IDQ’s highlights at Quantum World Congress

The first ever Quantum World Congress (QWC) took place in Washington DC between Nov 29 and Dec 01, 2022. Here are our key takeaways.

A global conference, exhibition, and networking event, the QWC brought together industry innovators, researchers, innovators, and policy makers alike. For ID Quantique, QWC represented the ideal opportunity to showcase our 4th generation of Quantum Key Distribution solutions, including the Cerberis XG QKD system and its Quantum Key Management System (KMS).

IDQ were well represented at the event, with a booth in the exhibition hall and four of the team in attendance:

• Simon Patkovic, VP Quantum-Safe Solutions
• Bruno Huttner, Director Strategic Quantum Initiatives
• Jean-Sebastien Pegon, Head of Quantum-Safe Security, America
• Christopher Janes, Director Technical Solutions, America
• Thomas Stengel, Senior Director of QRNG Business Development

A busy agenda

Over the course of the event, over 700 delegates attended a series of plenary and breakout sessions related to Market Acceleration, Government and Security, and Science and Engineering. The exhibition floor of the Ronald Reagan expo building was well represented by many quantum industries, including quantum computing, cybersecurity, quantum randomness and key distribution, and national investment agencies.

The IDQ booth was well-visited by corporate and telecom cybersecurity innovation leaders looking to utilize the industrial grade QKD solutions as part of their strategy for migration to Quantum-Safe communication, as well as a fundamental enabler of Quantum-Safe services for their clients. It was also a proud moment for IDQ as many businesses and partners at the event acknowledged IDQ’s quantum random number generator products being used as a source of entropy for a broad range of applications, from HSMs and encryptors, to the latest generation of satellites.

One very notable example actually happened in parallel to QWC during the signing of a memorandum aiming at supporting quantum cooperation projects between France and the USA. France transmitted its first post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) diplomatic message using our partner’s CryptoNext Security PQC technology which leverages IDQ’s QRNG chip. France’s president Emmanuel Macron himself insisted on this achievement and stressed the importance of being prepared for Q-Day.

On the first day, we joined the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C) plenary session in Rockville, MD, where over one hundred industry and government participants selected new members of the steering committee and discussed what could be done to improve the Quantum ecosystem – from developing a skilled workforce to securing funding for quantum initiatives, influencing government policy, and raising awareness amongst corporate decision makers.

On day 3, Simon Patkovic and Christopher Janes led a roundtable on Quantum Communications, with representatives from Juniper, General Dynamics, Los Alamos Labs, NIST, and several US university research labs. It was an enlightening session, with contributors focused on identifying potential inhibitors to growth in the sector, such as a lack of availability of customized high-quality photonics components for experimentation, and a slow influx of human talent required for more rapid research.

On the same day, Bruno Huttner participated in an engaging discussion during the panel on ‘Quantum Cryptography: Defending the Future’. He shared the scene with Dr. Michele Mosca of EvolutionQ, Michael Redding of Quantropi, Denis Mandich of Qrypt, and Jamil Jaffer, Executive Director of the National Security Institute (NSI), as the moderator.

A strong Government presence

The US government was well represented throughout the event, with speakers from the Office of the President of the United States, NIST and the NSA. They delivered a unified message highlighting the importance of a timely migration to quantum resilient systems, recognizing the complexities related to the massive infrastructure projects, and encouraging the investment in innovation. Fundamental to kickstarting the cryptographic migration is the recent US Executive Directive for all government agencies to prepare their cryptographic inventory and a roadmap for transitioning to a quantum resilient state – a vital first step in allocating budgets for the adoption of post-quantum cryptography.

QWC event was a great platform to expand use cases for launching the next generation of Quantum-Safe networks and services, as well as seek opportunities to contribute to the broader Quantum-Safe ecosystem and standards.

Useful links

Quantum World Congress website
XG Series QKD System
Quantis QRNG Chips