PQ-NEXT Core with Giovanni Comandè, SmartLex/Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
PQ-NEXT Core with Giovanni Comandè, SmartLex/Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
What drives PQ-NEXT from within? PQ-NEXT Core reveals the minds and teams behind the project. By showcasing the perspectives, insights, and ambitions of those leading its key areas, we uncover the vision and collaboration that shape PQ-NEXT’s vision.
Let’s start by getting to know Giovanni Comandè, from SmartLex/Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, a little better and by introducing the team that will work on the project.
My name is Giovanni Comandè. I am a full professor of law at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa, and also the founder of SmartLex, which is also a partner in the PQ-NEXT project. My background is in law, and I have completed my degree at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna and, for research purposes, have joined Harvard Law School and various other universities across the world, on topics related to law and technology that are directly relevant to our work in PQ-NEXT.
The SmartLex team is multidisciplinary. Alongside several jurists, we have technical experts, including informaticians, data scientists, and AI developers. It is a mixed team that joins the wider multidisciplinary consortium PQ-NEXT, and we will all be working closely with the other project partners.
What motivated you to join this EU-wide consortium?
The primary motivation was the challenges set out in the call and, above all, the way our consortium proposed to address them. This project is, in a sense, a follow-up to earlier work in which we began to devise transition strategies for the post-quantum era. PQ-NEXT goes further, requesting the actual development of pragmatic tools, and that is exactly what we are doing. The consortium is also well-equipped and well-balanced to meet the objectives of the project. That was the main reason for joining.
“The primary motivation was the challenges set out in the call and, above all, the way our consortium proposed to address them.”
What problem does your role in the project address in simple terms, and why is it critical for the project’s implementation?
SmartLex contributes at two distinct levels within the project.
First, under Work Package 1 “Project Management”, SmartLex is responsible for ethics compliance across the overall project. This includes monitoring ethics issues that may arise and maintaining attention to gender balance and gender-related matters throughout the project’s lifecycle.
Second, and more substantially, SmartLex, together with Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, leads Work Package 5 “Framing and implementing legally compliant migrations” on the legal dimensions of the post-quantum transition. This involves developing a comprehensive mapping of the legal constraints and compliance requirements that apply to organisations transitioning to post-quantum cryptography. From this mapping, and through ongoing interaction with the technical partners, we are developing a proof of concept for an intelligent compliance and navigation system. The goal is to empower all entities required to transition to the post-quantum era to do so in a compliant way, helping them identify and navigate their specific compliance needs.
“The goal is to empower all entities required to transition to the post-quantum era to do so in a compliant way, helping them identify and navigate their specific compliance needs.”
What are the main activities, tasks, and objectives of your work? And How is your work connected to the other tasks and activities?
Our work operates at two levels of interaction with the rest of the project.
At the first level, we conduct what is typically called desktop research, analysing legal rules in light of case law (primarily from the European Union), scholarly contributions, and policy documents, and transforming this analysis into a practical mapping useful to our technical partners. This mapping is developed in close collaboration with the other partners in Work Package 5 and is continuously refined in view of their use cases and technical developments.
At the second level, there is recurring interaction with several work packages across the project. The most direct connection is with Work Package 2, where the core technical solutions and the platform are being developed. We provide legal feedback for that work and receive input in return in a continuous series of loops.
For ethics compliance, we maintain a similar ongoing feedback process. Through monthly working group meetings and general consortium meetings, we monitor any emerging ethics issues and raise awareness among the other partners of potential concerns affecting their work, addressing them proactively as the project progresses.
There is also collaboration with Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna on Task 5.3, which addresses insurance components and risk management.
Moving on, a personal note. What is the main outcome you personally hope this project will achieve?
I hope that as a project and as a team, we can help strengthen the EU's position in the post-quantum era. More specifically, I hope our work contributes to offering a benchmark grounded in fundamental rights protection. This feels especially important at a time when the rule of law, the role of international institutions, and trust between peoples, states, and institutions are being severely tested.
The key outcome I really hope our consortium brings about is something useful not only for the European Union, though it would certainly strengthen the EU's position, but something that could be taken up more broadly worldwide.
“I hope that as a project and as a team, we can help strengthen the EU's position in the post-quantum era.”
Looking ahead, what excites you most about the post-quantum era?
Despite all the work that has already been done in this field, I think we are still not fully aware of what the post-quantum era will truly mean, the incredible opportunities and the significant challenges, both for good and for ill, are not yet fully perceived or described.
