ETSI has launched an Industry Specification Group dedicated to quantum cryptography.
The standards organization’s Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) initiative is now materialized by an Industry Specification Group. This group of industrial players, both ETSI members and non-members, will build specifications allowing to transfer quantum cryptography out of the controlled and trusted environment of experimental laboratories into the real world. “Quantum cryptography will bring new levels of confidentiality and privacy of communication in the future ICT world and thus become the driver for the success of numerous services in the fields of e-government, e-commerce, e-health, transmission of biometric data, intelligent transport systems and many others” according to ETSI. ETSI’s creation of the QKD group is a strategic response to the increasing interest in standardization for quantum key distribution, as there is now a critical mass of interested parties in Europe. In particular, the FP6 SECOQC project, whose most of the partners are behind the establishment of this QKD Industry Specification Group.
