(A.) Policy and legislation
(A.1) Policy objectives
Quantum Technologies (QT) include a variety of novel concepts with the aim to make use of quantum phenomena as a resource. This includes quantum sensing, quantum simulation, quantum communication and quantum computing. Quantum technologies allow engineering of novel devices and infrastructures with the promise of many new applications in a number of domains that can contribute to the solution of some of today’s most pressing social and economic challenges. These technologies offer capabilities beyond any classical technique. Examples include achieving higher sensitivity, lower power consumption and automatic higher security, maintenance-free quantum-referenced operation for more reliable industrial facilities, etc. Furthermore, QT paves the way for novel methods as for instance for earth surveys in times of climate change, exploration of natural resources as well as information transmission and processing, and, specifically, with respect to the last item, novel methods for unprecedented security in communication. QT-based applications are approaching the market and will be a pivotal factor for success in a wide and diverse range of industries and businesses. These technologies are vital to European independence and safety, as the field of information processing, storage, transmission and security at large is affected by them.
In 2018, the European Commission has launched its large-scale and long-term Quantum Flagship research initiative to support and foster the creation and development of a competitive European quantum technologies industry, as well as the consolidation and expansion of leadership and excellence in European quantum technology research. Along with this initiative, it is important to highlight the EuroHPC Joint undertaking, where quantum computing plays a key role, as well as the EuroQCI initiative, aimed at deploying a Europe wide Quantum communication infrastructure.
Quantum technologies are moving towards technological maturity and wider adoption. From the market perspective, one of the measures to achieve an accelerated development and uptake has been identified by the Quantum Flagship in its Strategic Research Agenda: the promotion of coordinated, dedicated standardisation and certification efforts. Currently, the industry is relatively fragmented with few to no standards in place. In order for the field to mature and to achieve interoperability between different systems, technologies, ecosystems, and companies, standardisation is a crucial basis. The importance of standardisation has been also echoed by the Strategic Industry Roadmap produced by the European Quantum Industry Consortium.
Standardisation is indeed of paramount importance to facilitate the growth of new technologies, and the development of efficient and effective supply chains. The harmonisation of technologies, methodologies, and interfaces enables interoperable products, innovation, and competition, all leading to structuring and hence growth of markets. As indicated in the review done by the CEN-CENELEC focus group on Quantum Technology[14] as quantum technologies are maturing, time has come to start thinking about further standardisation needs.
In the past, standardisation has often been perceived as standing in contradiction to innovation. On the contrary, standardisation is one of the most adequate and powerful tools to quickly capitalise and disseminate knowledge and have it implemented in the industry. That is to transfer research results to the market. In addition, the standardisation process, as such, is a knowledge sharing and knowledge production process because it serves as a common platform for actors with heterogeneous backgrounds, capacities and knowledge, i.e. research, industry, academia, public administration, and the wider society.
The European standards developing organisations CEN & CENELEC and ETSI define a standard as “a document, established by consensus and approved by a recognised body that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context. Standards should be based on consolidated results of science, technology and experience, and aimed at the promotion of optimum community benefits.”[15] For the Quantum Technologies domain standardisation is not only about requirements setting a basis for certification, but can also address vocabularies, terminologies, quality benchmarks, models, exchange protocols, concerns the complete stack of the quantum devices, from low level hardware components to high level applications and others.
Standards bring along a number of benefits. They enable a reduction of costs and an improvement of efficiency, they ensure the quality, safety, and security of products and/or services, and support compliance with relevant legislation including EU regulations. Standards satisfy customer expectations and requirements, enable access to markets and to customers in other countries. Standards achieve compatibility and interoperability between products and components and increase knowledge about new technologies and innovations[16]. Furthermore, proper standardisation and standardisation processes can be a game-changer for the development of the “Quantum” community. In quantum computing, for example, the interfaces dictate how different hardware components work with each other and how different software components interact with other software and hardware components. Without such interoperability there is no viable ecosystem as companies cannot fully specialize to offer their solution for the wider marketplace and they do not have full access to all relevant customers. Likewise, customers also loose as equipment purchased from different vendors follows different hardware or software standards, meaning that each new purchase means new work to integrate existing systems.