What is genuinely exciting is the opportunity, with a great team, truly a team of teams, to contribute to shaping the post-quantum era in a positive direction: towards a future that is peaceful, environmentally friendly, respectful of human and fundamental rights, and secure in cybersecurity terms. The goal is to minimise and, where possible, prevent the darker risks that lie ahead.
Technology is not inherently good or bad; it is defined by the uses we make of it. What excites me is the possibility of helping to steer the post-quantum era towards the benefit of humankind and reducing the significant risks that come with it. We should not be afraid of advanced technology, but we must be equipped to navigate it wisely. That is precisely why the legal dimension is so important in this project.
“Technology is not inherently good or bad; it is defined by the uses we make of it.”
PQ-NEXT Core with Laura Domínguez Céspedes, Telefónica Innovación Digital
PQ-NEXT Core with Laura Domínguez Céspedes, Telefónica Innovación Digital
What drives PQ-NEXT from within? PQ-NEXT Core reveals the minds and teams behind the project. By showcasing the perspectives, insights, and ambitions of those leading its key areas, we uncover the vision and collaboration that shape PQ-NEXT’s vision.
Let’s start by getting to know Laura Domínguez Céspedes, from Telefónica Innovación Digital, a little better and by introducing the team that will work on the project.
I am Laura Domínguez Céspedes, currently working as a Network Security Analyst at Telefónica Innovación Digital (R&D) located in Madrid, which I joined in 2024. My work focuses on securing the next generation of communication networks, with particular attention to emerging challenges in quantum and post-quantum security.
Regarding my academic background, I have a master's degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain, as well as a degree in Telecommunications from the University of Alicante.
My expertise closely aligns with the objectives of the PQ-NEXT project, as I have been actively involved in several research and innovation initiatives related to quantum key distribution (QKD) and post-quantum cryptography (PQC), including EUROQCI-SPAIN, PQ-REACT, and PQ-NEXT.
Through this work, I have gained experience in evaluating secure communication architectures, contributing to the integration of quantum-safe technologies into transport networks, and analysing potential vulnerabilities in evolving cryptographic systems.
As for the team, the project is led by Antonio Pastor, a senior expert, and brings together a multidisciplinary group of researchers and engineers with expertise in network security, cryptography, and advanced communications. Consisting of Mattin Elorza Forcada and Víctor Hernando Fernández, who have previously collaborated on research projects such as PQ-REACT or QUBIP.
What motivated you to join this EU-wide consortium?
The aspect that has motivated me the most to join this European Union-wide consortium is the opportunity to collaborate with both industry and research communities. Our goal is to address the challenges of the post-quantum transition by developing and validating solutions that can be practically implemented in real-world settings.
What problem does your role in the project address in simple terms, and why is it critical for the project’s implementation?
My role focuses on deploying and orchestrating quantum-secure and hybrid security solutions in a real operator network. In simple terms, the problem to be solved is to address the transition to post-quantum security in live Telco environments without disrupting our clients' services.
“My role focuses on deploying and orchestrating quantum-secure and hybrid security solutions in a real operator network”
What are the main activities, tasks, and objectives of your work?
The main activities and objectives of our Work Package 4 “Large Scale Pilot Demonstrators” focus on the deployment, integration, and validation of the PQ-NEXT framework across four large-scale pilot environments. Specifically, WP4 includes:
• Prepare a complete integration and validation plan for each pilot testbed. This includes defining the workflow, the required components, and the KPIs that will be used to evaluate performance and security.
• Execution of Pilot Trials, where each pilot leader will deploy the PQ-NEXT framework in realistic operational environments and execute the trials. The goal is to measure and demonstrate the practical benefits of quantum-safe technologies in each scenario.
• Validation of quantum and postquantum cryptography mechanisms and the associated security architectures, ensuring they meet the performance requirements relevant to each use case and sector.
• Verification of how PQC and QKD impact both security KPIs and service KPIs across the pilots. This allows us to identify realistic, practical, and scalable quantum-resistant transition paths.
All previous tasks will be articulated around four pilot-specific tasks:
• Pilot 1 – PQC transition in financial environments
• Pilot 2 – Quantum secure orchestration in a Telco network
• Pilot 3 – Quantum resistant crypto for critical infrastructure
• Pilot 4 – Quantum safe digital documents and identity for municipal services
How is your work connected to the other tasks and activities?
