Keynote 3 - ICEDEG 2026

 What is quantum computing, and why should we care?

Abstract

Arguably, quantum computing is coming of age. With the race for quantum computing intensifying among major IT players and the emergence of proof-of-concept prototypes, it appears we are on the verge of a genuine shift. For the first time, the viability of quantum computing may be demonstrated in a number of real problems that are extremely difficult to handle, if possible at all, classically, and its utility discussed across various industries. In a sense, Feynman’s dream of letting Nature, suitably engineered, compute for us through its own natural quantum behavior, seems to be closer, even if the project of a universal quantum computer still has a long way to go. In the somewhat emphatic language of the media, a ‘second quantum revolution’ is quickly approaching. It is characterized by the ability to harness the weirdest quantum phenomena, namely superposition and entanglement, as computational resources, with practical advantage. 
 
What is the real impact of quantum computing on science, the economy, institutions, and governance? Which challenges does it bring to the pursuit of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda? Will there be a quantum divide threatening to multiply present inequalities and social disruptions? 
 
This talk will present an overview of quantum computing, its current maturity, and, tentatively, address the questions above from a rigorous, multilateral perspective.

Keynote Speaker

 

Luís Soares Barbosa has been the Deputy Director of the United Nations University (UNU-EGOV) since 2017. He is also affiliated with the host university of UNU-EGOV, the University of Minho, as a full professor in the Department of Informatics and a senior researcher at the High Assurance Software Laboratory at INESC TEC. Also, Luís is the coordinator of the research line on participation, people, and communities. He has coordinated six research projects at the national and international levels, bilateral partnerships with Brazil and China, and served as the Portuguese coordinator for the Language Engineering and Rigorous Software Development ALFA EU-Latin America network, a Ph.D. training network funded by the European Union. He has published more than 50 journal articles and 150 indexed papers in international conferences, and supervised five post-doc researchers, 19 Ph.D. theses in the universities of Minho (Portugal), Nottingham (UK), San Luis (Argentina), Federal do Ceára (Brazil), and Peking (China), as well as several MSc dissertations. Before joining UNU-EGOV, he served as an invited lecturer in MSc and Ph.D. programs at the Universities of Bristol (UK), Tartu (Estonia), and Peking (China). Within UNU-EGOV, he has participated in several consultancy and development projects with several international institutions, including UNDP and UNESCO, as well as the Governments of Colombia, S. Tomé and Príncipe, Cape Verde, Palestine, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau. In 2023, he promoted a network of countries and international agencies to launch the West Africa Digital Governance Forum as a strategic think tank, whose inaugural meeting was held in Banjul, Gambia, in September 2023. Luis is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Logical and Algebraic Methods in Programming (Elsevier) and the IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology (Springer) book series, chairs the Steering Committees of FACS (Formal Aspects of Computer Software) and DaLi (Dynamic logic: Foundations and applications), and serves in several Steering and Program Committees of international research initiatives. Luis holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Minho, Portugal (2001) and a Habilitation degree in Informatics from the same university (2016).

 

 

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ICEDEG 2026
8 - 10 July 2026
Lisbon, Portugal

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