A Review of IDQ’s Quantum Safe Migration Workshop

IDQ is committed to driving the widespread adoption of Quantum-Safe Solutions and technologies, securing the future of our data communication. Mid-November, IDQ kicked off its second edition of the “Migration to Quantum-Safe workshop” in Vienna, bringing together renown experts to discuss the existing solutions, applicable use cases, past and on-going deployments as well as future projects.

Key takeaways

One key message was that the urgency of the migration, the “don’t wait—start now” approach was a recurring theme during the workshop. Considering the complexity of the migration a collaboration across the whole ecosystem is essential to ensure timely and efficient transition. Another key take away was: in large corporations, the migration will require using a mix of solutions like Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), Quantum Random Number Generation (QRNG), and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) to optimize the security for a range of different use cases.

• Participants gained valuable insights into how QKD has been successfully implemented in the fiber optic telecommunication infrastructure to achieve large-scale QKD networks by organizations like AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, GRNET, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center, Deutsche Telekom, and CETIN.
• Telecom operator Singtel also shared their experiences in commercializing Quantum-Safe as-a-Service for sectors like government, banks & finance and healthcare.
• Juniper Networks, SandboxAQ, and IBM also joined the event with their engaging presentations, shedding light on how they are helping customers prepare their migration seamlessly with a broad range of consultancy services and tools.
• Participants got an overview of regulatory and compliance requirements associated with data security and more specifically the ones related to QKD and PQC in the financial sector by EY.
• Hitachi Energy and Verbund also emphasized the importance of guaranteed and uninterrupted energy supply in today’ society and discussed quantum-safe solutions for critical infrastructure in the energy sector.
• Our partners Adva Networks Security and Dacoso shared their experience of applying quantum-safe encryption in optical transport networks.

We finished each day with in-depth parallel workshops. We want to thank Cancom Austria for giving a live demo of their quantum-safe VPN solution called “Arnica”, combining Wiregard, Rosenpass (PQC) and QKD.

 

 

Live Demo Showcase

In 2024, the production and commercial deployment of Quantum Key Distribution solutions has continued to expand, and we took the opportunity of this workshop to showcase how our product line provides a comprehensive, 360-degree approach to quantum-safe cybersecurity for data in transit.

By combining QKD and PQC, we help our customers benefit from the best of both technologies to achieve end-to-end quantum-safe communication and embrace a crypto-agility strategy to ensure future-proof security.

At the event, we demonstrated how QKD meets the most demanding operational requirements of corporate organizations, telecom operators, and managed service providers. Our live demo highlighted how IDQ’s QKD systems (XG Series), Solteris network appliance, and Q-KMS (Clarion KX) provide all the essential building blocks for deploying a resilient and redundant Quantum Key Distribution network. We also showcased how Clarion KX enables quantum-safe end-to-end key provisioning across long-distance QKD networks, while being fully prepared for satellite QKD integration. Additionally, we demonstrated open interfaces for encryptors and interoperability with other QKD vendors, ensuring seamless integration into existing network infrastructures.

 

Figure 1 – Demo set up, using IDQ’s Clavis XG and Solteris with ADVA encryptors and quantum-secure VPN from Arnica

 

If you missed the workshop, we encourage you to request a meeting to discuss your projects. You can also already signal your interest to join the next edition in 2025.

Big thanks to our participants and speakers which have made this second edition a very special one.