Deimos will co-lead the development of the Portuguese Quantum Communication Infrastructure
28th July 2022 – PTQCI, the 1st segment of the European quantum communication network in Portugal, was awarded by the European Commission to the Deimos-led consortium on 15th July 2022, in the frame of the first call of the Digital European Program.
The project is the national contribution to the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI), the future common quantum communications infrastructure across Europe. PTQCI will implement the first ultra-secure quantum communication infrastructure at national level, through terrestrial connections. It also intends to prepare the spatial connection, using quantum encryption technologies such as Quantum Key Distribution (QKD).
The development of the infrastructure is under the coordination of the Portuguese National Security Office – GNS – in synergy with Deimos Engenharia. The consortium is composed by the most relevant public and private Portuguese organizations in Telecommunication and Security technologies in Portugal: the National Security Office (GNS), Deimos Engenharia (DME), IP TELECOM, AlticeLabs (ALB) , Instituto de Telecommunicações (IT), Institute of Systems and Computer Engineering – Research and Development – INESC-ID, Adyta (A), Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. (FCT), Warpcom (W), Omnidea (O), Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL), Instituto Português da Qualidade (IPQ) and Portuguese Quantum Institute (PQI).
PTQCI builds on DISCRETION, Deimos-led project to develop Quantum Communications for Defense, currently being carried out in the context of EU Defence Industry Development Programme. DISCRETION is deploying a resilient network into the existing fiber optics infrastructures in Portugal, connecting different public bodies in Lisbon metropolitan area, and a testbed network involving academic and private stakeholders. One of the QKD nodes that will be developed in DISCRETION will also be deployed in the PTQCI network.
Catarina Bastos, Deimos’ coordinator of PTQCI and DISCRETION, states: “It is really exciting to be part of the building of such an important and ground-breaking infrastructure and this is only possible because of the great teamwork between private and public institutions that began with DISCRETION. This project is a game-changer in telecommunications, and Deimos is up for the challenge.’’
PTQCI is part of a roadmap for deploying the Portuguese secure communication infrastructures and technology provision. The infrastructure will be essential to shield the Portuguese and European governmental critical institutions, bringing major operational benefits to hospitals, energy grids and civil protection organizations.
PCQTI will run from 2023 to 2026 over a period of 30 months.
About EuroQCI
The European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) Declaration was signed by the 27 EU Member States in June 2019, signalling their commitment to the EuroQCI initiative to build a common quantum communications infrastructure across Europe, boosting European capabilities in quantum technologies, cybersecurity and industrial competitiveness. EuroQCI will safeguard sensitive data and critical infrastructures by integrating quantum-based systems into existing communication infrastructures, providing an additional security layer based on quantum physics. The EuroQCI will include a terrestrial segment relying on fibre communications networks linking strategic sites at national and cross-border level, and a space segment based on satellites. It will link national quantum communication networks across the EU and provide global coverage.
More info: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/european-quantum-communication-infrastructure-euroqci
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