All around you, in palm of your hand right now, or sitting right in front of you, is clear and present evidence. When you wait at a stoplight to turn green on your way to work, there is evidence. When you hear the beep of the scanner as you go through the self-check-out line at your local grocery store, all these things, evidence.

   In 1801, Joseph Marie Jacquard, of France, invented a loom for automating fabric designs by using wooden punch cards. Little did he know that the very first computers of our age would use a similar system.

   In 1822, in England, there was a failed attempt to build a steam powered calculating machine led by a mathematician by the name of Charles Babbage.

   Around the year 1880, the population of the United States had grown to an alarming degree. The resulting crisis was a U.S. census that took over seven whole years to complete. The U.S. Government was seeking a solution to the crisis. As a result, punchcard computer was built by a man named Herman Hollerith. His machine finished counting the census in only three years which saved the U.S. government five million dollars (an incredibly large amount then.) The company established by Hollerith, after achieving this great feat, would later be known as IBM.

   Over the last 100 years, computer science and technology have advanced at an incredible rate. Today, we are surrounded by millions of computers. Life as we know it would collapse without them. The funny thing is, the more that computer science grows, the smaller it gets. The enormous computers that were used in 1880 to count the U.S. census were not even as powerful as your smart phone. Those punch card systems were so large in physical size that they filled whole, large rooms. Now, in 2019, as we message internationally on Facebook Messenger and play Bubble Witch Saga or Angry Birds at the same time, we hold more computational power than the entire U.S. government did just over a hundred years ago. Take a moment, look at your smart phone or your computer, and say thank you to the architects of modern technology.

   Now, remember, we have not just STOPPED! Every day, we are learning and discovering more! From the first computer computer chips, to floppy disks, to the first operating system (MS-DOS), we have not stopped. From government labs, to businesses, to personal computers, to 56k dial-up internet, to Napster, to Myspace, to satellite and fiber optic cables, to Google, to Facebook, to Bitcoin and blockchain-technology, we have not stopped. So where are we today?

   A new horizon is showing it’s crest. Much as the earlier history of computers, the science of quantum computers is fast emerging. It holds promise of new studies in science, medicine and information technology that are, for the human race, profound. In the past it was thought impossible to study or even manipulate materials on an atomic level. At any regular temperature, this would be true. However, by cooling down atomic matter to the subfreezing temperature of 0.015 K (Kelvin), or (-273.14 Celsius), scientists have found that a cold atom can be made to act as an electron. They can make measurements at these temperatures with such precision that it can change science and our ability to design drugs that are tailored for specific purposes.

   The appeal as an asset to modern medicine is great. The implementations on the political and economic scenes are also ground-breaking. In 1953, Grace Hopper designed the first computer language called ‘COBOL’ which was used by Thomas Watson Jr. (son of IBM CEO Thomas Watson Sr.) to build a classic style computer. The IBM 701 EDPM machine was used to keep tabs on Korea during the war.

   When the first quantum machines can create a code that a classic computer can not undo, it will be considered quantum supremacy. This means that classic computers will be susceptible to attacks from quantum computers, but because of the complexity of quantum mechanics, a classic computer will be unable to successfully attack one of the quantum generation. In concept, this is because, by quantum law, any eves-droppers trying to intercept quantum information will invariably and unintentionally alter the code that they have received. This is the result of the scientific discovery that in quantum mechanics, atoms are actually effected by observation. What would happen if every piece of military information sent from a classic computer was being broken by a quantum computer in another country and how catastrophic would the results be?

   Not to be taken lightly are the economic goals behind constructing these machines. Cooling quantum chips to such a low temperature of -273.14 Celsius takes a special refrigeration system. The ‘dilution’ refrigerators used to reach these extremely cold temperatures do, of course, use a substantial amount of energy. The economic potential in energy saving, however, comes as a result of the potential size of the chip being cooled. Once these subfreezing temperatures are reached it should take virtually the same amount of energy to cool a small chip as a much larger one. This means that as these quantum computers grow in their capacity and efficiency, an enormous amount of computing can be done at the same cost as using the earlier, smaller chips. This is an enormous breakthrough in scale-ability, as it is a tangible answer to the need for energy resources.

   Computer scientists have already begun operating quantum machines and are working out problems to make the use of these machines tangible. The European Union has chosen to invest one billion dollars into studying quantum computers within the next ten years. China is investing a whopping ten billion. NASA has developed their own algorithms to be run on quantum machines. A company called D-Wave, based in Canada, has created the first quantum annealers for running quantum functions.

   Currently, the world of quantum computers is only accessible to government agencies and the private sector. The first classic model computer chips were only a few bites in size. Now, most personal computers have harddrives that are comprised of trillions of bites. In the early days of this developmental process, before the first computer language was even constructed, access to these technologies was offered to a select group who ran their own tests and helped to develop the vast database of information that fueled the modern technology of today.

   All the big players are in and quantum computing is coming. In 2016, from IBM, surfaced the first quantum cloud computing chip. It’s size was a mere five ‘qubits.’ In just the next three years IBM has introduced a sixteen qubit chip and claims to have a twenty qubit chip built. Access to this is no longer free as it was in it’s infant, developmental stages. They have also made public efforts at building a fifty qubit chip.