In addition to developing Telco network pilot 2, we are also the leaders of the work package, therefore, we have to ensure that everything is integrated correctly.
Moving on, a personal note. What is the main outcome you personally hope this project will achieve?
I personally hope that this project will deliver a clear, practical, and validated roadmap for the real-world transition to postquantum cryptography across different sectors. Specifically, in terms of migrating widely used protocols to integrate PQC and QKD, such as NETCONF/RESTCONF/TLS, etc. And, to provide implementation best practices that organisations can adopt to carry out a safe, realistic, and cost-effective quantum-resistant migration.
“I personally hope that this project will deliver a clear, practical, and validated roadmap for the real-world transition to postquantum cryptography across different sectors.”
Looking ahead, what excites you most about the post-quantum era?
Looking ahead, what interests me the most about the post-quantum era is the opportunity to actively contribute to and work within a transformative period for security technologies. It is especially motivating to witness how the solutions we develop in innovation projects are increasingly being adopted in real-world production environments, driving meaningful advancements in secure communications.
“It is especially motivating to witness how the solutions we develop in innovation projects are progressively making their way into real-world production environments.”
What it means for a young professional working on such large EU projects
I believe that working on large EU projects as a young professional has allowed me to learn and mature professionally in parallel while advancing projects and technology.
How this could impact your career
Something very important that I think can impact and benefit me in working on these projects is knowing what a project with a two- or three-year timeline is like from the beginning, and learning from all its phases, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams from various sectors.
PQ-NEXT Core with René Zander, Fraunhofer FOKUS
PQ-NEXT Core with René Zander, Fraunhofer FOKUS
What drives PQ-NEXT from within? PQ-NEXT Core reveals the minds and teams behind the project. By showcasing the perspectives, insights, and ambitions of those leading its key areas, we uncover the vision and collaboration that shape PQ-NEXT’s vision.
Let’s start by getting to know René Zander from Fraunhofer FOKUS a little better and by introducing the team that will work on the project.
My name is René Zander, and I'm a quantum computing scientist at Fraunhofer FOKUS, where I have been working for almost three years. Prior to that, I completed my Master's and PhD in mathematics at TU Berlin, specialising in dynamical systems and discrete integral systems.
At Fraunhofer FOKUS, I work across a range of quantum computing topics, including quantum algorithms research, quantum benchmarking, and post-quantum cryptography. I am also a developer of the high-level programming language Eclipse CRISP, which we have been developing over several years and continue to develop through the PQ-NEXT project and several other European and German-funded projects.
My mathematical background is directly relevant to this work, cryptography mechanisms at their core rely on mathematics. RSA cryptography relies on the hardness of factorising numbers into prime factors, while post-quantum cryptography relies on different mathematical problems, such as finding shortest vectors in lattices. When it comes to testing the security of PQC algorithms and developing quantum algorithms that could attack them, a strong mathematical foundation is essential.
On this project, I am mainly working alongside my colleague Tobias Köppel, who is also a mathematician with a background in differential equations. Together, we use our knowledge in mathematics and programming to contribute to PQ-NEXT, specifically within Work Package 3 “Post-Quantum Cryptanalysis Enablers”.
What motivated you to join this EU-wide consortium?
It is a great opportunity to work with partners from across Europe, get to know different institutions, countries, and people through European projects, and share knowledge and gain different perspectives. Some consortium partners are more focused on use cases, while we come from a more theoretical side. That mix of expertise is valuable.
It is also an opportunity to find new collaborators for Eclipse CRISP, which is an open-source quantum programming language. We have already had contributions from colleagues at AGH in Kraków, and working within a European consortium like this opens further doors for collaboration.
“It is also an opportunity to find new collaborators for Eclipse CRISP, which is an open-source quantum programming language.”
What problem does your role in the project address in simple terms, and why is it critical for the project’s implementation?
The core problem we address is that post-quantum cryptography methods are relatively new and therefore less tested than established cryptography, such as RSA or elliptic curve cryptography. During the NIST standardisation process, which took place over several years, some proposed algorithms that were believed to be secure against quantum attacks turned out not to be secure, even against classical attacks in some cases.
Our work, therefore, enables researchers to use quantum computers to implement and test attacks against these new post-quantum cryptography mechanisms. The goal is to increase our confidence in the security of these algorithms before they are widely deployed.
“Our work, therefore, enables researchers to use quantum computers to implement and test attacks against these new post-quantum cryptography mechanisms.”