As, for any new technology, standardisation will help to improve the quantum technologies by providing a common ground for the terminology, their key control characteristics, their performance, their measurement, their analysis and their comparison. standardisation will also bring greatest benefits in the area of interoperability and enhanced cooperation. As interfaces are standardised, they become easier to access and companies can further specialize to produce certain parts of the overall stack. standardisation is key to innovation, competitivity and adoption of quantum technologies. In spite of the many potential benefits that could derive from the standardisation of the various QT, the effort is mostly driven by scientists rather than by industry. This is mostly due to the fragmentation of the funding instruments, which often focus only on the academic sector. Indeed, one of the drives for standardisation in QT has been the dissemination of results from Academia. If the EU aims at fostering QT ecosystem, a standardisation strategy that supports the inclusion of Industry is needed.
(A.2) EC perspective and progress report
The development of quantum technologies and infrastructures is a key objective of the 2030 Path to the Digital Decade[17] policy programme. The Commission has set a specific target for quantum (by 2025, the EU should have its first computer with quantum acceleration, paving the way for being at the cutting edge of quantum capabilities by 2030), and has proposed to set up a number of multi-country projects together with the MS (using the new instrument European Digital Infrastructure Consortium – EDICs) to ensure that this target is met. standardisation will be key, especially to develop quantum infrastructures with interoperable (certified) quantum technologies.
In order to achieve the ambitious targets set, and to ensure that the EU can make full use of the transformative potential of quantum, a broad and ambitious strategic implementation approach is being put in place. It is based on the development of a thriving European quantum ecosystem and includes several closely interconnected pillars of activity (see Figure 1), as follows:
- Supporting research and innovation: The EU’s R&D plans in quantum technologies are funded under Horizon Europe and are based on the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) prepared by the Strategic Advisory Board of the Quantum Flagship[18], after consultations with more than 2000 quantum experts across Europe. The SRA is structured in four main activity areas, i.e.: Communication, Computing, Simulation, and Sensing and Metrology.
The Flagship’s ramp-up phase covered the period 2018-2020 and was funded under H2020 with EUR 150 million. This phase made it possible to finance 24 projects and has resulted in some impressive achievements, such as a proof-of-concept for building a scalable European quantum computer based on trapped ion technology, and the development of the next generation of atomic-based programmable quantum simulators[19]. Thanks to the progress made by the Flagship, today several EU-based start-up companies[20] are now offering quantum computing and quantum simulation products commercially.
The second phase of the flagship, funded under Horizon Europe (HE), aims to continue the maturing of the quantum technologies platforms developed during the ramp-up phase and to achieve the transfer of research results from the labs to industry and real-life applications. The first projects under HE are expected to started before end 2022.
Moreover, several European quantum infrastructure development and deployment initiatives, which are described in more detail below, will provide numerous standardisation opportunities to further integrate and mature the R&D results of the Flagship, notably in the fields of quantum computing and quantum communication.
Regarding quantum sensing, the Flagship is kick-starting the industrialisation of next-generation quantum sensing devices in Europe, including establishing a pilot line for testing and sensing, developed and operated by a network of RTOs. The further maturation of the pilot lines and their integration with the standard semiconductor process is foreseen in the chips act initiative. This also leads to the creation of a single testing and experimentation facility throughout the Union, bringing together the classical microelectronics with the quantum facilities.
- Investing in a pan-European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI): EuroQCI is proposed to be part of the Secure Connectivity Programme. It is about developing an ultra-secure end-to-end quantum communication infrastructure combining the best of quantum and traditional cyber-security technologies in order to protect critical data and communications all over the EU, using both ground- and space-based technologies.
- Investing in quantum computers and hybrid super- and quantum computers in EuroHPC: The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking will support at least two generations of advanced quantum computers and simulators, interconnected with the EuroHPC supercomputing facilities, as part of a European federated computing infrastructure. The Joint Undertaking is already working on the integration of a European quantum simulator within its supercomputing infrastructure, and has launched a call for expressions of interest for bringing into service at least three quantum computers (funded with a total of up to EUR 80 million[21]), based on as many different quantum technologies developed in the EU as possible.
- Investing in quantum chips under the Chips Act: Quantum is an integral part of our new and ambitious Chips Act Initiative, of which the goals include fostering technology and engineering capacity for quantum chips in the EU. The Chips Act Initiative will leverage pilot lines to scale up manufacturing and accelerate the integration of the design and manufacturing of quantum chips with the established microelectronics industry’s mass-market fabrication processes. We will also take advantage of the ‘Chips Fund’, to invest in quantum start-ups.
