure practical, material returns from quantum innovations. First of all, this concerns industry, which is currently looking for new sources of efficiency growth. How can this be achieved? We need to make a «quantum leap» from research to technology. The results of research provide an understanding of how something works. And technology is when you can solve a practical problem. This is the «switching» that we are doing now.
Yes, you can compete in the number of qubits included in «laboratory» quantum computers, leaving behind the scenes their ability to solve useful problems. Or you can go the way of improving their quality, creating quantum algorithms, gaining experience in obtaining practically applicable results of quantum computing. This is the approach that is close to us. We are creating quantum computing technology.
On the horizon until 2030, Rosatom intends to ensure the creation of a competitive quantum industry in Russia. One of its most important elements will be the availability of sovereign quantum computing technologies. We expect that we will be able to move to industrial production of quantum computers: by 2030, we plan to develop a technology that will subsequently allow us to begin producing quantum computers on an industrial scale. Quantum algorithms and the possibility of their application in practical tasks not only in the nuclear industry, but also in other industries will also be developed.
– So, in any case, you consider the nuclear industry as a pioneer in this process and as a pilot site for the entire economy?
– Of course! We need to start with ourselves. That is why the Russian nuclear industry was the first to decide to take a step towards quantum practice. We launched a program for the implementation of quantum computing in the industry, including quantum algorithms. In 2024-2025, their testing on model problems is expected. As a first result, we expect that 5-10 projects will be formed to implement quantum computing products and services to solve model problems in the nuclear industry.
From 2026, we plan a gradual transition from solving model problems to practical problems. And we expect that after 2030 we will be able to imagine the effects of using quantum computing in solving production problems in the nuclear industry.
The current agenda is to define a range of specific industrial tasks that will be solved with the help of quantum processors as a priority. We are talking about prioritization and creation of a stack of projects that will move into practical use by 2030. Now we can talk about the intermediate results of solving model problems — «simplified» practical problems of the industry, helping to understand where, how, with what effects and potential it is most promising to apply quantum computing technology.
– If we talk about the development strategy of the State Corporation in general, what can the development of quantum technologies give to Rosatom?
– Global competition in industry is focused on three components: product quality, time to market, and the cost of creating a product from design to entering production and delivery to the consumer. In order to create the best products for the least amount of money and time, it is necessary to use mathematical (simulation) modeling of objects and processes, and their optimization. And this is the area where quantum computers will be used first. Therefore, we expect that quantum computing will give the Russian nuclear industry additional competitive advantages in the global market.
In general, the implementation of quantum technologies will bring us a number of important results. First, this is the emergence of our own competence centers for replicating the experience of using quantum computing. Second, this is early access to products and services using quantum computing, quantum-inspired and post-quantum algorithms and applications, with the ability to test them and evaluate the effects of implementation. And third, this is a transition to a new level of efficiency of economic and production indicators.
– Today, there is a shortage of specialists even in traditional IT. How will this problem be solved in the new «quantum» world?
– There is a shortage of specialists. And, of course, they need to be trained. Training personnel for the quantum industry is truly one of the most important tasks. Moreover, different specialists are needed. On the one hand, future scientists – it is very important that we have new talents who will move quantum science forward. On the other hand, we need people who will learn to use and scale the achievements of science. They do not necessarily need to have a deep knowledge of quantum physics, but they must understand how a quantum computer can be used. And, of course, we need programmers who will develop quantum algorithms. Therefore, it is important to involve young people in the study of quantum programming from a very early age, since it has been noted that those who simultaneously study both traditional algorithms and the basics of quantum algorithms are more successful in the quantum field than specialists who have to “switch” the classical way of thinking to quantum.
It is important to understand that the difference between quantum computing and traditional computing is not only in the speed of processes — it is possible to approach new problems, some of which, as was previously believed, have no solutions in traditional ways. And even setting such new problems requires engineers, developers and users to have a significant amount of new knowledge, an understanding of the logic of the «quantum world», and cause-and-effect dependencies in the operation of new systems. This means that specialists in quantum computing are not only physicists or programmers, but also those who can set the problem correctly.
— How will the number of specialists capable of doing quantum computing grow?
— As part of the roadmap, we are doing a lot of work to create a «quantum» education system in the country. Educational programs are being implemented for schoolchildren, such as the quantum «Digital Lesson», which we conduct together with the ANO «Digital Economy» — this project has a huge reach throughout the country. In 2023, more than 3.5 million schoolchildren took part, and the number of listeners in 2024 also exceeded the mark of 3 million children.
We have launched the Quantum Weeks ecosystem project, which is held in different regions for children, physics teachers, and entrepreneurs. Such marathons have already been held in Yekaterinburg and Tomsk. Together with universities, we are developing programs for the training of specialists in quantum technologies, and current training programs are being filled with specialized training courses. In addition, we are engaged in additional education: the Rosatom Corporate Academy has a whole series of courses on quantum computing. We talk about the physics of processes in general, but we talk in more detail about the impact that quantum computing can have on a particular area. That is, we are preparing, so to speak, industrial customers of these technologies.
– How successfully can Russia compete with other countries, providing scientists with conditions for conducting quantum research? Can you assess the level of our research teams?
– I consider it a major achievement that over several years of implementing the quantum roadmap, a special type of cooperation among scientists has emerged. With the support of our partners – the Russian Quantum Center, the Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Lomonosov Moscow State University, MEPhI, MIPT, Bauman Moscow State Technical University and MISiS – a new type of research institute has emerged, which unites representatives of the best scientific and educational institutions in the country with common goals. It is also very important that we involve our scientists who have returned from abroad in the work. Let me remind you that the scientific teams working on the roadmap already unite more than 1,000 specialists, including 500 scientists. That is, our scientific team itself is already attracting researchers!
Among scientists coming to Russia, there is an opinion that our country is now, perhaps, the most attractive place to do science. There is a high level of education, a very flexible approach to scientific research, high interest of the state and growing opportunities for the emergence of new laboratories. Therefore, we highly value the existing «quantum» research environment. By the way, indirect confirmation is the fact that Ilya Semerikov, the creator of a quantum computer on ions, demonstrated to the President of the Russian Federation at the FBT, became a laureate of the «VIZOV» award. This recognition of the work of scientists within the framework of the quantum roadmap is very important.
– Are you planning to implement international projects in the field of quantum technologies?
– We are developing international cooperation with the BRICS countries. In particular, the issue of creating the University of Future Technologies is currently being worked out. Rosatom will be one of its founders and active participants. And quantum topics will become one of the priorities for the university. This will attract talented young people to Russia who want to develop in the quantum sphere, from countries that do not have a sufficient scientific and educational basis in this area.
Young scientists will be able to come here as postgraduate students, conduct research, defend dissertations and thereby contribute to the development of quantum technologies in our country. And later, upon returning to their homeland, they will continue to develop the quantum direction based on the base and approaches obtained in Russia. A common scientific language will give impetus to scientific and technological synergy and will become a factor in uniting countries. The future is created through joint efforts.