Post by Q*Bird

📣 Q*Bird Insider | Ireland’s quantum leap - Walton Institute at SETU and Q*Bird deploy Ireland’s first QKD network with expandable architecture! 🇮🇪🇳🇱 Q*Bird, the Dutch leader in quantum secure communication, in collaboration with the Walton Institute at South East Technological University in Waterford (SETU), has deployed Ireland’s first multi-node, entanglement-based Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution (MDI-QKD) network. Operating over Ireland’s existing fibre infrastructure, the telecom-grade network transitions quantum security from research environments into live national infrastructure. It safeguards research, education and critical systems while enabling interoperable quantum connectivity across Ireland and Europe. The hub-and-spoke architectural network comprises of four End Nodes, one Center Hub and one Quantum Optical Switch for a scalable metropolitan deployment securing connection between the strategic Dublin city locations. Designed with an expandable architecture from the outset, the network allows any additional Q*Bird QKD Node to connect with a single fibre link and gain full quantum connectivity across the entire network. “This multi-node deployment represents a major milestone for Ireland’s national quantum infrastructure,” said Dr. Deirdre Kilbane, Director of Research at Walton Institute at SETU and Coordinator of the €10 M IrelandQCI project which is co-funded by the Irish Department of Culture, Communications and Sport and Sport and the European Commission as part of the Europe-wide EuroQCI initiative. “By integrating Q*Bird’s operational MDI-QKD Falqon® Series across research institutions, data centers and national networks, we are enabling secure, interoperable quantum communication while also creating a platform for other research institutions to join. It strengthens Ireland’s sovereignty over critical communications and contributes directly to EuroQCI and Europe’s federated quantum network vision.” 🔗 Read the full PR here: https://lnkd.in/ewBU49B4 #QBird #WaltonInstitute #quantumsecure #quantumtechnology #IrelandQCI #MDIQKD