- Forging international cooperation: this key area of the Flagship is reflected in its openness to collaboration with like-minded global partners, when there is reciprocity and a commitment to achieving mutual benefits. This collaboration is to take place in a spirit of fairness, without unjustified restrictions on the sharing of intellectual property and key technologies (e.g. recent calls with Canada for basic research in quantum, funded with a contribution from the EU side of EUR 4 million). Discussions for cooperation with Japan have started, as part of the digital partnership agreement under discussion with this country.
- Education, training, skilling and reskilling initiatives funded under DEP, such as a pan-European Master’s courses at a number of universities, which will help to produce the next generation of quantum researchers, and programmes of shorter course which will enable existing members of the workforce to discover the potential of quantum. Interactions are also taking place with the USA.
In addition to the above activities, many EU MS (notably Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Spain) have launched national quantum programmes, and it is estimated that at least EUR 4 billion is due to be invested in quantum at national level in Europe in the first half of the current decade. In addition, a number of MS are also using their RRF plans to invest in quantum, where the overall level of planned investments between now and the end of 2026 is estimated to be of at least EUR 1 billion.
(A.3) References
(B.) Requested actions
Action 1: CEN & CENELEC to continue the work on the standardisation landscape and gap analysis for quantum technologies (standardisation roadmap for Quantum Technologies) to identify which standards will be needed and for which applications. The roadmap should include recommendations for an action plan and a methodology that will identify the most important needs that have to be standardised.
Action 2: SDOs should develop standards for supply chains for modular quantum computers and communication architectures, and their enabling technologies. Initially the focus should be on QT research infrastructure, evolving towards QT commercial infrastructure
Action 3: The creation of an intelligent Dashboard to support SMEs, in which the existing standards as well the work relating to quantum technologies of the main standardisation bodies are presented. The dashboard will facilitate SMEs to identify relevant open-source projects in the field of Quantum Computing and Communications, e.g. providing tools for testing, benchmarking etc.
Action 4: SDOs to set up processes for eliciting industry standardisation needs, and industry alliances to coordinate their experts' efforts to contribute to standardisation.
Action 5: SDOs should further increase their coordination efforts in Europe and internationally around Quantum Technologies standardisation in order to to avoid overlap or unnecessary duplication of efforts.
Action 6: SDOs should appropriately consider the effect of quantum computing and Quantum communication technologies on cybersecurity and provide an overview and analyse whether new standards or updates of existing standards on safety, privacy and cybersecurity are required.
Action 7: SDOs should devote specific attention to the standardisation processes (public documents) and existing or future sectorial export control legislation.
Action 8: SDOs should cooperate with the EuroQCI and start forming the technical committees to create the necessary pre-standards/standards for the commercial quantum communication technology in synergy with the specific requirements that are being explored for a certification of the technology.
Action 9: SDOs should cooperate with the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and start forming the technical committees to create the necessary pre-standards/standards for quantum computing technology in synergy with the specific requirements that are being explored for a certification of the technology.
(C.) Activities and additional information
(C.1) Related standardisation activities
ETSI
ETSI ISG QKD: (Quantum Key Distribution https://www.etsi.org/committee/1430-qkd) was the first forum aiming to standardise quantum communication technologies. Founded in 2008 by members mostly from Europe, global representation has grown, including from the USA, Canada, South Korea and Japan, in addition to the main actors in QKD within Europe. Increasingly, application vendors and service providers are also represented. Its members are focussed on standardisation to support the creation of products and services that include QKD or consume QKD keys.
Addressing the security of QKD systems from which networks can be constructed is a priority. It developed a framework within which QKD protocols can be constructed with an associated security proof in GS QKD 005 “Quantum Key Distribution (QKD); Security Proofs”, https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/qkd/001_099/005/01.01.01_60/gs_qkd005v010101p.pdf . Fundamental aspects of “Implementation Security of Quantum Cryptography” were addressed in ETSI White Paper No. 27[22]. It is finalising a Common Criteria “Evaluation criteria for IT security”, https://www.noraonline.nl/wiki/ISO/IEC_15408, Protection Profile and plans to submit this to the German certification body BSI shortly for certification. This is an important step within the security certification scheme, but further deliverables are envisaged to support QKD product certifications and acceptance as a high-security technology in a broad market. The important issue of authentication within QKD links is being analysed.
GR QKD 003 “Quantum Key Distribution (QKD); Components and Internal Interfaces”, https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gr/QKD/001_099/003/02.01.01_60/gr_qkd003v020101p.pdf, describes components and interfaces within QKD systems.
