Small But Influential
Singapore is one of the most innovative countries in the world when it comes to quantum technologies. And for its geographical size of approximately 730 km², this is an impressive achievement. With more than half a dozen startups busy changing the world in the quantum computing (QC) sector, nobody has to make a bet that the trend will only continue well into the future.
CQT Spinoff
One startup which is a good example of both Singaporean innovation and government policy is S-Fifteen Instruments. A spinoff from the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT), S-Fifteen Instruments develops photonic quantum technologies for secure communication. Realizing quantum computing (QC) is accelerating at an unprecedented rate and traditional methods of encryption are at serious risk of being breached by them, the S-Fifteen Instruments sees there is no time to waste.
And in an insecure world, its efforts will be greatly appreciated.
S-Fifteen Instruments
Founded by Lum Chune Yang, Christian Kurtsiefer and Alexander Ling in 2017, the team builds novel solutions to major problems with products in quantum key distribution (QKD), quantum random number generators (QRNGs), entangled photon pair source, and single-photon detectors. To date, the customer base for the quantum control instruments and quantum cryptography hardware is mainly research institutions spread around the globe.
“Having access to quantum-secured communication is a smart step for cybersecurity. We already have trials over fibre for secure communication within Singapore, building on CQT’s decade of development of this quantum technology.”
— Dr Artur Ekert, Director of CQT, 2018
Aligned to the startup’s hardware, S-Fifteen Instruments also offers supporting software to “communicate with the host by text commands via a USB-serial interface and open-source scripts in Python available on GitHub.
Lum Chune Yang is the cofounder of S-Fifteen Instruments, as well as being the CEO of another Singapore-based quantum startup, SpeQtral.
A professor at the Physics Department, National University of Singapore (NUS), fellow cofounder Christian Kurtsiefer is simultaneously a principal investigator at CQT.
The last founder of the startup is Alexander Ling, Director of the Quantum Engineering Programme at the National University of Singapore.
With a tight association to the CQT for expert advice at hand, S-Fifteen Instruments is prescient to future threats in cybersecurity issues and is ready to deal with them with products designed to do their job. With the rest of Singapore’s innovative atmosphere rubbing off on them, the team’s goal is to maintain its current trajectory and while bringing services in QKD and QRNGs to the fore.
For more market insights, check out our latest quantum computing news here.