What are the main activities, tasks, and objectives of your work? And how is your work connected to other tasks and activities?
Work Package 3, titled Post-Quantum Cryptanalysis Enablers, aims to enable testing of PQC algorithms against quantum attackers. It is divided into three tasks:
1. Quantum Software Stack Development — We will further develop the Eclipse CRISP library to ensure seamless compilation of large-scale quantum attacks. This involves ensuring that all relevant algorithms for attacking post-quantum cryptography are fully compatible with our JAX-based compilation pipeline. To address scalability limitations of Python-based quantum programming, we use an intermediate representation approach with MLIR-based compiler technology.
2. Quantum Algorithm Research — This task focuses on researching quantum algorithms that could be used to attack post-quantum cryptography. We will look at optimisation algorithms such as the Quantum Approximate Optimisation Algorithm (QAOA), linear system solvers, and other quantum algorithms, and investigate how they could be applied to quantum cryptanalysis.
3. Post-Quantum Programming Suite — The third task involves implementing and testing a post-quantum programming suite. This tool, built on top of the Eclipse CRISP library, will allow researchers to easily test different PQC mechanisms against quantum attacks, providing a suite of cryptographic primitives paired with a suite of quantum attackers.
In terms of connections to the wider project, Work Package 3 is closely related to Work Packages 2, PQ-NEXT Migration Modelling Tools, and Work Package 4, Large Scale Pilot Demonstrators. Work Package 2 identifies which PQC algorithms are relevant and should be used; the inventory of cryptographic primitives it produces feeds directly into our testing work in Work Package 3. Our findings can then serve as a basis for Work Package 2 and inform Work Package 4 on which algorithms should be used in practical applications. We collaborate particularly with Indra, the University of Athens, and AGH Kraków within this work package.
Moving on, a personal note. What is the main outcome you personally hope this project will achieve?
Any new insights into the security of PQC algorithms or the identification of vulnerabilities would be a great outcome. Of course, the primary goal of the work package is to deliver the post-quantum programming suite that enables benchmarking of PQC algorithms and seeing that tool used in practice would be a very meaningful result.
“Any new insights into the security of PQC algorithms or the identification of vulnerabilities would be a great outcome.”
Looking ahead, what excites you most about the post-quantum era?
The exciting part is really the challenge of transitioning to post-quantum cryptography before fault-tolerant quantum computers capable of breaking traditional RSA or elliptic curve cryptography become a reality. As a mathematician, I am also genuinely excited to work on the underlying mathematical problems and investigate them further.
It is worth noting that post-quantum cryptography itself does not offer new utility; it simply replaces existing cryptographic methods with ones that will be safe against quantum attacks. The real excitement lies in ensuring this transition happens in due time.
More broadly, quantum computing is a fascinating field because of its many potential applications in areas such as quantum chemistry and quantum physics research.
PQ-NEXT Core with Rodrigo Martín, Indra
PQ-NEXT Core with Rodrigo Martín, Indra
What drives PQ-NEXT from within? PQ-NEXT Core reveals the minds and teams behind the project. By showcasing the perspectives, insights, and ambitions of those leading its key areas, we uncover the vision and collaboration that shape PQ-NEXT’s vision.
Let’s start by getting to know Rodrigo Martín from Indra a little better and by introducing the team that will work on the project.
My name is Rodrigo Martin. I am a mathematician with over 5 years of experience in both theoretical and practical cryptography, with a strong emphasis on post-quantum cryptography. I am also a fourth-year PhD candidate in lattice-based cryptography and cryptographic protocols, one of the most important branches of post-quantum cryptography. The PhD provides the more theoretical part of my expertise, and in my department, I am tasked with everything related to post-quantum crypto, including implementing and migrating to this type of cryptography, which provides the more applied part of my background. My expertise fully aligns with the project's core objectives.
Besides me, the project will also involve Marta Irene-Garcia, who has a PhD in quantum cryptography and more than seven years of experience in research and development projects; David Domingo, who has been leading cryptographic projects for more than 20 years; and Juan Roman Martínez, who has extensive experience in managing R&D projects. Together, we provide a strong background towards the core objectives and the nature of the project.
What motivated you to join this EU-wide consortium?
Migration to post-quantum cryptography is one of the most important paradigms in digital life today. Day-to-day events over the last year or so show that the European Union must develop its own critical and strategic capabilities, without relying on anyone else. A project that brings together both of these goals, as PQ-NEXT does, is of great interest and importance.
