April 30 2025 -- Earlier this month,  Francesca Schiavello, Applications Advisor at the Open Quantum Institute, spent two days in Liverpool at the IBM Quantum Computing  Optimisation Working Group, hosted by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Hartree Centre at the University of Liverpool.

Bringing together a diverse group of participants from around the world—including from national research laboratories, hardware providers, software providers, government funded agencies and academic institutions —the working group aims to foster meaningful collaborations between quantum computing experts through the sharing of knowledge and resources to address the challenges faced in advancing quantum computing.

Through a series of presentations, project pitches and breakout sessions, experts worked strategically to explore which open source tools could be used to provide to the quantum computing community and further develop quantum optimisation. Other topics were also considered, including working on developing the methodology for optimisation algorithms and exploring how to set benchmarking standards to be adopted by the quantum community.

“It was a great opportunity to connect and network with experts in the field,” explained Francesca. “I was able to discuss one of the SDG-focused use cases currently in OQI’s pipeline, which is exploring how quantum optimisation could be used to efficiently design the layout of turbines in a wind farm. I also had the chance to explore potential collaborations that could support our use case teams in the future.”

Participants of the IBM Optimisation Working Group will continue working offline on their respective projects discussed during the meeting until the next annual gathering in 2026.  In particular, Francesca will focus on methodologies and scaling strategies for optimisation algorithms in collaboration with the Working Group.