Highlights from our SPQR cluster – PQC Workshop in Madrid

On June 6, 2025, the Secure Post Quantum eRa (SPQR) Cluster hosted a dedicated Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) workshop in Madrid, following the successful ETSI/IQC Quantum Safe Cryptography Conference held earlier that week at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. This special session, co-organised with the Plan Complementario de Comunicaciones Cuánticas (PC3) and the MadQuantum-CM initiative, brought together key stakeholders from across Europe’s quantum and cybersecurity landscape. The 3-hour workshop, held exclusively in person, gathered around 40 participants, including representatives from academia, industry, and experts, creating an interactive forum for collaboration and fruitful discussions. The event showcased the work from the two EU-funded projects under the SPQR cluster (QUBIP and PQ-REACT). Presentations highlighted Europe’s ongoing efforts to transition to PQC through innovative infrastructure, piloting activities and open-source software initiatives. Several fruitful discussions between SPQR and PC3 partners highlighted opportunities for collaboration, such as PQ-REACT’s Smart grid pilot for low-resource devices and the IoT devices solution from QUBIP. The Plan Complementario de Comunicaciones Cuánticas (PC3) initiative has attracted the attention of SPQR, which is utilising its Quantum Communication Infrastructure for the cluster’s pilots, which require Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). Finally, PQ-REACT’s open-source and software solutions sparked considerable interest, in particular the QRISP platform, which was highly discussed and showcased. This was just the beginning! Stay tuned with the PQ-REACT project and follow its events page for future events!