“In a nutshell, the project covers the theoretical and practical aspects of migrating to quantum-resistant solutions, as well as the development of tools to support this endeavour.”
What problem does your role in the project address in simple terms, and why is it critical for the project’s implementation?
In a nutshell, the project covers the theoretical and practical aspects of migrating to quantum-resistant solutions, as well as the development of tools to support this endeavour. My role within the project is to lead Work Package 2 (PQ-NEXT Migration Modelling Tools), coordinating the tasks within it to ensure the final migration toolbox is correct and addresses all needs related to migrating to quantum-resistant cryptography.
What are the main activities, tasks, and objectives of your work?
The main objective of Work Package 2 is to develop a toolset to support the migration to quantum-resistant solutions. This includes providing information on post-quantum algorithms, cryptographic sizes, performance across a variety of environments, available implementations, platform-specific optimisations, security analysis, hybridisation with other schemes, particularly quantum cryptography, and how to incorporate primitives into protocols.
The work package is segmented into four principal tasks:
1. PQC Algorithm Catalogue: Gathering and maintaining information about post-quantum cryptography, including standardisation efforts, hybridisation techniques, migration recommendations, and how companies and organisations are approaching migration. This task provides the theoretical foundations for the migration toolbox.
2. Maintenance and Update Tools: Development and maintenance of the platform tools critical to the real-life operability of the toolbox.
3. Migration to Quantum-Resistant Solutions in Communication Networks: Analysis of how to include quantum-resistant solutions (post-quantum cryptography and quantum cryptography) in relevant protocols such as TLS and IPsec, and analysis of their impact via digital twins and other tools.
4. Migration Toolbox Development: Building the toolbox by combining all inputs from the above tasks and from the other work packages in the project.
How is your work connected to the other tasks and activities?
Work Package 2 aims to develop the migration toolbox, which connects it directly to other work packages. For example, Work Package 4 (Large Scale Pilot Demonstrators) covers the development of pilots, which will use the migration toolbox. We will see how the toolbox applies in practice to relevant examples of organisations migrating to quantum-resistant solutions.
Work Package 3 (Post-Quantum Cryptanalysis Enablers) focuses on the development and analysis of quantum algorithms that attack post-quantum primitives. Those inputs will also be taken into account when constructing the migration toolbox, particularly for recommendations and security analysis.
“I hope that the practical tools developed will be helpful and employed by a wide variety of European actors to assist them in their quest for quantum-resistant migration.”
Moving on, a personal note. What is the main outcome you personally hope this project will achieve?
I hope that this project will advance knowledge of quantum-resistant solutions and how to migrate to these new forms of cryptography. Furthermore, I hope that the practical tools developed in Work Package 2, to measure and analyse the post-quantum transition, will be helpful and employed by a wide variety of European actors to assist them in their quest for quantum-resistant migrations.
Looking ahead, what excites you most about the post-quantum era?
The most exciting thing is participating in a field that is being developed as we speak. As a mathematician, a lot of the work you do involves fields that have been established for quite some time, and you perhaps make incremental advances, but don't really construct something almost from zero. With post-quantum cryptography, you are seeing the foundations being laid — things that started only years ago — and you see daily improvements and daily advances in that field. That is what really excites me about post-quantum crypto.
“The most exciting thing is participating in a field that is being developed as we speak.”
PQ-NEXT Core with Akis Kourtis, NCSR "Demokritos"
PQ-NEXT Core with Akis Kourtis, NCSR “Demokritos”
What drives PQ-NEXT from within? PQ-NEXT Core reveals the minds and teams behind the project. By showcasing their perspectives, insights, and ambitions, we uncover the vision and collaboration that shape PQ-NEXT’s vision.
Let’s start by getting to know Akis Kourtis, our project coordinator from the NCSRD Demokritos, a little better, and by introducing the team that will work on the project.
I am Akis Kourtis, project coordinator at NCSRD, with a background in cybersecurity, distributed systems, and secure communication infrastructures. My academic and professional work focuses on cryptographic systems, network security, and the coordination of large-scale European research projects. My expertise is directly relevant to PQ-NEXT because the project addresses the transition from classical to post-quantum cryptography, which requires both a deep understanding of cryptographic mechanisms and system-level integration capabilities. Along with me on the NCSRD team are Dr George Agapiou, project lead for financial and quality monitoring, Achileas Economopoulos, the Pilot Implementation Engineer, and Virginia Lampropoulou, our Junior Cybersecurity Engineer. At NCSRD, we contribute as part of a multidisciplinary team that combines expertise in cybersecurity engineering, software systems, and network architectures. The team is responsible for designing and implementing maintenance and crypto-agility tools to ensure cryptographic systems can evolve securely over time. We work closely with other consortium partners, including telecom providers, financial institutions, and research organisations, forming a coordinated ecosystem that addresses the problem from multiple technical and operational perspectives.