   Google has made claim to quantum supremacy by developing a fifty qubit chip and also claim to be focusing primarily on the quality of the gateways used.

   Chad Rigetti’s self-owned company has built a 19 qubit chip and has opened it to selective cloud access.

   Microsoft has chosen a derivation of qubit type that they call ‘majorana’ qubits. They also have announced a full-stack solution to quantum computing.

   In 1964, Douglas Engelbart presented a prototype of the first computer with a GUI (graphical interface) which set precedent for the evolution of computers to be accessible to the general public (the PC or personal computer.) Can you see where we are headed?

   What if you had invested in IBM in it’s infancy? I don’t doubt that your grandchildren’s children would still be talking about it today. In the enormous growth of technology, quantum computers are the next goal. But, how could this possibly effect you now? How would someone who is not in the private sector or a large government agency get their hands on this fast growing new technology?

   This is the goal of Qilimanjaro. To bring this new technology to the hands of the public and to make it possible for the every day user to access quantum supremacy. Just as in the days of the first PC’s, the Qilimanjaro project sets their sites on building the first operating system to be run on a full fledged quantum computer. They are using modern blockchain-technology to fuel this project and will be allowing users to access their quantum annealers to run algorithms and do tests on their cloud. Rather than being reserved to only the private sector. Accessibility to these quantum annealers will be available to anyone who holds the project currency on the blockchain. The currency is a token called a QBIT. The project is nicknamed Qilimanjaro, which is short for Qilimanjaro Quantum Hub.

   Does all this seem too technical? One of the other main goals of the project is make all this tangible and provide real life applications. They intend to help businesses move their current processes to quantum computing algorithms. They do the science and tech, you invest and reap the reward in modern technology, computational power, economic energy conservation, and new developments. Qilimanjaro desires to put quantum supremacy in the hands of anyone who sees it’s value.

   Imagine that your business was one of the first to achieve quantum supremacy. Stacked with the highest form of security and capable of processing huge amounts of data with minute energy cost. This is the vision and desire of Qilimanjaro.

   Whether you run a business, or are an investor, quantum computing is not something to ignore. As scientific breakthroughs continue, so will the economic growth and number of implementations for solving real life problems with this technology.

   As we all know, the advancement of technology is not slowing down by any means. It is increasing at an exponential rate. Many people who watched the growth of the personal computer and the internet look back and think, “Woah, I remember when they were just starting out. Where would my life be if I had invested in that when it was a fledgling?” Don’t get stuck in the past! New opportunities in technology have never stopped forming! The difficulty is in figuring out where to place an investment. What holds promise (especially if you are not a tech-head?) So how do we measure the tangibility of a future concept or investment?

   We look at history, because history repeats itself. How do governments make their political decisions? We look at history. The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. Therefore, the definition of sanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect the same result. If we follow the history of technology, over a century of growth has now begun a new layer of repetition with quantum computation. Many of the same steps are being taken, beginning in governmental and private sectors and now, through project Qilimanjaro, being brought to a more public phase for business and eventually personal application.

   If you compare the timeline between classical computers and quantum computers, we are somewhere between the late 1940’s and the early 1950’s. Quantum computers are soon going to be applicable to government agencies and businesses as classical computers became advantageous to businesses during that time period. Can you imagine if your father or grandfather had invested in IBM in 1950? What’s more, is that with the exponential growth shown in technology, quantum computation may be even closer than we think. Imagine that an investment was made in 1950 and that the timeline between now and then was condensed into ten years. Wouldn’t that be incredible? I certainly would not want to miss it.

   Team Qilimanjaro has a vision. It’s stacked with brilliant minds who are aware that it is enormously important to achieve real world application with this technology. Currently, the new company has raised about twenty-five million worth of USD to back their project. The blockchain based ICO (initial coin offering) is currently in the staking phase. This means that investors can stake their investment at a much better price than on release of the actually coin onto the secondary market. It also means that there is still time for any investors, who recognize this investment as highly viable, to put in their two cents. Let’s introduce you to the team.

Core Team:

Jose Ignacio Latorre (UB, MIT, Niels Bohr Institute, University Singapore, Entanglement Partners Quantum Information, Particle Physics, Artificial Intelligence)

Pol FORN-DÍAZ (DELFT, MIT, CALTECH, IQC Waterloo, Entanglement Partners, BSC)

Artur GARCÍA-SÁEZ (ICFO, UB, Stony Brook, BSC Quantum Information, Machine learning, Advanced programming)

Jordi Blasco (ARS CORPORATE)

Advisors:

Víctor Canivell (Quantum World Association)

Miklos Santha (CNRS, Center for Quantum Technologies, from Singapore)

   So, a quantum leap? More like a quantum hop-skip-and-a-jump. Say, hello, to Quilimanjaro Quantum Hub, the pioneers and visionaries of quantum cloud computing and much, much more.

*Qilimanjaro Quantum Hub Whitepaper:

https://icosbull.com/whitepapers/1965/Qilimanjaro_whitepaper.pdf

*History of Computers: A Brief Timeline

https://www.livescience.com/20718-computer-history.html

-Article by Jonathan Caleb Williams