Participating in the Inaugural Obama Foundation Summit was an Honor as well as an Inspiration for My Quantum Computing Community Goals

This week I had the honor of being a special guest at former President Obama’s inaugural Obama Foundation Summit. The event brought together leaders already making an impact, people interested in getting more involved, civic innovators, young leaders, and everyday citizens. The goal was to equip them with the skills and tools they need to create change in their communities. In short, the Obama Foundation’s mission is to inspire and empower people to change their world.

Being around so many brilliant people is always inspiring. But you all know I am obsessed with quantum computing and growing the quantum computing community. So I couldn’t help but relate many of the ideas, stories, and shared experiences to how we could all work together to build a bigger, stronger quantum community.

Applying What I Learned

Coming out of the summit, I have a wealth of new ideas and experiences to draw from. I plan on putting some of these to work immediately; others might take some time to implement. I believe the quantum computing community could learn a lot from the Obama Foundation. It’s not going to be easy. Quantum computing is in its infancy. Participation requires at least a basic knowledge of quantum mechanics. We have to overcome several known technical and business challenges. But I believe that together we can advance the state of the art, create new partnerships, and launch new startups as we make our dream a reality.

The Obama Foundation is taking on its own challenge, and they’re just getting started. Visit Obama.org to read the foundation’s story, learn about their first set of projects, and join them in this experiment in citizenship for the 21st century. Want to learn more about how we could build a stronger community?  Want to help build it yourself? Then keep a close eye on this blog for some key announcements over the next few months as we draw closer to SXSW 2018.

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