QKD Demonstration at Quantum Valley Lower Saxony European Quantum Technologies Conference - Petrus

Quantum Valley Lower Saxony Hosts European Quantum Technologies Conference

HANNOVER, GERMANY – From October 16th to 20th, 2023, Quantum Valley Lower Saxony proudly hosted the highly anticipated biannual event, the ‘European Quantum Technologies Conference.’ The event unfolded at the prestigious Hannover Fairground, attracting an esteemed gathering of professionals and experts in the field.

At the forefront of the conference was a remarkable demonstration of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology by the Coordination and Support Action (CSA) for European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI), Petrus. Thisfollows another successful demonstration coordinated by Petrus earlier this year at the Digital Assembly EU in Stockholm, showcasing the advancements and potential of QKD in Europe. In collaboration with participants of the DIGITAL program “EU secure Quantum Communication Infrastructure (DIGITAL-2021-QCI-01)” and a dedicated local team, Petrus demonstrated the ground-breaking capabilities of QKD. Petrus, led by Deutsche Telekom in conjunction with Airbus, Thales, and AIT, spearheads the CSA for EuroQCI Project contracted by the European Commission. Notably, key partners in this demonstration included Ericsson, LuxQuanta, Quantum Optics Jena, QTI srl (Quantum Telecommunications Italy), Rohde & Schwarz, Telsy, ThinkQuantum, and Universidad Politecnica de Madrid.

The demonstrator showcased a secure network using QKD as underlying technology. The strong European capabilities were evidenced by the interoperability of different QKD technologies, different European vendors and different QKD protocols. The system included an application agnostic and vendor independent key management and control layer to enable quantum-secure video service via end-to-end encryption.

Quantum technology is poised to unlock unprecedented possibilities, ushering in a new era. However, it also brings about a quantum threat, particularly concerning encryption. Quantum computers possess the capability to decipher encryption methods that safeguard our data. QKD is a security building blockrooted in quantum mechanics and which is resistant to the quantum threat. QKD generates shared secret keys between communication endpoints, ensuring a quantum-safe approach. These keys remain immune to any computational attack, present or future, offering perfect forward secrecy and safeguarding past information even in the unlikely event of a key compromise.

The EuroQCI initiative has garnered widespread recognition and support for addressing the need of secure quantum communication infrastructure within the European Union. All EU Member States have signed the EuroQCI Declaration, emphasizing the necessity of a comprehensive European quantum communication infrastructure. This initiative, aligned with academic research from the Quantum Flagship, is further backed by the European Commission’s commitment to supporting the development of EU-27 based supply chains for quantum devices and deploying national Quantum Communication Infrastructures within the Digital Europe Programme.

EuroQCI

Secure communication via Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) forms a vital aspect of the European network’s resilience against cyber threats. The initiative aims to foster international collaboration and research in quantum communication technologies, ensuring Europe’s leadership in this critical field.