What motivated you to join this EU-wide consortium?
The main motivation is the scale and urgency of the transition to post-quantum security. Quantum computing will fundamentally break current public-key cryptographic systems, which are the foundation of secure communications today. This creates a systemic risk that affects governments, industries, and citizens. Addressing this challenge requires coordinated action at the European level, combining research, industry, and policy. PQ-NEXT offers exactly this type of collaboration, enabling us to contribute to a structured and large-scale effort. It is also an opportunity to strengthen European technological sovereignty in cybersecurity and to ensure that the transition to quantum-resistant systems is handled proactively rather than reactively.
“PQ-NEXT offers exactly this type of collaboration, enabling us to contribute to a structured and large-scale effort.”
What problem does your role in the project address in simple terms, and why is it critical for the project’s implementation?
My role focuses on the problem of how to migrate existing cryptographic systems to quantum-resistant solutions in a secure and efficient way. In simple terms, current systems rely on cryptographic algorithms that will become insecure once quantum computers can execute attacks such as Shor’s algorithm. At the same time, these systems are not designed to easily replace their cryptographic components, which creates a lack of crypto-agility. This is critical because even if new secure algorithms exist, organisations cannot adopt them quickly without proper tools and processes. If this issue is not addressed, large-scale infrastructure will remain exposed to future quantum threats, including scenarios such as “harvest now, decrypt later.”
“If this issue is not addressed, large-scale infrastructure will remain exposed to future quantum threats, including scenarios such as harvest now, decrypt later.”
What are the main activities, tasks, and objectives of your work?
The main focus of our work is ensuring the continuous security and adaptability of cryptographic systems. This includes developing maintenance tools that monitor cryptographic deployments, manage system updates, and handle secure key lifecycle operations. A key objective is to enable crypto-agility, meaning systems can switch or upgrade cryptographic algorithms without major disruptions. We also address large-scale deployment challenges, ensuring that updates can be applied efficiently across complex infrastructures. Another important aspect is compliance and auditing, where systems must remain aligned with evolving standards and regulatory requirements. Overall, the objective is to create an operational layer that supports the full lifecycle of cryptographic systems in a post-quantum environment.
How is your work connected to the other tasks and activities?
Our work is tightly integrated with the rest of the project. We rely on the PQC algorithm catalogue to access validated quantum-resistant algorithms and hybrid schemes. We support the PQ-NEXT Migration Toolbox by providing monitoring capabilities, update mechanisms, and system-level insights that are necessary for planning and executing migrations. Our tools are also deployed and validated in the project’s pilot environments, including telecommunications, financial systems, critical infrastructure, and municipal services. This ensures that our solutions are continuously tested under real-world conditions and aligned with the requirements of different sectors.
“Our tools are also deployed and validated in the project’s pilot environments, including telecommunications, financial systems, critical infrastructure, and municipal services.”
Moving on, a personal note. What is the main outcome you personally hope this project will achieve?
The key outcome I expect is a complete and practical framework that enables organisations to transition to post-quantum cryptography in a structured and reliable way. This includes not only technical tools but also methodologies, guidelines, and best practices that reduce complexity and risk. The goal is to demonstrate that large-scale migration is feasible and can be achieved without disrupting existing operations. A successful result would provide organisations with clear, actionable solutions that they can adopt directly, ensuring long-term security against quantum threats.
Looking ahead, what excites you most about the post-quantum era?
What excites me most is the opportunity to redesign cybersecurity systems with adaptability and long-term resilience as core principles. The post-quantum transition is not just about replacing algorithms but about rethinking how cryptographic systems are designed, deployed, and maintained. It enables the development of more flexible architectures, hybrid cryptographic models, and integration with emerging technologies such as quantum computing itself. This shift creates a foundation for building systems that can evolve continuously, rather than becoming obsolete, which is essential in increasingly complex and interconnected digital environments.
“The post-quantum transition is not just about replacing algorithms but about rethinking how cryptographic systems are designed, deployed, and maintained.”
