FranceQCI is part of the European Quantum Communications Infrastructure (EuroQCI) initiative launched by the European Union in 2019, under the aegis of Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Markets, which aims to build a secure quantum communications network infrastructure that will cover the whole of the European Union, including its overseas territories. This is one of the main pillars of the EU's new cybersecurity strategy for the coming decades, which involves securing communications and data for critical infrastructures and government institutions.

Under this program, 26 of the 27 EU member states will have their own national QCI network deployment program. The European Commission has selected a consortium of thirteen (13) partners to deploy national QCI networks in France and carry out experiments.

 

FranceQCI is a project co-financed by the European Commission.

 

As part of the Digital Europe program, it represents a significant contribution in France to the objective of deploying a secure quantum communications infrastructure for the EU (EuroQCI), and paves the way for the future European Quantum Information Network (QIN).

In particular, FranceQCI aims to deploy advanced national quantum systems and networks to test quantum communication technologies and integrate them into existing communication networks in France. FranceQCI will build on existing infrastructures in the Paris (ParisRegionQCI) and Nice (Quantum@UCA/Nice) regions to evolve towards operational Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) services and contribute to the development of European technological autonomy.  A quantum network will also be set up in Toulouse (in the DGAC/DSNA/DTI laboratory) to carry out a realistic end-user service test for the French Civil Aviation Authority. This will involve the exchange of real operational air traffic control data secured by QKD.

​This project has received funding from the DIGITAL-2021-QCI-01-DEPLOY-NATIONAL Digital European Program under Project number No 101091642

 

A strong consortium of key players in quantum technology and leading academics

 

FranceQCI, as a consortium, brings together players with diverse and complementary expertise and resources: major industries, world leaders in their respective fields, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs/start-ups) with in-depth and unique expertise, and academic institutions, among the best in the world, will participate in this effort.

 

FranceQCI includes Airbus Defense and Space, Orange, Thales and Thales Alenia Space as leading industrial partners.  Key players in innovation in quantum communication and post-quantum cryptography will support them:  Cryptonext Security, VeriQloud and WeLinQ.

 

The French civil aviation authority responsible for air traffic control (Direction des services de la navigation aérienne - DSNA) has joined the project as a public institution to enable the consortium to test real-life use cases.

 

Leading research organizations and academic institutions, including the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Sorbonne University, Université Côte d'Azur and Télécom Paris, will bring their expertise and research capabilities to the consortium. The strong presence of academic institutions will also help develop the academic focus of the initiative and create a training ground for all stakeholders in France, including research staff, engineers and end-users from public and private entities.

 

France QCI represents a first step towards a global European quantum communications infrastructure that could be implemented with cross-border links to connect similar networks in other countries, either via terrestrial fiber optic links or space connectivity.

​

 

Partners

​