CERN and Be-ys complete Quantumacy project as part of the OpenQKD initiative

In June 2022, representatives from CERN and Be-ys met in Paris to celebrate the completion of the Quantumacy project. The one-year project was delivered as part of the European Commission’s OpenQKD initiative and investigated privacy-preserving forms of quantum communication.

In a recent press release, CERN provided some detail as to the focus of the project. Spanning 2021-2022, CERN and Be-ys Research (a French company specializing in digital identity, personal data information flows and sensitive data handling), in collaboration with the Seoul National University Hospital developed a test platform that incorporated quantum key distribution (QKD) homomorphic encryption, federated learning and block chain. The project was delivered as part of the OPENQKD initiative, a collaborative European project that involves the installation of testbeds in several European locations to test and showcase Quantum Key distribution (QKD) systems under different use case scenarios. The project was run at CERN under its Quantum Technology Initiative framework.

“This project has helped us to better understand the potential impact of quantum communication and privacy-preserving technologies on data analysis with sensitive data. The knowledge gained from the project will now feed into further investigations to be carried out through the CERN QTI.”

Alberto Di Meglio, Head of CERN openlab

Quantumacy (an abbreviation of quantum privacy) brought together the disciplines of data analytics, QKD and encryption to deliver demonstration use cases for a range of applications, including:

• QKD. The generation of secure symmetric keys using the BB84 protocol.
• Health Check. Protecting the privacy of personal information transmitted across the internet.
• MRI Classification. Implementing an image classification pipeline over QKD-secured networks.
• Block Chain. A framework to record and validate transactions across a distributed data analysis pipeline.

 

The Role of IDQ

As part of the project, CERN gained test access to a real QKD link with ID Quantique.

ID Quantique plays a significant role in OPENQKD by supplying the majority of available QKD systems. We support the testbed and use case coordinators in all phases of the project: designing and planning the use cases, installation of the QKD equipment and technical support during the test. Furthermore, IDQ is actively involved in standardization activities, development of interoperable interfaces and next-generation prototypes, and in the management and communication of the project.

Find out more about IDQ and OPENQKD