This will prepare them for being incorporated into the European quantum communication infrastructure (EuroQCI), which will help to secure sensitive data and critical infrastructures across the EU.
A call for tenders has just been launched to find a consortium to develop a testing and evaluation infrastructure focused on technologies and devices for quantum key distribution (QKD). QKD is a highly secure form of encryption that uses the principles of quantum mechanics to protect sensitive messages and data sharing from eavesdropping. It will be the first service offered by the EuroQCI, an initiative on which the European Commission has been working since 2019 with the Member States and in cooperation with the European Space Agency.
The testing and evaluation infrastructure will enable QKD-based technologies and services developed in the EU to be assessed and certified, so that users can be confident that they will not be vulnerable to attacks. The aim is to assess various EU technologies for their compliance with standards (architectures, protocols, etc.), security specifications (certification), and product specifications (features, performance, reliability, etc.) with a view to their accreditation at European level and use in initiatives such as the EuroQCI. These activities will contribute to Europe’s technological autonomy in the highly strategic field of quantum communication technologies.
The service contract will last a maximum 48 months, until the end of 2027.
How to submit a tender?
Tenders are to be submitted exclusively via the eSubmission application by 29 August 2023, according to the instructions indicated in the Invitation letter and the eSubmission Quick Guide.
Why develop this Testing and Evaluation Infrastructure?
The objective of this topic is to deploy a flexible large-scale testing and certification infrastructure for QKD devices, technologies, systems and operational processes, in the service of all relevant actors of the Member States. The aim is to assess the full-scale compliance of different EU technologies, i.e. compliance with standards (architectures, protocols, etc.), compliance with security specifications (certification); and compliance with product specifications (features, performance, reliability, etc.) with a view to their accreditation at European level and to ensure later interoperability with EuroQCI and GOVSATCOM services. This support is needed to contribute to European technological autonomy in the highly strategic field of quantum communication technologies.
Who will benefit from this tool?
The facility will be particularly useful for Industries producing EU QKD devices, technologies and systems, also useful for the projects deploying advanced quantum systems and networks within and between the Member States.
Background
The security of current encryption technologies relies on computational hardness assumptions. In the near future advances in computing-enabled, combined with ever more sophisticated attacks from different sources, could put at risk the security of telecom and data communication networks. As a result, Europe’s communications networks and the sensitive data that they transmit could become extremely vulnerable.
In order to find solutions to these issues, the Commission is working with Member States as well as the European Space Agency, towards the deployment of a secure quantum communication infrastructure (EuroQCI) spanning the whole of the EU, including its overseas territories through its potential to contribute to the security requirements of the GOVSATCOM initiative.
The EuroQCI will provide an unprecedented way of securing communications and data, supplementing current software-based security systems with physical security that makes use of the latest developments in quantum communication technologies. Its aim will be to secure the EU's public communication assets, in particular critical infrastructure and encryption systems, against cyber threats.
In several EU Member States, initiatives to build local/national quantum communications infrastructures are already underway. However, there is a strong case for EU-level coordination: joint efforts by Member States are needed to match the significant advances in quantum communication being made elsewhere in the world. Not all EU Member States have strong know-how and industrial capability in quantum communication technology. The first service to take advantage of the EuroQCI will be quantum key distribution (QKD), a highly secure form of communication that makes use of the principles of quantum mechanics in order to exchange a key which will be used with any selected symmetric encryption algorithm to encrypt and decrypt a message. The EuroQCI will allow Europe’s research excellence to form a base for industrial and commercial use, providing a strong supply- and demand-side stimulus for European industry. It will encourage the EU’s industrial ecosystem development, creating a large market pull and helping the EU’s quantum industry develop new, innovative systems, technologies and processes critical for European open strategic autonomy and digital sovereignty.
The EuroQCI infrastructure will consist of a terrestrial component building on new and/or existing fibre communication networks linking strategic sites at national and cross-border level (possibly interconnected with TESTA infrastructure), complemented by a space component to cross-link and cover the whole EU including its overseas territories. In order to further the EU’s efforts to develop and deploy its strategic digital capacities and infrastructure, it will be built with EU technologies. The EuroQCI will be interoperable with or integrated in the secure space connectivity initiative that the Commission is also planning.
The actions supported by the Digital Europe Programme are complemented by those developed through other EU programmes such as Horizon Europe and the Connecting Europe Facility, and by activities carried out by the ESA, complemented by actions supported with national, regional and private funds, and funding from the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
More information
The European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) Initiative