QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY ENABLES CLIMATE PROTECTION.

• With the award, the competition honours innovative quantum solutions that can reduce the climate impact of air traffic
• Deloitte and KI Park want to use the prize to give important impetus to the application of quantum technology

Berlin, 20 May 2022 - The winning teams of the Deloitte Quantum Climate Challenge 2022 have been announced. In the final on 20 May in Berlin, Jakob Pforr, Franziska Wilfinger, Jezer Jojo, Catharina Broocks and Kevin Shen, who competed as "Team Quantimize", were voted into first place by the expert jury. Second place went to Felix Frohnert. Third place went to Joseph Doetsch, Georg Reuber, Mylène Haslehner, Robert Glöckner and Yannick Wenger from Lufthansa Industry Solutions. A total of five finalists presented their solutions to the jury of Deloitte and KI Park e.V., the organisers of the competition. The three best approaches were awarded prize money, among other prizes.

The aim of the competition was to develop algorithms for quantum computers that can reduce the negative impact of air traffic through better flight route planning. The participants of the innovation competition were called upon to develop a quantum algorithm, a quantum hybrid solution or a quantum-inspired solution with which flight routes can be optimised to protect the climate. For this, they were given exclusive access to a 7-qubit quantum computer from IBM with which they could test their solutions. The five finalists were even able to use a 16-qubit IBM system.

"With technologies like quantum computing and artificial intelligence, we have powerful tools to create a sustainable future on a healthy planet. KI Park is supporting the Deloitte Quantum Climate Challenge 2022 because we are convinced that the possibilities that technology offers us in protecting the climate have not even begun to be exhausted. As part of the competition, we give participants the technological power they need to successfully put their innovative ideas into practice," says Prof. Dr. Sabina Jeschke, Chair of the Board of KI Park e.V. and member of the expert jury.

"With the Deloitte Quantum Climate Challenge 2022, we are not only giving an important impetus to the quantum community, which is still in its infancy in Germany and Europe. We are also making a contribution to climate protection. We promote the development of innovative quantum solutions and offer participants a stage to present their solutions to decision-makers from business, science and politics. In this way, we create the prerequisite for these solutions to ideally be used on a large scale," says Barbara Wellmann, Senior Manager and Lead at Quantum.Link at Deloitte Germany.

"Air traffic is responsible for about 2.4 per cent of global CO₂ emissions. Aircraft also harm the environment through the formation of contrails and cirrus clouds, nitrogen emissions and the emission of soot, sulphate aerosol particles and various other substances. According to our findings, changing a single flight route can reduce the climate effect of that flight by up to 25 percent. Optimising flight routes therefore offers immense potential for climate protection," says Prof. Dr Volker Grewe, physicist at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and member of the expert jury of the Deloitte Quantum Climate Challenge 2022.

The jury of the Deloitte Quantum Climate Challenge 2022 consisted of representatives from IBM, Deutsche Flugsicherung, DLR, Lufthansa Systems, MTU Aero Engines, TH Mittelhessen and KI Park. The jury evaluated the innovativeness and originality of the concepts and the algorithms developed and also considered the feasibility and functionality of the submissions. In addition, they took into account the extent to which a solution is suitable for advancing the debate within the quantum community, stimulating new projects and increasing public interest in the topic.

In addition to the attractive prize money, the winning teams of the Deloitte Quantum Climate Challenge 2022 will receive access to Deloitte's top-class network and the AI Park in business, research and politics. Furthermore, they will have the opportunity to work on their solutions with state-of-the-art technologies, including quantum computers.

About the KI Park e.V.
The Berlin-based KI Park e.V. offers a unique ecosystem that combines the forces of research institutions, start-ups and scale-ups, established companies, investors and political and social actors - with the aim of accelerating AI innovations "made in Germany & Europe". To this end, the KI Park offers innovative platforms and promotes the exchange of knowledge in the AI community and beyond. The KI Park supports cross-sector and cross-organisational projects for the development of innovative AI solutions with its network, know-how, state-of-the-art technologies and financial resources. It has a clear focus on those AI technologies that will significantly determine the future of industry and society and whose further research and development must therefore be drastically accelerated, such as Quantum Machine Learning, Synthetic Data or NLP. Learn more about the AI Park at: www.kipark.de

About Deloitte
Deloitte provides industry-leading audit and assurance, tax, consulting, financial advisory and risk advisory services to nearly 90% of the Fortune Global 500® companies and thousands of private companies. Legal services are provided in Germany by Deloitte Legal. Our people deliver measurable, long-term results that help build public confidence in the capital markets, help our clients transform and grow, and lead the way to a stronger economy, a fairer society and a sustainable world. Deloitte builds on more than 175 years of history and operates in more than 150 countries. Learn more about how Deloitte's more than 345,000 employees live the mission statement "making an impact that matters" every day: www.deloitte.com/de.