By Emmanuel Oluebube, Correspondent UK

The news that a £210m(US$297.38million)AI and quantum computing centre will be opened at Hartree National Centre for Digital Innovation by the UK Government and IBM has got analysts reacting.

Analyst, Thematic Research at GlobalData, Sam Holt, offers his view:   “The UK is clearly keen to position itself as a quantum frontrunner. While China and the US are racing ahead, the Hartree centre announcement demonstrates that the UK Government views quantum as a priority – and with good reason.

“Quantum computing and AI are two technologies that go hand in hand. A fully-fledged, error-corrected quantum computer (not anticipated to be achieved until the end of this decade) would pave the way to an AI that is significantly more efficient than current generations. This could revolutionize industries such as logistics and manufacturing. Large traffic jams, for instance, could become a thing of the past with quantum-enabled routing algorithms. This is not something the UK Government would like to see developed elsewhere.”