Acronym Reveal
Have you ever wondered how European-funded projects are named? What do these acronyms mean, and how are they linked to the project’s scope? If so, you are in the right place to reveal all the answers!
To begin with, regardless of its Call, scope and funding scheme, each EU-funded project has an acronym generated from letters of the project’s official name. For instance, the PQ-REACT project’s name is Post Quantum Cryptography Framework for Energy Aware Contexts. P and Q are the capital letters from Post Quantum, and the word REACT is built from letters of the Framework for Energy Aware Contexts. Even though EU project names do not reveal the project’s background at first glance, they are carefully chosen to be coherent and easily identified by audiences.
Defining the term Quantum Cryptography
Applying the principles of quantum mechanics, quantum cryptography is an encryption technique that offers safe communication. It encrypts a message in two different locations using quantum entanglement to generate a secret key, making it (almost) impossible for an eavesdropper to intercept without changing its contents. Quantum cryptography, heralded as the next big thing in secure communication systems, can be a true game-changer for data that must remain private for many years.
PQ-REACT in a nutshell
The PQ-REACT project’s primary goal is to design, build, and validate a framework enabling a smoother and rapid transition from classical to post-quantum cryptography in various usage domains and contexts utilising Europe’s most potent quantum infrastructure (the IBM Quantum Computer from Fraunhofer FOKUS). This framework will incorporate PQC migration routes, cryptographic agility techniques, and a toolkit for validating post-quantum cryptographic systems. Users can switch to post-quantum cryptography through this framework, considering their unique circumstances, different contexts, and a wide range of real-world pilots, such as Smart Grids, 5G, and ledgers.
More precisely, the project will conquer multiple challenges relevant to the assessment of the cryptographic components in existing technology infrastructures and migration roadmaps towards the PQC era, cryptographic agility, validation of new PQC algorithms and cryptanalytical methods, QKD and PQC coexistence, and last but not least legal aspects of post-quantum mitigation. A highly experienced team of twelve distinct organisations will work together to overcome the challenges and achieve the project’s objectives and scope.
And there is more! PQ-REACT will demonstrate the project’s outcomes in three pilot demonstrators. Application of Quantum Resistant Crypto to Smart Grid deployments, Converged QKD and PQC applications for next-generation networks (5G and beyond) and Quantum Resistant Distributed Ledger for E2E Network Services. Finally, PQ-REACT will run two open calls that will allow selected SMEs and technology providers to obtain optimised solutions to solve cryptographic encryptions based on classic algorithms that currently protect data and infrastructure. This will enhance Europe’s leadership in the global cybersecurity economy, as PQC is a vital enabler for protecting and strengthening critical infrastructure and services.
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