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The life-changing power of Innovative Technologies: International Technology Conference Debated Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence

This year, the SIT & JUB Insights in Technology conference was held for the first time as a joint event of SIT and Jacobs University in Bremen, with Nobel Prize winner Sir Konstantin Novoselov, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the National University of Singapore, as one of the prominent speaker. (Source: Jacobs University)

 

December 21, 2021

At the two-day “SIT & JUB Insights in Technology Conference 2021” on the Jacobs University Bremen campus, leading international science and business representatives discussed future technologies such as quantum computers, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Dr. Serguei Beloussov, founder of the Schaffhausen Institute of Technology (SIT), Chairman of the Board of Jacobs University, and Founder and Chief Research Officer of Acronis, said he is convinced that quantum technology would change the world more than the personal computer and later the Internet had done.

Quantum technology will experience its breakthrough within five to ten years and become a "life-changer”, Beloussov predicted in his keynote on the first day of the conference, which focused on quantum technology. According to Beloussov, it will enable a wide range of new applications in science and industry and give rise to numerous innovations. A physicist, electrical engineer and computer scientist, Beloussov has been intensively involved in quantum physics for many years. He has been member of the supervisory board of the Centre for Quantum Technologies in Singapore from 2012 to 2017 and in 2012 co-founded the global venture firm QWave Capital, which invests in companies in the field of quantum technology.

Around 200 guests followed the hybrid event directly on site at the campus of the private university in Bremen – in compliance with strict corona requirements. Online, several thousand participants from all over the world were connected to the lectures, workshops and discussion panels – on platforms like Airmeet, YouTube and Facebook. This year, the SIT & JUB Insights in Technology Conference was held for the first time as a joint event of SIT and Jacobs University in Bremen. It was previously held twice in Schaffhausen.

The keynote for the second day, focusing on Artificial Intelligence, was given by Professor Wolfgang Wahlster, founding director of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and one of the shaping minds of AI in Germany and Europe. Duccio Medini, data scientist, pharmaceutical executive and R3 program director Wellcome Leap, spoke about the impact of AI on the life sciences.

Other participants included Mete Atature, Professor of Quantum Physics at the University of Cambridge; Andrey Ustyuzhanin, Professor of Big Data Analysis at HSE University in Moscow; Fabio Pammolli, Professor of Economics and Management at Milan Polytechnic and member of SIT Strategic Advisory Board; and Andrea Ferrari, Professor of Nanotechnology and founder of the Cambridge Graphene Center. Andreas Birk, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Jacobs University, and famous science communicator and Jacobs University alumnus Hashem Al-Ghaili, along with others, discussed about the connection of business and science related to Artificial Intelligence.

Another prominent speaker was Nobel Prize winner Sir Konstantin Novoselov. The Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the National University of Singapore spoke, among other things, about the transformative power of quantum technology for his field of research.