QUBITECH participated at the kick-off meeting hosted by GRNET – The National Infrastructures for Research and Technology, in Athens, Greece (January 19-20, 2023) of the Hellas QCI action, officially started on January 1st, 2023. The project is partially funded by European Commission under Digital Europe Work Programme (Grant Agreement No. 101091504) and spans on the period January 2023 – June 2025. The HellasQCI project, in conjunction with the EuroQCI initiative, aims to develop the National Network of Quantum Communication Infrastructure to enhance the resilience of critical infrastructures in Greece against cyber threats,with the development and deployment of quantum communication networks and technologies. Three (3) metropolitan communication networks with Quantum Communication Devices (QKD), terrestrial optical fibre and satellite technologies will be implemented together with pilot use cases and training activities for all users. HellasQCI will deploy the first operational quantum communication network in Greece that will also serve as a testbed for the development and validation of novel quantum communication protocols and devices by research institutes, academia, and industry.
While quantum computing has raised expectations for tackling computational tasks once thought intractable, opening the way for radical advancements in multiple fields from materials design and drug discovery to finance and optimization problems, it has also brought forward a systemic risk for extensively adopted public key encryption schemes that our modern interconnected world depends for securing and verifying transactions and communications. Quantum communication technologies provide an alternative to public key encryption by distributing cryptographic keys through a quantum network that is rendered secure against eavesdropping attempts by transmitting the information in quantum bits. HellasQCI will employ mature commercial quantum key distribution (QKD) schemes to build the first layer of the national quantum network of Greece that will be linked to the European quantum network. Within the framework of HellasQCI experimental QKD systems and protocols will be developed and evaluated and at the same time a number of use cases and pilot applications of the network will be tested to evaluate implementation bottlenecks and examine the dynamical and holistic security advantages and requirements of quantum safe applications.
The HellasQCI architecture comprises of three metropolitan test sites located at major cities of Greece namely: ΗellasQCI-Central (Athens), HellasQCI-North (Thessaloniki) and HellasQCI-South (Heraklion-Crete). Each test-site is divided into Governmental and Industrial testbeds, which allow the project to investigate the field[1]deployment of QKD technologies in a plethora of realistic scenarios and use cases addressing National Security, Public Health, Critical Infrastructure and ICT sector. An additional Educational testbed will allow the development of new quantum technologies, provide a sandpit for SME innovation, and offer Greece a futureproof extension towards Quantum Internet. It will also serve as a comprehensive training environment for technical, research staff and end users. For inter-test-site links and international connection with other EuroQCI members, HellasQCI will exploit three Greek observatories, which constitute a national asset and have been selected by ESA to be upgraded as Optical Ground Stations with QKD capabilities.
Within HellasQCI, QUBITECH will design and develop a quantum secure software able to transmit and receive video, sound, and text compatible with the quantum network. QUBITECH’s quantum-safe messaging and communication tool (sound/voice and images/video) will utilize the un-interceptable keys provided by the quantum infrastructure to securely encrypt the information relayed between peers over the commercial communication network, providing quantum safe end-to-end encryption. Based on the design and network architecture, QUBITECH will employ a holistic approach towards the secure handling of the keys provided by the quantum network. Furthermore, QUBITECH will assist in the definition of the network requirements as well the dissemination activities of the project.
HellasQCI is coordinated by GRNET, and consists of a 14-partner consortium.
More information about HellasQCI project: https://grnet.gr/en/business-directory/hellasqci-en/
