QKD links established within Belgian research network
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IMEC, the University of Ghent and Belnet – the Belgian national research network – have achieved the first quantum key distribution (QKD) links on the Belnet network.
The three organizations are in consortium called BeQCI, funded by the European Union and the Belgian Science Policy Office with the remit to create in Belgium the means to transmit data that is uninterceptable and 100 percent secure.
QKD relies on the idea that it is impossible to copy quantum mechanical states, and allows for a new level of security in digital communication.
The EU launched EuroQCI to develop a European quantum communication network, of which BeQCI forms the Belgian branch. The project, launched in January 2023, aims at establishing a quantum-secure communication testbed in Belgium.
The first QKD link, connecting two campuses of Ghent University, will be used mainly for research purposes. A second link connects Redu and Transinne and will be used by the European Space Agency together with the Centre d’Excellence en Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication (CETIC) to secure IOT data transfer. Finally, a third link, connecting two datacenters of Belnet, will be used for internal secure data transfer.
“The established infrastructure offers the opportunity to get early hands-on experience with QKD links for ultra-secure data transfer between, for example, governmental institutions, banks or hospitals,” said Karel Dumon, IMEC researcher and manager of the BeQCI project. “Our infrastructure is now open to new end users that want to assess the practicality of different QKD systems and protocols.”
Related links and articles:
www.imec-int.com
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