GS QKD 011 “Quantum Key Distribution (QKD); Component characterization: characterizing optical components for QKD systems”, https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/qkd/001_099/011/01.01.01_60/gs_qkd011v010101p.pdf specifies optical characterisation methods for important components. These are intended to help develop component supply chains and the characterisation of complete QKD modules are being addressed next, since such characterisations are important in security evaluations.
Previously module security was addressed in GS QKD 008 “Quantum Key Distribution (QKD); QKD Module Security Specification”, https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/qkd/001_099/008/01.01.01_60/gs_qkd008v010101p.pdf .
GS QKD 002 “Quantum Key Distribution; Use Cases” https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/qkd/001_099/002/01.01.01_60/gs_qkd002v010101p.pdf describes early use cases for QKD and GS QKD 012 “Quantum Key Distribution (QKD); Device and Communication Channel Parameters for QKD Deployment”, https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/QKD/001_099/012/01.01.01_60/gs_QKD012v010101p.pdf important parameters for deployments.
An analysis of existing approaches to network architecture is underway but ISG QKD has concentrated mainly on specifying fundamental interfaces for interoperability, such as delivery of keys (GS QKD 004 “Quantum Key Distribution (QKD); Application Interface”, https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/QKD/001_099/004/02.01.01_60/gs_qkd004v020101p.pdf and GS QKD 014 “Quantum Key Distribution (QKD); Protocol and data format of REST-based key delivery API”, https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/QKD/001_099/014/01.01.01_60/gs_qkd014v010101p.pdf ), and control and orchestration in Software Defined Networks (GS QKD 015 “Quantum Key Distribution (QKD); Control Interface for Software Defined Networks”, https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/QKD/001_099/015/02.01.01_60/gs_QKD015v020101p.pdf. and GS QKD 018 “Quantum Key Distribution (QKD); Orchestration Interface for Software Defined Networks”, https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/QKD/001_099/018/01.01.01_60/gs_QKD018v010101p.pdf).
Improving use vocabulary is an ongoing effort, in part via GR QKD 007 “Quantum Key Distribution (QKD); Vocabulary”, https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gr/QKD/001_099/007/01.01.01_60/gr_qkd007v010101p.pdf .
TC CYBER WG QSC: (Quantum-Safe Cryptography) addresses security issues to protect cryptographic techniques from quantum threats. It develops recommendations and specifications for the transition to quantum-safe Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
WG QSC focus is on the practical implementation of quantum safe primitives, including performance considerations, implementation capabilities, protocols, benchmarking and practical architectural considerations for specific applications. WG QSC work does not include the development of cryptographic primitives.
WG QSC work supports Action 6. Work covers the migration towards a post-quantum world (TR 103 619) and the specification of Quantum-Safe Hybrid Key Exchanges. (TC CYBER WG QSC publications and TC CYBER WG QSC work programme).
ITU
ITU’s work has been concentrated mainly in the area of quantum communication and more generally has been limited to implications of quantum technologies on communication and communication networks. The work on QKD networks and security aspects of the latter is led by ITU-T Study Group 13 “Future networks, with focus on IMT-2020, cloud computing and trusted network infrastructure”, (https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/about/groups/Pages/sg13.aspx) and ITU-T Study Group 17 “Security” (https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/about/groups/Pages/sg17.aspx). Some work on quantum random number generation has also been carried out in SG17. The centrepiece has been the outline of ITU standards for QKD networks, including provision of foundational concepts (ITU Y.3800 “Overview on networks supporting quantum key distribution”, https://www.itu.int/itu-t/recommendations/rec.aspx?rec=13990), address functional requirements (ITU Y.3801 “Functional requirements for quantum key distribution networks”, https://www.itu.int/itu-t/recommendations/rec.aspx?rec=14258), architecture (ITU Y.3802 “Quantum key distribution networks – Functional architecture”, https://www.itu.int/itu-t/recommendations/rec.aspx?rec=14407), key management (ITU Y.3803 “Quantum key distribution networks – Key management”, https://www.itu.int/itu-t/recommendations/rec.aspx?rec=14408), and control and management (ITU Y.3804 “Quantum key distribution networks – Control and management”, https://www.itu.int/itu-t/recommendations/rec.aspx?rec=14409). ITU standards also provide a security framework for QKD networks (ITU X.1710 “Security framework for quantum key distribution networks”, https://www.itu.int/itu-t/recommendations/rec.aspx?rec=14452), security requirements for key management for QKD networks (ITU-T X.1712), key combination methods (ITU X.1714 “Key combination and confidential key supply for quantum key distribution networks”, https://www.itu.int/itu-t/recommendations/rec.aspx?rec=14453), and the architecture of a quantum noise random number generator (ITU X.1702 “Quantum noise random number generator architecture”, https://www.itu.int/itu-t/recommendations/rec.aspx?rec=14095).
