Project Croatian Quantum Communication Infrastructure – CroQCI it forms the foundation for building modern infrastructure that will protect national critical infrastructure, such as government institutions, essential service operators, and digital service providers, from emerging cyber threats. With a total value of 9.9 million euros, the project is funded in equal proportions by the Digital Europe program and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The CroQCI project encompasses the implementation of experimental infrastructure for quantum key distribution (QKD) via a fiber optic network and establishes prerequisites for future space connectivity. This will enable the national strategic communication infrastructure to be upgraded for more secure information exchange. It also plans to connect Croatian quantum communication infrastructure with comparable infrastructures of neighboring EU member states and full integration into the future EuroQCI network.
The Republic of Croatia recognized the importance of the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) initiative and signed the Declaration on a European Quantum Communication Infrastructure in 2019, committing to implementing activities for the construction of a secure quantum communication infrastructure that will cover the entire European Union. The initiative currently includes all European Union member states working on the design and construction of national quantum communication networks, as well as the European Space Agency, responsible for the space component.
The main goal of the quantum communication network being developed in the CroQCI project is to lay the foundation for more secure network communication. In an era of increasing reliance on digital services and network-based communication, there are significant risks of cyberattacks aimed at stealing sensitive data. It is predicted that with the advent of computers with greater processing power, existing network communication security mechanisms will not be sufficient, and attackers are already collecting and storing encrypted network traffic with sensitive data today to decrypt it in the future. With the arrival of quantum computers, serious compromises in the security and confidentiality of data protected by conventional encryption mechanisms can be expected. This applies to most network traffic on the internet and is particularly concerning in the case of sensitive data from the financial, healthcare, energy, transport, and similar sectors. Therefore, a new paradigm for protection in the digital space needs to be found, and quantum technologies in quantum communication networks are emerging as one solution for ultra-secure data protection.
The National CroQCI consortium consists of key national research and scientific institutions, higher education institutions, public institutions, and public enterprises. The project leader and coordinator is the Croatian Academic and Research Network – CARNet, with scientific leadership from the Ruđer Bošković Institute. Partner organizations include the University Computing Centre of the University of Zagreb, the Institute of Physics, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science of the University of Zagreb, the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences of the University of Zagreb, Odašiljači i veze (Croatian Transmission and Communication Services), and the Office of the National Security Council.
Knowledge transfer between the research community and partner institutions will enable the production of components, devices, and software for the application of new quantum technologies. This will have an important impact on promoting the use of high technology and economic growth, not only in Croatia but also in the broader European context. The demonstration of QKD within the project will provide an opportunity for education and training of users in quantum communication technologies and will increase readiness for the design and implementation of next-generation highly secure communication networks.
