Food Security - Last Mile Delivery

Quantum computing optimisation of the food supply chain, in particular in the route planning of food delivery in underserved regions impacted by climate change or other crises.

OWNER

STATUS

Phase 2 – Full Proposal

QUANTUM APPROACH

Optimisation

SDGs

CONTRIBUTORS

QWorld

QAI Fondation

Hassan II University of Casablanca

Yale University

World Food Program (WFP)

ORIRGIN OF CONTRIIBUTORS

CONTECT/IMPACT:

Last-mile delivery, the problem of delivering food directly to a retailer or customer, is considered the most complex, costly, and inefficient part of the food supply chain. Worldwide, 2.33 billion people lack regular access to sufficient nutritious food, of which 864 million are prone to periodically run out of food. Despite widespread food insecurity, one-third of the global food supply post-harvest goes to waste. Nearly 40% of this food waste is accounted for by the supply chain connecting producers and retailers. Inefficiencies in logistics can also lead to excessive emissions and air pollution, which have many negative consequences, including health issues. In less developed countries, where road logistics is not as ubiquitous as in developed countries, there can be many negative consequences due to the impact on air quality and climate.

 

HOW COULD QUANTUM HELP:

A fundamental challenge in logistics is determining how to optimally make a set of deliveries with a set of vehicles, which is also known as the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP). VRP and its variants are NP-Hard, which means that it is unlikely that there exist fast (polynomial-time) algorithms that find optimal solutions in all cases. As a result, most practical solvers either employ heuristics or are carefully tailored to the given problem. Some modern approaches use machine learning techniques, but these methods are limited by the computational cost of dataset generation and training. A quantum approach could present an alternative to explore an efficient, scalable, and accessible solution for removing waste from food delivery systems across the world.

I'm subtitle

Hello World

I'm subtitle

Hello World

Title *
Name: *
Surname *
Country *
Organization
Email *
Engagement Type *
How would you contribute to OQI? *

Share your case study

Project Name *
Project Link *
Owner *
Contributors *
Project Image
Maximum file size: 2 MB
Status *
Short Description *
Full Description *
Select SDGs *

Share your educational resource

Resource Title *
Resource Owner *
Resource Link *
Resource Region *
Resource origin
Level *
Resource Price *

Provided by
Resource Image
Maximum file size: 2 MB

Resource Audience *
Resource Type *
Resource Theme *
Short Description *

Join the Future of Quantum Computing!

Learn about engagement opportunities

OQI Partners are institutions that benefit from peer recognition for their scientific contributions or impact expertise.

Requirements:

  1. Either have served as OQI’s spearheading partners during its incubation phase or have consistently engaged resources to OQI’s work as OQI members for at least a year
  2. Commit to co-shape the OQI’s unique value propositions for the three years of the pilot throughout the 4A’s​
  3. Are vetted by the OQI Advisory Committee
  4. Abide to OQI’s values and openness principles

OQI Members are institutions that benefit from peer recognition for their scientific contributions or their impact expertise.

Requirements:

  1. Have disclosed their governance structure
  2. Commit to actively contribute on at least one of the 4A’s assiduously for at least one year​
  3. Have appointed at least one expert from their institution as focal point of contact for OQI and contributor to its working groups
  4. Abide to OQI’s values
  5. Have submitted a complete membership form with supporting documentation and are vetted by the OQI Management Team
  6. Qualify for partner level after having demonstrated their commitment for at least one year​

OQI Friends are individuals (such as experts from the private or public sector, countries, citizens) who are committed to open science, inclusivity and all values as set out in OQI’s charter and associate themselves with the OQI.

Friends socialise the OQI to their communities.

Downloadable PDF version of Charter

 

Description:

The Open Quantum Institute (OQI) is a multilateral governance initiative that promotes global and inclusive access to quantum computing and the development of applications for the benefit of humanity. As a novel science diplomacy instrument, it brings together research, diplomacy, private sector and philanthropy stakeholders. OQI is hosted by CERN during its pilot phase (2024-2026).

 

Mission:

Accelerating applications for humanity: Realising the full potential of quantum computing to have the widest possible societal impact by accelerating the development of use cases geared towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and succeeding framework , thanks to the combined forces of researchers, developers and entrepreneurs from academia and private sector as well as the United Nations, and large NGOs
Access for all: Providing global, inclusive and equitable access to a pool of public and private quantum computers and simulators available via the cloud
Advancing capacity building: Developing educational tools to enable everyone around the world to contribute to the development of quantum computing and make the most of the technology
Activating multilateral governance for the SDGs: Providing a neutral forum to help shape multilateral governance of quantum computing for the SDGs

 

Values:

Inclusivity, global scope
  • Enable people from all countries, regardless of whether they have any quantum computing capability of their own, to benefit from and to participate in the development of (i) quantum computing applications that address global challenges, in particular those that are closely related to their own specific challenges, and (ii) the multilateral governance of quantum computing for the SDGs
Openness
  • Share experiences, knowledge, and methods for the benefit of all, following Open Science best practice
  • Make openly available the results – outcomes of joint activities related to the OQI mission conducted by the OQI community – to society via open repositories and/or through the use of open licences
Focus on impact
  • Ensure that applications are developed for their quantum computing potential to tackle real-world problems that will benefit humanity
  • Consider and balance their ethical, legal, and societal implications
Independence
  • Enable everyone to participate free from individual, national, corporate or any other agendas
  • Develop applications with a technology neutral approach.
Collaboration
  • Foster a community of diverse expertise, backgrounds and geographies, enabled by international cooperation and diplomacy

 

Please fill in your application request

Title *
Name: *
Surname *
Country *
Organization
Email *
Engagement Type *
How would you contribute to OQI? *