These ITU standards for QKD networks aim at enabling the integration of QKD technology into large-scale ICT networks and provision of the security of the latter.
The ITU-T Focus Group on Quantum Information Technology for Networks (FG-QIT4N, https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/focusgroups/qit4n/Pages/default.aspx) studied the evolution of quantum information technologies in view of their foreseen applications in ICT networks. The group was conducting exploratory ‘pre-standardisation’ studies to identify emerging standardisation demands and anticipate demands to arise in future.
The FG-QIT4N was established in September 2019 to provide a collaborative platform for interested stakeholders - such as researchers, engineers, practitioners, entrepreneurs and policy makers - to share knowledge, best practices and lessons learned to take full advantage of the ability and potential of QIT in networks.
Its main objectives were:
- to study the evolution and applications of QIT for networks;
- to focus on terminology and use cases for QIT for networks;
- to provide necessary technical background information and collaborative conditions to effectively support QIN-related standardisation work in ITU-T Study Groups; and;
- to provide an open cooperation platform with ITU-T Study Groups and other SDOs.
The Focus Group had been organised as follows: two main research groups - one dedicated to Quantum Key Distribution Networks (QKDN), one dedicated to Quantum Information Networks (QIN) that are beyond QKDN - and a management group The term of the FGQIT4N expired in December 2021 and resulted in 9 deliverables / reports, published in the ITU-T Focus Group Publications (https://www.itu.int/pub/T-FG).
Based on outcomes of FG-QIT4N, ITU-T SG11 is developing signalling requirements and protocols for QKDN, including protocol framework and specific interfaces (Ak, Kx, Kq-1, Ck). More info: https://itu.int/go/tsg11.
ISO/IEC JTC 1
The ISO and IEC in their Joint Technical Committee JTC1 have quantum technologies standardisation activities in two working groups (WG): WG14 on Quantum Computing, and Sub-Committee SC27 WG3 for security certification of QKD systems.
Working Group 14 on Quantum Computing (https://jtc1info.org/technology/working-groups/quantum-computing/) was established with the following objectives: to serve as a focus of and proponent for JTC1’s standardisation program on Quantum Computing; to identify gaps and opportunities in Quantum Computing standardisation; to develop and maintain a list of existing Quantum Computing standards produced and standards development projects underway in ISO/TCs, IEC/TCs and JTC1. Another objective is to develop further deliverables in the area of Quantum Computing. As a systems integration entity, it maintains relationships with other ISO and IEC technical committees and with other organisations that are involved in Quantum Computing standardisation.
The first work item of WG14 is ISO/IEC-4879 “Information technology — Quantum computing — Terminology and vocabulary” (https://www.iso.org/standard/80432.html, https://bds-bg.org/en/project/show/iso:proj:80432, under development) which is to develop a standard for terminology and vocabulary for quantum computing. Work started in 2020 and the committee draft is expected to be ready during the first half of 2022. A full standard should be ready towards the end of 2022. When ready, this will be the first standard specifically developed for quantum computing by a standards development organisation.
SC27 WG3 “Security evaluation, testing and specification (https://standards.iteh.ai/catalog/tc/iso/56ffc1fc-b504-40a6-b4ab-3cacf8ff9f7d/iso-iec-jtc-1-sc-27-wg-3) is the working group that develops and maintains the ISO/EN 15408 “Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation” (https://www.nen.nl/nen-en-iso-iec-15408-1-2020-en-269562) and has two standards for the security evaluation and certification of QKD systems in a quite advanced “Committee Draft” stage (planned publication still in 2022): "ISO/IEC 23837-1 Information security—Security requirements, test and evaluation methods for quantum key distribution” Part 1 “Requirements” (containing predefined security functional requirements for use in QKD PPs) and Part 2 “Test and evaluation methods"( https://www.iso.org/standard/77097.html).
