Eurofiber and Q*Bird have received a €1 million ERDF grant for their joint QUEST project, which focuses on implementing Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) in particular Dutch data centers.
The project, announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, will implement QKD technology in two strategically located Eurofiber data centers in the western Randstad region. This development builds on previous successes in the Port of Rotterdam, where QKD is already being deployed.
The €1 million comes from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the province of South Holland’s ‘Kansen voor West’ (‘Opportunities for West’, West being the western region of South Holland) grant program.
Opportunities for West
The QUEST project focuses on further developing Q*Bird’s Next Generation QKD technology. This technology uses Eurofiber’s extensive fiber-optic network to enable secure, tamper-proof communication between users. In this, Q*Bird, which earlier this year secured 2.5 million euros in investment, is collaborating with Single Quantum to develop quantum detection systems.
Marc Hulzebos, Innovation Manager at Eurofiber, emphasizes that the project will significantly improve the resilience and security of the network. “This project is an important step forward in the evolution of quantum secure communications. By permanently enabling Quantum Key Distribution in our Randstad data centers and our Private Cloud infrastructure, we are not only improving security for our customers today, but also laying the foundation for future quantum Internet services.”
Ingrid Romijn, CEO of Q*Bird, sees the project as an essential step in the practical implementation of quantum security. In doing so, future ambitions become increasingly concrete. “We are currently building devices for quantum secure data communications, with this project enabling us to significantly improve our business proposition for a wide range of customers. In the future, we will enable general quantum connectivity by delivering new products and integrating them seamlessly with our existing quantum cryptography network in data centers.”