Antonio Acín, ICREA Prof. at ICFO and partner of CiViQ is interviewed by the program “Conduce como piensas” of El País on the advantages of quantum computing and its impact on our society. During the interview, Antonio explained how quantum computers will allow mathematical operations that are impossible or extremely complex for current supercomputers. This will facilitate advances in many fields: from the creation of more efficient medicines and treatments to lighter and cheaper materials or more efficient machines. It will also have applications in the security of our devices thanks to quantum cryptography, which allows us to find out if someone is watching our information at any time.

Antonio Acín is an ICREA Professor at ICFO. He obtained his PhD degree from the University of Barcelona in 2001. After a post-doc position in the group of Nicolas Gisin at the Group of Applied Physics, University of Geneva, he joined ICFO in 2003 where he leads the Quantum Information Theory group. Acín has published more than 160 articles in peer-reviewed journals and given more than 100 invited talks in international events. His research group activities focus on quantum information theory, with an emphasis on quantum communication and cryptography, as well as other areas such as quantum optics, foundations of quantum physics, condensed matter physics or quantum thermodynamics. He has made pioneering contributions to the development of the device-independent scenario, in particular for cryptography and randomness generation. Acín’s research has been awarded with 3 grants from the European Research Council (1 Starting, 1 Proof-of-Concept and 1 Consolidator grant) and an AXA Chair in Quantum Information Science.