IEEE
The U.S. Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C) and international counterparts have expressed interest to IEEE in developing standards appropriate for the emerging quantum information market (“Quantum Initiative Support for Standards”, https://quantum.ieee.org/standards). According to IEEE, quantum information standards are likely to evolve over time from informal efforts to formal specifications (“Developing standards”, https://standards.ieee.org/develop/index.html). A formal, international quantum standard starts when companies or individuals working in an area approach IEEE with a proposal called a Project Authorization Request (PAR). Currently, there are nine active quantum standards projects, which are briefly described below.
- IEEE P1913: Software-Defined Quantum Communication (https://standards.ieee.org/project/1913.html) – This standard defines an application-layer protocol denoted as Software-Defined Quantum Communication (SDQC) that communicates over TCP/IP and enables configuration of quantum endpoints in a communication network to dynamically create, modify, or remove quantum protocols or applications. Moreover, SDQC includes a set of commands that control the transmission, reception, and operation (i.e., preparation, measurement, and readout) of quantum states.
- IEEE P7130: Standard for Quantum Technologies Definitions (https://standards.ieee.org/project/7130.html) – This standard is related to specific terminology for quantum technologies, establishing definitions necessary to facilitate clarity and understanding to enable interoperability and compatibility.
- IEEE P7131: Standard for Quantum Computing Performance Metrics & Performance Benchmarking (https://standards.ieee.org/project/7131.html) – This standard covers quantum computing performance metrics, with the objective to standardise performance benchmarking of quantum computing hardware and software. The considered metrics and performance tests enable the evaluation of quantum computers standalone or by comparison against quantum and classical computers.
- IEEE P3120: Standard for Quantum Computing Architecture (https://standards-dev21.ieee.org/ieee/3120/10751/) – This standard defines technical architectures for quantum computers, including hardware components and low-level software (e.g., quantum error correction).
- IEEE P1943: Standard for Post-Quantum Network Security
- IEEE P2995: Trial-Use Standard for a Quantum Algorithm Design and Development
- IEEE P3155: Standard for Programmable Quantum Simulator
- IEEE P3172: Recommended Practice for Post-Quantum Cryptography Migration
- IEEE P3185: Standard for Hybrid Quantum-Classical Computing
For more information, please visit https://ieeesa.io/eu-rolling-plan
CEN & CENELEC
A working group consisting of CEN & CENELEC, JRC, DIN and the Quantum Flagship Coordination Office was set up for this purpose and resulted in the formation of the CEN-CENELEC Focus Group on Quantum Technologies (FGQT). The aim of the group is to develop a European roadmap on standardisation of Quantum Technology.
The FGQT roadmap is intended to work as a guideline document in defining topics and a structure of QT fields, identifying separate steps and proposing a logical order in a larger development that might be followed at a later stage. Thus it provides a basis for informed decision processes (i.e. investments in research) and a timeline for strategy as a reference. The CEN-CENELEC Focus Group on Quantum Technologies (FGQT) has recently published a paper titled “Towards European Standards for Quantum Technologies” (https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.01622) where it presents its insights on standardisation for quantum technologies and has released to targeted SDOs and QuIC a first draft of the FGQT standardisation roadmap.
Furthermore, DIN, the German Institute for Standardization, submitted a proposal for the establishment of a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) within CEN/CENELEC in July 2022. The proposed JTC will be responsible for standardization in the field of quantum technologies including quantum enabling technologies, quantum sub-systems, quantum platforms & systems, quantum composite systems as well as quantum applications covering the following areas:
- Quantum metrology, sensing and enhanced imaging;
- Quantum computing and simulation;
- Quantum communication and cryptography.
(C.2) Other activities related to standardisation
IRTF: Quantum Internet Research Group
The Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) has hosted the Quantum Internet Research Group (QIRG, https://irtf.org/qirg) since the IETF 101 meeting in March 2018. The QIRG has no official membership and participation is open to everybody. The Research Group communicates primarily through its mailing list which can be freely subscribed and posted to https://www.irtf.org/mailman/listinfo/qirg. The entire mailing list archive is publicly available online at https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/qirg/. The QIRG also holds two or three meetings per year, virtually or in-person, usually at the IETF meetings.
The scope of the QIRG’s work is defined in its charter https://irtf.org/qirg. A key goal of the QIRG is the development of an architectural framework delineating network node roles and definitions that will serve as the first step toward a quantum network architecture. However, it is important to note that the QIRG focuses on fully entanglement-based quantum networks. QKD and trusted repeater networks are also often discussed, but usually in the context of being a stepping stone towards such a full quantum internet.
