The venue chosen for the seminar on training in quantum computing and employability was Urduliz because Bizkaia Provincial Council, a partner of Telefónica Foundation on the 42 Urduliz campus, is the promoter of the Quantum Ecosystem, the strategy to enhance its international standing in the field of quantum technologies and become a point of reference with regard to quantum-related knowledge and future developments.

The seminar was attended by Adolfo Hernández Pulido, managing director of IBM for Telefónica, Mikel Diez Parra, director of innovation at IBM, Pilar Villacorta, head of the academic sector at IBM, Alberto García Fernández, global leader of enablement at Quantum IBM, Carmen Morenés, director general of Telefónica Foundation, and Ainara Basurko, regional deputy for Economic Promotion.

“This programme establishes the 42 programming campuses and their students as cutting-edge benchmarks in terms of training in technological skills. It also highlights their relevance as places offering free learning to everyone seeking to train themselves for the digital jobs required by companies”, stated Carmen Morenés during the seminar. As for Mikel Diez from IBM, he stressed that “both IBM and Telefónica Foundation are striving to promote knowledge transfer, support the new generations in their training and employability and move more rapidly towards useful quantum computing while reinforcing the role that Spain and the Basque Country can play in advancing the future of quantum computing and the quantum ecosystem”.

Ainara Basurko, the regional deputy for Economic Promotion, declared: “Training is critical when it comes to addressing the digital transformation and the competitiveness of the region’s economic fabric with full guarantees. The 42 programming campus is a key player for Bizkaia and this agreement will provide us with a unique opportunity to position ourselves at the forefront of the advances facilitating quantum technologies”.

Training pathway

The training pathway, which will begin in mid-March, will enable the 100-plus participants to learn how to develop projects and solutions using Qiskit, the open source quantum SDK based on Python with which IBM has positioned itself at the forefront of this technology.

The initial programme will prepare the students on the 42 campuses taking part in it to assume the challenge of coping with an emerging technology that’s set to become one of the driving forces of programming in the very near future.

The training pathway, which will run from March to November, will focus on three different challenges. The students who successfully overcome all the challenges and complete the training pathway will also be able to obtain the certificate that will endorse their qualification as specialists in the field.

What is quantum computing?

Quantum computing is based on the fundamental laws of nature to perform computations using quantum bits (qubits), the properties of which make it possible to store 0 and 1 at the same time. The above leads to exponentially higher computations and gives quantum computers the potential to resolve extremely complex problems that are yet to be resolved by the most powerful classical supercomputers.

This programme will use a hybrid methodology that combines IBM’s quantum computing tools and resources and the philosophy of 42:

• A free learning method that has nothing in common with the traditional educational model. Peer-to-peer training with no teachers, no books and no classes.
• A model geared towards educating students in digital skills, the ones that are most in demand today, and what are known as “soft skills”, namely resilience, adaptation to change, frustration tolerance, creativity and, above all, teamwork, among many others.

The gateway to the future of employment

Over the past four years we’ve witnessed how technology has become an indispensable tool for improving people’s lives. Telefónica Foundation, steadfast in its aim to provide free and specialised training in digital skills, is taking a step further thanks to this programme.

The 42 programming campuses will enhance their standing as learning centres for the most in-demand digital professions and establish a new milestone in their track record by becoming pioneers in the training of developers of quantum programming.