PTQCI is the name of the national application for the implementation of the first segment of a quantum communication network in Portugal, submitted in March 2022 and recently approved, through a consortium that includes relevant Portuguese organizations in the area of ​​Technology and Security, belonging to the State, Academia and Industry.

The consortium aims to implement — at the national level and under the coordination of Gabinete Nacional de Segurança (Portugal’s National Security Office) in synergy with the company Deimos Engenharia ME — the first ultra-secure quantum communication infrastructure, through terrestrial connections. It also intends to prepare for space connection, using quantum encryption technologies such as Quantum Key Distribution (QKD).

The application in question was approved by the European Commission on July 15, 2022, belonging to a consortium composed of 14 organizations, namely: Gabinete Nacional Segurança (GNS), Deimos Engenharia (DME), IP Telecom PT Altice Labs (ALB), Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT), INESC-ID Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores – Investigação e Desenvolvimento (with Ricardo Chaves coordinating INESC-ID’s participation in this consortium), Adyta (A), Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Warpcom (W), Omnidea, Lda (O), ISEL – Instituto Superior De Engenharia De Lisboa, Instituto Português da Qualidade – IPQ and the Portuguese Quantum Institute (PQI).

This project will run from 2023 to 2026 over a period of 30 months, comprising the following phases:

  • 2023- Design of the implementation phases;
  • 2024- Standardization and integration of DISCRETION in the infrastructure;
  • 2025- Implementation of functional and security tests;
  • 2026- Infrastructure implementation phase.