Introduction
Quantum Information Science is one of the most dynamic areas of inter-disciplinary research involving a wide range of scientists ranging from physicists to computer scientists to mathematicians and engineers. The fundamental observation in this field is that any computation is essentially a physical process. The current relentless drive towards increasing speed and miniaturization of computers will eventually lead the computer industry into a subatomic domain where seemingly strange quantum behavior takes over from familiar classical notions. Quantum physics offers an entirely new form of computational parallelism that will make quantum computers more powerful than conventional computers by many orders of magnitude.
Singapore, over the last ten years, has become one of the leading countries in computer technology in Asia and as such it is well positioned to become a leading player in quantum information technology. Any long term strategy/policy in IT will have to include quantum information science as an important factor.
This workshop is part of an overall effort to develop an interdisciplinary research team in quantum information science with specific emphases on communication theory and quantum algorithm. It will have a strong education component. It also aims at developing new contacts with likely users of quantum information technologies in Singapore and providing them with timely updates and briefings on the progress in the field.