With currently 3 billion people lacking access to broadband internet worldwide, European operators are struggling to fill the white areas with insufficient or nonexistent connectivity. In light of the early promises of 6G wireless networks, it is tempting to consider non-terrestrial networks as complementary to the ground-based radio and fiber infrastructure. However, radio frequency-based satellite systems are nearing their capacity limits and cannot be scaled further. Free-space optical technology is a natural alternative to deliver greater capacity and to better address data security needs by leveraging quantum communications. The first optical intersatellite links are being deployed in commercial networks at relatively low data rate (10 Gbps). However, once the most important remaining research challenges are resolved, they could rapidly expand and serve as a catalyst for the development of a new communication backbone in the sky, consisting of aerial and space optical nodes at different altitudes. The overarching aim of the FOCAL project is to train a new generation of highly qualified doctoral candidates in developing innovative aerial and space optical wireless technologies that will provide future telecommunication networks with ubiquitous connectivity, resilience, and quantum-proof security. In addition to contributing to the fundamental understanding and technical know-how of such networks through co-supervised individual research projects, FOCAL will train talented and innovative researchers with multidisciplinary expertise and skills that are desirable in this European industrial sector. This will be achieved through a combination of theoretical and hands-on research training provided by a unique consortium of 16 academic and 10 industrial partners from 8 countries, resulting in collaborative research including co-supervision and secondments, as well as transferable training skills, which is necessary for prosperous careers in this prominent R&I area.

The Qu-Pilot SGA proposal consists of 21 partners from 9 different countries aiming to develop and provide access to the first, federated European fabrication (production) capabilities for quantum technologies, building on and linking together existing infrastructures in Europe. Qu-Pilot will implement the first stage of the capability innovation roadmap for providing experimental (pilot) production capabilities and a roadmap for transferring such capabilities to an industrial production environment, as was proposed in the awarded FPA. It will provide experimental production capabilities for quantum technologies in computing, communication and /or sensing through 13 service-provider organizations available to users, including industry, in particular SMEs and contribute to developing European standards in the field. Qu-Pilot will provide services for the development of a European supply chain of quantum technologies, provide European industry, especially start-ups and SMEs, with the necessary innovation capacity, and make sure that critical IP remains within the EU. The initial service offering will be validated through use-cases with companies within the SGA. A minimum of 20 such use-cases are expected and of those 11 are already part of this Qu-Pilot SGA proposal. The competence development, industrial use-cases and ecosystem building – all the activities identified and set out in the FPA will have first set of implementation through this first SGA.

The Quantum Secure Networks Partnership (QSNP) project aims at creating a sustainable European ecosystem in quantum cryptography and communication. A majority of its partners, which include world-leading academic groups, research and technology organizations (RTOs), quantum component and system spin-offs, cybersecurity providers, integrators, and telecommunication operators, were members of the European Quantum Flagship projects CIVIQ, UNIQORN and QRANGE. QSNP thus gathers the know-how and expertise from all technology development phases, ranging from innovative designs to development of prototypes for field trials. QSNP is structured around three main Science and Technology (ST) pillars. The first two pillars, “Next Generation Protocols” and “Integration”, focus on frontier research and innovation, led mostly by academic partners and RTOs. The third ST pillar “Use cases and Applications” aims at expanding the industrial and economic impact of QSN technologies and is mostly driven by companies. In order to achieve the specific objectives within each pillar and ensure that know-how transfer and synergy between them are coherent and effective, QSNP has established ST activities corresponding to the three main layers of the technology value chain, “Components and Systems”, “Networks” and “Cryptography and Security”. This framework will allow achieving the ultimate objective of developing quantum communication technology for critical European infrastructures, such as EuroQCI, as well as for the private information and communication technology (ICT) sectors. QSNP will contribute to the European sovereignty in quantum technology for cybersecurity. Additionally, it will generate significant economic benefits to the whole society, including training new generations of scientists and engineers, as well as creating high-tech jobs in the rapidly growing quantum industry.

The urgency of cybersecurity to protect business viability and personal digital privacy in the emerging quantum age cannot be overstated. Encrypted data, which has traditionally provided a layer of protection, is now at risk due to the emergence of quantum computing. The potential economic losses from such attacks are staggering, estimated to be over €2 trillion, nearly five times the global cost of cybercrime in 2022. The Q-SPIN innovation emerges from deep tech research in the QUANGO and SECRET projects, which were coordinated by the University of Padova, from which ThinkQuantum is a spinoff. QUANGO developed a novel approach that increased the speed of our polarization encoding source by 20x from 50MHz to 1GHz. The source also exhibits a world record intrinsic quantum bit error rate (IQBER) of 24 hours. Q-SPIN will advance QUANGO’s results to achieve a full engineering model of the prepare and measure QKD system that includes a 2GHz source. Moreover, by exploiting the joint results from SECRET and QUANGO, Q-SPIN will also develop a high-speed source (>100MHz generation rate) of entangled photons for long-distance QKD. In the long term, this will extend the range of quantum communications and the protocol's security by enabling untrusted satellite sources. The Q-SPIN project is not just a technological innovation but also a potential game-changer in the market. We plan to perform business exploration, validate our business model, secure Q-SPIN’s IP, and establish our freedom to operate. Post-project, the technology will undergo further product development until commercialization. The successful market deployment of Q-SPIN products could lead to 32 organizations, including national health services, banks, and telecoms, adopting our solution by 2033. This would secure the patient records, financial data, communications, etc. for the estimated 43 million EU citizens these organizations will serve.

The protection of sensitive information is of crucial importance in our society: the security of money transfer, commercial transactions, medical data, remote control of critical infrastructures (power grid, telecom etc.) are key assets for EU citizens. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a promising solution to protect digital communications, guaranteeing unconditional security based on the laws of quantum mechanics rather than on the computation capability of an adversary. QKD requires a satellite network to allow the sharing of random keys between two legitimate users at the European scale. The main target of QUDICE is the development of the components and subsystems for quantum communication and optical systems for space-based QKD enabling the realization of a European network of satellites with quantum key distribution as the main service. Specific objectives of the project include: - the development of a TRL6 space-qualifiable source for discrete variable (DV) QKD - the development of a TRL5-6 space-qualifiable Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG) - the development of a TRL6 space-qualifiable satellite Pointing and Tracking (PAT) system - the development of a TRL5-6 space-qualifiable Entangled Photon Source (EPS) - the development of a TRL5-6 space-qualifiable Continuous Variable (CV) QKD source - the development of a TRL6 space-qualifiable onboard 5G system for QKD post-processing support and QKD-secured connectivity service - the development of simulations and testbeds to assess quantum satellite communications components - the definition of the roadmap towards TRL9 for the developed systems