SPQR Cluster
The SPQR cluster was established through collaboration between the QUBIP and PQ-REACT EU projects, with the shared goal of strengthening the European Union’s preparedness for the post-quantum cryptography era. It now brings together a growing number of European projects, including PQ-NEXT, Q-FENCE and POSEIDON.
In an era marked by rapid technological advancements and evolving security threats, our joint effort is promising to smooth the transition and enhance the European Union’s cybersecurity.
Leveraging cutting-edge technologies and visionary strategies, our collaboration is poised to redefine cybersecurity and ensure a smooth and secure transition into the quantum era.
The SPQR cluster was established through collaboration between the QUBIP and PQ-REACT EU projects, with the shared goal of strengthening the European Union’s preparedness for the post-quantum cryptography era. It now brings together a growing number of European projects, including PQ-NEXT, Q-FENCE and POSEIDON.
In an era marked by rapid technological advancements and evolving security threats, our joint effort is promising to smooth the transition and enhance the European Union’s cybersecurity.
Leveraging cutting-edge technologies and visionary strategies, our collaboration is poised to redefine cybersecurity and ensure a smooth and secure transition into the quantum era.
The Projects involved
Quantum-oriented Update to Browsers and Infrastructure for the PQ Transition
The development of Quantum Computers (QC) is opening up exciting new frontiers, but it comes at the cost of breaking the foundations of current digital security. The research community is working to define Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) to counter this threat. However, the transition to PQC is delicate and time-consuming because it affects many functions, algorithms, and protocols in an a priori unknown cascade of dependencies. QUBIP is designed to contribute to the EU transition to PQC with the aim of streamlining the process and creating a replicable transition model (and also to counter Post-Quantum threat as soon as possible). QUBIP focuses on digital systems addressing the 5 main building blocks that use public-key cryptography for security purposes: hardware, cryptographic libraries, operating system, communication protocols and applications. QUBIP addresses all 5 blocks coherently solving all dependency issues that may arise within each block and between blocks with the ultimate goal of validating at TRL 6 three systems that use these blocks in IoT-based Digital Manufacturing, Internet Browsing, and Software Networks Environments for Telcos use cases.
The return on experience from the three practical exercises of transition to PQC will then be maximised through the development of a migration playbook. This will include the lessons learnt and an evaluation of any technical, economic, and regulatory barriers encountered, together with the solutions to overcome them, in order to enable the definition of a replicable process to provide structured support and practical guidance to industry stakeholders. The technical activities will be underpinned by three supporting activities (i) evaluation of the capabilities of QCs to assess their implication to primitives, algorithms and protocols adopted, and contribution to (ii) standardization efforts addressing transition to PQC processes and (iii) policy measures addressing technology changes coming from the advent of QC and PQC.
POSEIDON is an EU-funded project that prepares Europe for the cybersecurity challenges posed by quantum computing. As quantum technologies advance, the cryptographic methods protecting today’s digital systems will no longer be sufficient, and they will likely be able to break commonly used encryption, putting digital identities, online communications, and critical services across Europe at growing risk.
This creates an urgent need for new, quantum-safe security foundations based on post-quantum cryptography (PQC) and hybrid cryptographic approaches. To address these threats, POSEIDON aims to enable a secure and reliable transition to post-quantum cryptography for digital identity and data protection. The project focuses on developing scalable, crypto-agile cryptographic solutions that can be realistically deployed in existing public and private systems to protect sensitive data and identities, both at rest and in transit.
Q-FENCE is a transformative initiative aimed at securing tomorrow’s digital infrastructure with quantum-resistant cryptography. In response to the rising threats posed by quantum computing, Q-FENCE develops a robust hybrid framework integrating classical, quantum, and post-quantum cryptographic techniques. Utilizing innovative approaches such as Ring-LWE, Module-LWE, Quantum Random Number Generators, and hardware-accelerated primitives, the project establishes a dual-layer security model that fortifies data protection across diverse infrastructures. Leveraging hardware-accelerated primitives and energy-efficient protocols, Q-FENCE ensures quantum resilience while addressing critical challenges such as seamless integration with legacy systems, regulatory compliance, and scalable deployment.
PQ-NEXT aims to develop a migration framework to analyse and model scenarios for a smooth transition to post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) standards with tailored migration plans. The PQ-NEXT catalogue includes PQC and hybrid algorithms, maintenance tools, and a quantum programming language featuring high-performance simulation and hybrid quantum-classical optimisation, ensuring crypto-agility and security against quantum threats. PQ-NEXT’s solutions will be validated through large-scale pilots in finance, critical infrastructure, telecommunications, and digital identities, through the selected use of digital twinning. PQ-NEXT is the continuation of the Horizon Europe project PQ-REACT.
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