The Quantum Flagship Initiative was launched in 2018 by the European Commission as one of the largest and most ambitious research initiatives of the region within quantum technologies. With a budget of at least €1 billion and a duration of 10 years, the flagship has gathered leading research institutions, academia, industry, enterprises, and policymakers, in a joint and collaborative initiative on an unprecedented scale to carry out research and development in quantum technologies and transfer this research from the lab to the market by means of commercial applications and disruptive technologies.
The Photonics Packaging & Systems Integration Group, at Tyndall National Institute, based at UCC, has joined the Flagship project to support the development of advanced packaging solutions for this large-scale European initiative. March 1st, 2023, was the official launch of a new Flagship project called Quantum Secure Networks Partnership (QSNP) in the area of quantum communications. Coordinated by ICREA Prof. at ICFO, Valerio Pruneri, QSNP brings together more than 40 partners from all over Europe, ranging from academia, foundries and RTOs, SMEs and spin-offs to network and cryptography integrators and telecom operators. In the time span of 3.5 years and with a budget of 25M€, these experts in the field of quantum technologies will seek to fulfil three main goals.
Firstly, the QSNP project will develop advanced quantum technology for quantum secure communication networks against the ever-increasing power of computers and the sophistication of algorithms, even for quantum computers. That is, they will work on the development and deployment of next-generation protocols based on Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) cryptography techniques, that can help reduce the security assumptions needed for the networks, extend the range of secure communication, and search for new functionalities that could beyond these techniques. Secondly, the project will aim to integrate this innovative quantum cryptography technology not only at the component, system and network levels, but also into existing classical telecommunication systems and post-quantum protocols, assuring an additional layer of ultra-secure communications in this hybrid classical-quantum network. Finally, the project will apply all the know-how and capabilities acquired, as well as the technology developed, into different use cases, mainly into delivering critical European technology for government infrastructures such as the European Quantum Communications Infrastructure (EuroQCI). In doing so, they are interested in identifying the potential users, be it authentication, long-term secure storage, critical infrastructure protection, clock synchronization or primitives beyond QKD, in order to provide robust solutions to their needs. In addition, the project will be a launchpad for future applications, to exploit new capabilities, evaluate new cost/effective features, measure use/integration easiness levels, and explore new sectors where quantum technologies could take over markets that are not being reached by the current technology.
Valerio Pruneri from The Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) said: “We are thrilled to commence this innovative program. With QSNP, we are now moving out into the terrain where we will be able to develop further and most of all test the research development carried out in the first phase of the flagship. With the +40 entities within this gran consortium, we expect to achieve unprecedented performances and new designs for application-specific cryptography, covering the full chain from quantum fundamental to product development.”
Professor Peter O’Brien, Head of Tyndall’s Photonics Packaging and Systems Integration Group, said: “We are delighted to join the European Quantum Flagship consortium, adding our technical expertise and capabilities to address key scientific and engineering challenges for emerging quantum applications”.