Quantum computing hardware and software company IonQ, has just fully integrated its quantum computing platform with Qiskit, a python-based open-source quantum software development kit (SDK). This means that Qiskit users with an IonQ account will be able to run their quantum programs on IonQ’s cloud quantum computing platform with little to no modification—simply change the code to point to the IonQ backend and run.
Alongside the launch of this integration, IonQ has released an open-source provider library that integrates with Qiskit, which can be found on the Qiskit Partners GitHub organization or downloaded via The Python Package Index.
“IonQ is excited to make our quantum computers and APIs easily accessible to the Qiskit community. Open source has already revolutionized traditional software development. With this integration, we’re bringing the world one step closer to the first generation of widely-applicable quantum applications,” said Peter Chapman, CEO and President of IonQ.
Through the Qiskit Partner Program, this new integration is expected to make IonQ’s high-connectivity 11 qubit system available to the 275,000+ enterprise, government, startup, partner, and university members already using Qiskit to create and run quantum programs.
IonQ is currently known to provide access to its quantum computing platform via Amazon Braket and Microsoft Azure clouds, as well as through direct API access. The company also recently released a product roadmap setting out its plans to develop modular quantum computers small enough to be networked together in 2023.
This announcement also follows the launch of the first-ever certification program for quantum computing by IBM Quantum and Qiskit team. This certification which is now gaining traction, expects holders to possess good foundational skills that are critical for building and running quantum programs using Qiskit on IBM quantum computers.
Click to read more on becoming an IBM certified quantum developer
The new integration of Qiskit with IonQ quantum computing system further expands the usage curve and footprint of the SDK. Already, more than 600,000 installs of the Qiskit SDK have been recorded.