by Amara Graps

Despite the relatively small size of quantum communication investments, compared to quantum computing, you can’t look away from this field for very long.  A weekly series of expert QKD presentations at the  International Working Group for Quantum Security, Cyber-Security and Defense Industries, highlighted the progress of quantum network testbeds, especially those testbeds in Europe associated with the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI). 

EuroQCI’s goal is to construct a quantum communication infrastructure that would connect the EU and its abroad regions, with a wide-ranging impact. The infrastructure would foster cooperation amongst EU Member States, improve the EU’s scientific and technological skillsets, improve the competitiveness of quantum technologies and industry, and increase the cybersecurity of the EU. All 27 EU member states have made a commitment to collaborate with the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA) to establish the EuroQCI. It will be a crucial component of the upcoming EU space-based secure communication system, IRIS. This 8-page,  February 2023 Report: Deploying an Inter-European Quantum Network by Ribezzo et al., describes early steps. 

A recent project article: Farrugia et al., 2024, by one consortia member of EuroQCI, shows a necessary bridge; the European QUantum ecOsystems (EQUO), between closely related consortia members from the European telco industries. EQUO is a Digital Europe Programme (DEP) project, that falls under the EuroQCI industrial umbrella targeted towards the preparation of QKD integration, with first steps being QKD standardization. 

It’s challenging to learn the progress status of the EuroQCI, due to the large number of involved entities. Each EU country has a “National QCI” responsible for its implementation, so the best way to learn the status is by searching each of those national strutures; a time-intensive task. However, this recent, two-day meeting: “Quantum Key Distribution & Cyber Security” (Program), held on 4-5 September, 2024, in Crete, Greece, made that task easier. The meeting was supported by the Greek HellasQCI component of the EuroQCI consortium, which advertised the meeting as the “3rd HellasQCI Training Event”. The talks are educational and useful; they provide important historical and present context for the quantum technology field, as a whole, while also providing detailed descriptions.

The Event was Streamed and Recorded:

The 45 minute, keynote speech by Hannes Huebel, AIT shouldn’t be missed (Jump to 33:25 in Day 1).  His talk gives the context I described above, before diving into the status of the EuroQCI project. From his talk, I learned that the EuroQCI is in the first third of the preparatory and first deployment phase. See the timeline in the next figure.

Figure. Screenshot of the EuroQCI Timeline, in the Keynote presentation at Quantum Key Distribution & Cyber Security meeting by Hannes Huebel, Austrian Institute of Technology. 

Included in the meeting were two panels of national infrasture members, which gave country-appropriate statuses in two panels, Theme:  Challenges ahead on the road to EuroQCI.  

National QCIs (two panels)

  • CYQCI, Cyprus 
  • EstQCI, Estonia 
  • PRISM, Malta 
  • PTQCI, Portugal 
  • RONAQCI, Romania
  • QCI CAT, Austria 
  • EuroQCI, Spain 
  • LUX4QCI, Luxembourg 
  • PIONIER-Q, Poland 
  • QCIHungary, Hungary 
  • Taking a bird’s eye view, GQI recognizes the different visions of the Quantum Internet, and doesn’t see the QKD as necessarily separate from post-quantum cryptography. 

Taking a bird’s eye view, GQI recognizes the different visions of the Quantum Internet, and doesn’t see the QKD as necessarily separate from post-quantum cryptography. 

Math-based and physics-based components are not a dichotomy. They provide components that can be combined into an end-to-end cryptographic stack.

Figure. From GQI’s Quantum Safe Outlook Report. (*)

(*) ‘Safe’ refers to the security aspects of the current-future Quantum Internet, synonymous with Quantum Communication, for now. The Quantum Safe/Communications Presentation and the Quantum Safe Outlook Report is essential information about the security of our digital infrastructure in the future.

If you are interested to learn more, please don’t hesitate to contact info@global-qi.com. 

September 19, 2024