The QIRG, just like all the other IRTF Research Groups, does not work on standards. It is instead focused on developing research collaborations and teamwork in exploring research issues related to the Internet. Nevertheless, the Research Group does also work on producing technical documents on quantum networks (https://datatracker.ietf.org/rg/qirg/documents/). Currently, it is working on two Internet Drafts which the group aims to publish as informational RFCs (i.e. not standards specifications):
- Architectural Principles for a Quantum Internet[23],
- Application Scenarios for the Quantum Internet[24]
Since quantum networks are so different when compared to classical networking, the QIRG is also focused on educating the classical networking community on this new subject. In addition to discussions on the mailing list, the QIRG also hosts seminars with speakers from both industry and academia. So far three such seminars have taken place:
- “Practical Quantum Networking at Room Temperature” by Mehdi Namazi (Qunnect Inc.)[25],
- “Genuine and Optimized Entanglement-Based Quantum Networks” by Wolfgang Dür (University of Innsbruck)[26],
- “Building Quantum Networks at the Local-Area Scale” by Marc Kaplan (VeriQloud)[27]
European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC)
The European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC, https://www.euroquic.org/) is a European not-for-profit business association aiming to build a strong, vibrant ecosystem between business actors and leading research and technology organisations in the Quantum Technology domain. QuIC believes that only a strong and unified quantum technology community in Europe will be able to succeed in the current global race to become the center of the next technological revolution. QuIC organises the work toward its objectives in Working Groups. As QUIC is the voice of quantum industry in Europe, the Standards Working Group (WG4) aims to become the unified voice of quantum industry in Europe on standardisation issues. It will provide a single point of contact to voice the needs for standardisation from the industry to decision makers, politics, and standardisation bodies.
The Standards Working Group (WG4) intends to:
- foster communication between the QuIC members and the Standardisation bodies and facilitate the creation and interchange of information. Within this realm, WG4 will organise communication events with SDOs and other relevant Groups to build awareness and promote standardisation activities for Quantum technologies among the members of the QuIC;
- set up a methodology and the tools for eliciting the standardisation needs coming from the Industrial members of the QuIC and communicate these needs with the SDOs.
- develop a living document “State-of-the-art on standardisation activities in Quantum Technologies”. The document will present among the others the updated information on the activities of SDOs and the upcoming standards;
- create twinning activities with the other Working Groups of QuIC
- Support QuIC in running projects such as QUCATS.
WG4 will not set up standards, since its role will be supportive of SDOs activities.
EURAMET EMN-Q: quantum metrology coordination
A group of European National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) have recently created a European Metrology Network for Quantum Technologies (EMN-Q, www.euramet.org/quantum-technologies) under the auspices of EURAMET (https://www.euramet.org/) to tackle this technological paradigm shift. Large companies, as well as start-ups, have started to develop and engineer quantum devices or begun to integrate them into their products: the commercial success of QT, together with progress in research and development, relies on certification and reliability built upon internationally agreed standards and metrological traceability.
Therefore, the objective of the EMN-Q is to coordinate the activities of the European NMIs to ensure their efficient support for European competitiveness in quantum technologies. A special focus of the EMN-Q will be to develop new measurement capabilities and dedicated services to serve the rapidly-growing needs of industry and research institutions in this field.
Industry, governmental agencies, academic sectors or any other type of stakeholder are welcome to contact the EMN-Q and discuss their metrology needs. These can relate not only to quantum characteristics of quantum devices, but also to metrology of key enabling technologies, metrology that can improve the supply chain of industrial quantum devices or other industrial needs connected with quantum technologies.
The commitment of the EMN-Q is to become the unique contact point to stakeholders interested in metrology for quantum technologies by:
- contributing to standardisation & certification of quantum technologies;
- promoting the take-up of metrology in the development of these technologies;
- supporting industrial needs in synergy with the technological objectives of the EC Quantum Flagship and national quantum technology programs;
- promoting the use of quantum measurement techniques where advantageous for “classical” technical areas.
The EMN-Q is developing Roadmaps and a Strategic Research Agenda to identify priorities for research by Europe’s national metrology institutes and designated institutes and to identify collaboration partners for such research.
The European Metrology Network (EMN) for Quantum Technologies will support the integration of measurement science with quantum technologies in three sections: Quantum Clocks and Atomic Sensors, Quantum Electronics and Quantum Photonics[28].
