Ireland joins initiative to build EU quantum communication infrastructure

Ireland is the latest and last EU member state to join the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) Initiative. On 28 July 2021, the country signed the EuroQCI Declaration, to which all EU member states have now committed. The goal is for EU countries, together with the European Commission and the European Space Agency, to build a secure quantum communication infrastructure that will span the entire EU. The EuroQCI will integrate quantum cryptography and innovative and secure quantum-based systems into conventional communication infrastructures. It will consist of a terrestrial segment, where fibre communication networks link strategic sites at national and cross-border level, and a space segment based on satellites.