The future of computing could become Queensland's secret superpower

Australia could become home to the world's first commercially useful quantum compute , with the Federal and Queensland Governments investing nearly a billion dollars to build and house the technology in Brisbane. Quantum computers have long been touted for their potential to revolutionize a range of scientific fields.

This photograph taken on March 18, 2024 shows a view of MosaiQ modular Quantum Computer during its inauguration at the factory of OVHcloud in Croix, northern France. MosaiQ is presented by its developers OVHcloud and Quandela as Europe's first quantum computer using beams of light. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP) (Photo by SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images) Source: AFP / SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images

Computers, as we know them today, store and process information using what is known as "bits", which hold values of either zero or one.

A quantum computer processes bits that can exist as both a one and a zero simultaneously - they're called qubits.

Professor Andrew White is the Director of the Centre of Engineered Quantum Systems at the University of Queensland.

He says it’s this phenomenon - of existing in multiple states at the same time – that is key to the technology.