PQ-REACT 5th General Assembly Meeting
After its one-year completion and the closing of the project’s first Open Call-DEVELOP, PQ-REACT partners travelled to Heraklion, Crete, for the project’s 5th General Assembly meeting. Pasiphae Lab from the Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU) hosted the two-day meeting, which took place on October 24-25, 2024, on the HMU premises. Two days full of presentations, discussions, and collaborative planning on the project’s development, implementation, and future milestones unfolded while partners had the opportunity to meet for one more time physically. 
Day 1 in a nutshell
The first day included a series of presentations structured around specific Work Packages focused on technical developments, project pilots, communication, dissemination and exploitation activities.
Work Package 2: PQC Architectures, Tools, and Interfaces
Led by Indra, the WP2 session started by examining the architecture design and use case requirements based on PQC algorithms followed by the analysis and implementation design of PQC Digital Signature Algorithms. Discussions were also focused on the design and applicability of Hybrid PQC / Classical Digital Signature Schemes Design and applicability of Hybrid PQC / Classical Digital Signature Schemes. The session also set forward the workplan and mapped out requirements and use case discussions.
Work Package 3: Benchmarking PQC Algorithms
Fraunhofer took the floor to present WP3, focusing on benchmarking methods, especially with access to High-Performance Computing (HPC) and quantum infrastructures. Universidad Politecnica De Madrid then presented approaches for practical validation of PQC solutions, while Fraunhofer closed the session highlighting tools for benchmarking and validation of PQC and hybrid cryptographic mechanisms.
Work Package 4: Pilot Demonstrators
Telefonica, leader of WP4, presented the PQ-REACT integration and planning. The three project pilots were discussed: PQC for Smart Grid applications, Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) for 5G networks, and PQC-enabled blockchain.
Work Package 7: Dissemination, Communication, and Business Planning
The day wrapped up with AUSTRALO presenting WP7, which involved the activities of the last 12 months in regard to ecosystem building, communication and dissemination. During this session, the Hellenic Mediterranean University outlined the Innovation Management, Exploitation and Sustainability activities, as well as Telefonica update partners about standardization.
Day 2 in a nutshell
The second day focused on the project’s legal and ethical aspects, whereas the project’s open call management and improvement of the pilots was also a key topic discussed. Finally, the meeting wrapped up with management updates from the project’s coordinator, the National Center For Scientific Research “Demokritos”.
Work Package 6: Legal and Ethical Research
Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and SmartLex collaboratively led the WP6 session, addressing significant legal and ethical research issues around PQC.
Work Package 5: Open Call Management and Pilot Improvements
Sploro presented WP5, which focused on the management of the open calls and pilots tuning. The open calls aim to expand PQ-REACT’s reach, allowing external innovators to contribute to PQC advancements. The project’s coordinator, NCSR ‘’Demokritos’’ also joined the session by presenting the evaluation and signature of sub-grantee agreements and the use case execution. With the successful conclusion of the fifth General Assembly meeting, the PQ-REACT project continues its efforts towards securing the post-quantum cryptography transition in the EU. At the same time, it sets the stage for the subsequent phases of the project’s implementation.
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