(C.3) Additional information
StandICT.eu: EU funding for ICT standardisation
The StandICT.eu 2023 project (https://standict.eu/about) is a Coordination and Support Action of the EU Horizon 2020 framework programme. It started in Sept. 2020 and has as its “(...) central goal to ensure a neutral, reputable, pragmatic and fair approach to support European and Associated states presence in the international ICT standardisation scene.” To this goal, the project issues ten open calls with funding opportunities for European experts in several strategic fields, including the field of Quantum Technologies. Currently, the StandICT project supports an editor of the FGQT’s Quantum Technologies Standardisation Roadmap.
QUCATS
QUCATS (https://qt.eu/about-quantum-flagship/projects/qucats/) is a Coordination and Support Action of the EU Horizon Europe framework programme. It started in May 2022 and it has a whole work-package dedicated to Standardisation.
EuroQCI-CSA
Within 2022 a new CSA project will start coordinating the first deployment of national EuroQCI projects and start preparing the large-scale QKD testing and certification infrastructure.
[14] O. van Deventer, N. Spethmann, M. Loeffler, M. Amoretti, R. van den Brink, N. Bruno, P. Comi, N. Farrugia, M. Gramegna, B. Kassenberg, W. Kozlowski, T. Länger, T. Lindstrom, V. Martin, N. Neumann, H. Papadopoulos, S. Pascazio, M. Peev, R. Pitwon, M.A. Rol, P. Traina, P. Venderbosch, F. K. Wilhelm-Mauch, A. Jenet (2022). Towards European Standards for Quantum Technologies https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.01622v1
[15] Standards developing organisations, https://www.hse.gov.uk/comah/sragtech/docspubstand.htm
[16] A. Jenet, A., Trefzger, C., Lewis, A.M., Taucer, F., Van Den Berghe, L., Tüchler, A., Loeffler, M. and Nik, S. (2020). Standards4Quantum: Making Quantum Technology Ready for Industry - Putting Science into Standards, EU Publications Office, Luxembourg, doi:10.2760/882029, https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC118197.
[17] https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/europes-digital-decade-digital-targets-2030_en
[18] The Quantum Flagship itself was launched in 2018, with a budget of EUR 1 billion, and is a ten-year initiative designed to build on European scientific excellence in quantum and bring research results closer to industrial exploitation and real life applications, fuelling innovation.
[19] The EuroHPC JU is funding a project for the integration of such a simulator with a EuroHPC supercomputer
[20] For example AQT (AT), IQM (FI), Pasqal (FR).
[21] This includes 40 M€ EU funding and 40 M€ funding from the EuroHPC Participating States
[22] Marco Lucamarini, Andrew Shields, Romain Alléaume, Christopher Chunnilall, Ivo Pietro Degiovanni, Marco Gramegna, Atilla Hasekioglu, Bruno Huttner, Rupesh Kumar, Andrew Lord, Norbert Lütkenhaus, Vadim Makarov, Vicente Martin, Alan Mink, Momtchil Peev, Masahide Sasaki, Alastair Sinclair, Tim Spiller, Martin Ward, Catherine White, Zhiliang Yuan, “Implementation Security of Quantum Cryptography Introduction, challenges, solutions”, ETSI White Paper No. 27, ISBN No. 979-10-92620-21-4, https://www.etsi.org/images/files/ETSIWhitePapers/etsi_wp27_qkd_imp_sec_FINAL.pdf, July 2018.
[23] Kozlowski, W., Wehner, S., Van Meter, R., Rijsman, B., Cacciapuoti, A., Caleffi, M., Nagayama, S., “Architectural Principles for a Quantum Internet”, Work in Progress, Internet-Draft https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-irtf-qirg-principles/ , 14 February 2022.
[24] Wang, C., Rahman, A., Li, R., Aelmans, M., Chakraborty, K., “Application Scenarios for the Quantum Internet”, Work in Progress, Internet-Draft https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-irtf-qirg-quantum-internet-use-cases/, 20 August 2021.
[25] Namazi, M., “Practical Quantum Networking at Room Temperature”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ELYL71tlD8, 26 March 2021.
[26] Dür, W., “Genuine and Optimized Entanglement-Based Quantum Networks” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-Ri-RRfUXY, 23 September 2021.
[27] Kaplan, M., “Building Quantum Networks at the Local-Area Scale”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_Nb43-uicY, 3 February 2022.
[28] I.P. Degiovanni, M. Gramegna, S. Bize, H. Sherer, C.J. Chunilall. EURAMET EMN-Q: The European metrology network for quantum technologies". Measurement: Sensors, Volume 18, 100348 (2021). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665917421003111