Skip to main content

Draft SRIA 2026: Communication

Draft SRIA 2026 overview / Technology roadmaps

Draft for consultation. This is the draft Strategic Research and Industry Agenda of the second phase of the public consultation, not an adopted agenda: chapters, goals and figures may change.

Source: Strategic Research and Industry Agenda (SRIA) for quantum technologies, Draft for the second phase of the public consultation (Quantum Flagship, 306 pages, PDF dated 2026-09-19). Summaries are in our own words; years, figures and targets are as stated, with the page.

Public consultation: closed on 2026-10-02, as stated on qt.eu. Comments were collected per chapter through the consultation page. qt.eu gives 2 October 2026 as the closing date for every chapter (consultation page and news post of 19 September 2026, read on 27 October 2026); the draft PDF (page 145) states 16 to 30 September. Responses went through one form per chapter on the consultation page.

Covers QKD and hybrid QKD-PQC networks today and entanglement-based networking towards a quantum internet, in three phases to 2035, with KPIs on performance, satellites, adoption without subsidies and certification, and public administrations as first buyers.

In the draft
Roadmap update 2: Quantum Communication Roadmap Update 2026
Pages
43–74
Themes
Infrastructure, Standards and benchmarks, Security, space and defence, Supply chain, International cooperation

Goals and milestones

Timeline of Communication in the draft SRIANumbered items by year. 2028: 2; 2030: 3, 7; 2035: 1, 4, 5, 6, 8.202620272028202920302031203220332034203523714568
Squares are goals, circles are dated milestones; the numbers match the list below.

Showing 5 of 8 items.

  1. Goal by 2035

    Europe operates the world’s most advanced quantum communication infrastructure: long-distance links between dense multi-user metropolitan networks, several validated commercial use cases and open access facilities.

    Draft SRIA, page 47

    What the portal shows today

    Technologies: Quantum communication, Quantum networks and repeaters, Quantum key distribution (QKD)

    • 442 projects
    • 85 organisations
    • 5 courses and schools
    • 32 infrastructure entries
    • 7 deployment records

    Confirmed items on the portal, each counted once.

  2. Milestone Phase 3 (2030–2035)

    Second-generation general-purpose pilots at inter-metropolitan distance (200 km), open access facilities launched, quantum-secure communication across major industrial and critical sectors and mature certification.

    Draft SRIA, pages 65 to 66

    What the portal shows today

    Technologies: Quantum networks and repeaters, Quantum key distribution (QKD)

    • 263 projects
    • 64 organisations
    • 4 courses and schools
    • 31 infrastructure entries
    • 6 deployment records

    Confirmed items on the portal, each counted once.

  3. Goal 2035 KPI

    At least 50 organisations in the EU buy and use European QKD without subsidies.

    Draft SRIA, page 61

    What the portal shows today

    Technologies: Quantum key distribution (QKD)

    • 118 projects
    • 23 organisations
    • 1 courses and schools
    • 31 infrastructure entries
    • 6 deployment records

    Confirmed items on the portal, each counted once.

  4. Goal 2035 KPI

    Inter-metropolitan pilots distribute entanglement over about 300 km at about 90% fidelity, and more than 1,000 km is shown in the lab.

    Draft SRIA, page 59

    What the portal shows today

    Technologies: Quantum networks and repeaters, Quantum memories

    • 188 projects
    • 50 organisations
    • 3 courses and schools
    • 2 infrastructure entries
    • 0 deployment records

    Confirmed items on the portal, each counted once.

  5. Goal 2035 KPI

    More than 80% of systems certified, depending on the application, with a pan-European network of accredited laboratories.

    Draft SRIA, page 62

    What the portal shows today

    Technologies: Quantum key distribution (QKD)

    • 118 projects
    • 23 organisations
    • 1 courses and schools
    • 31 infrastructure entries
    • 6 deployment records

    Confirmed items on the portal, each counted once.

KPIs as stated in the draft

KPIs of Communication: values as stated in the draft
Objective and indicator2026 baseline2030 target2035 targetPage
Quantum-safe Network performance of commercial systems (secret-key rate and reach)1 kbps secret-key rate @ 20 dB loss (~100 km); national QCIs deployed in all Member States to experiment with QKD>1 Mbps @ metropolitan scale (10 dB); long reach links (300 km / 60 dB tolerated loss); experimental cross-border links operational>10 Mbps in representative deployment settings; QKD in production for unclassified use; reach extended via terrestrial and/or space-supported infrastructure59
Quantum-safe Telecom and security integration, including hybrid QKD/PQC deployment and service availability (SA)Point-to-point hardware integration in dedicated testbeds; manual or static PQC/QKD key coupling; best-effort / lab-grade availability (< 90%)Compatibility with major telecom architectures and SDN-based environments; >3 representative use cases; SA >95% in representative use casesFull integration into telecom and security operational environments; standardized wider deployment; SA >99.9%, where required by target use cases; mature certification support59
Entanglement-based Distribution reach and fidelityEntanglement distribution demonstrated out of the lab (25 km); ~98% fidelity in 2-node scenariosMetropolitan pilot facilities distribute entanglement over ~50 km (~95% fidelity, multi-node); benchmarked distribution rate at medium scaleInter-metropolitan pilots distribute entanglement over ~300 km, stable (~90% fidelity, node/service dependent); > 1,000 km demonstrated in lab conditions59
Entanglement-based Network infrastructure and node scale2-node/point-to-point demonstrations; early general-purpose quantum network deployment≥1 field-operational pilot facility with quantum network nodes linking data-centre environments; multi-node validation at medium scaleStable 200 km inter-metropolitan quantum links; ≥10 concurrent user nodes via metropolitan hubs; multi-node, multi-platform validation at large scale60
Satellite Space-based QKD service rolloutCells of this row were assigned to columns in the reading order of the extracted table; check the page.QKD demonstrated from space in real environment (German QUBE-II); EAGLE-1 targets functional tests with ≥2 OGS by 202710+ countries have exchanged demonstration keys via EAGLE-1; IRIS² QKD microsatellite missions; ≥10 OGS across Member States, cross-border routing validatedService validation of secure key distribution from space for unclassified information; operational satellite QKD service integrated with EuroQCI pilots; multi-satellite service, Galileo-like coverage60
Satellite Space-segment performance, interoperability and certificationCells of this row were assigned to columns in the reading order of the extracted table; check the page.Space-to-ground SKR >100 bps average/pass (or > 100 kbit total key per pass) for LEO satellites; basic terrestrial–satellite interfacing, draft standards; certification limited to basic test procedures; early studies on space-based entanglement use cases>2 kbps average/pass (or > 1 Mbits total key per pass), 95% availability in clear-sky conditions; standardized integration with EuroQCI controllers; first certified satellite-QKD components; operational role of space in the quantum internet established> 10 kbps operational service during pass (or > 20 Mbits per pass / multi-satellite / MEO-GEO relays); >99% priority-service availability; multidomain orchestration across fibre, satellite and repeater links; security accreditation for critical use; entanglement from space demonstrated60
End users QKD adoptionSubsidised pilot projects on use cases in demo environmentsSecurity agencies have defined the conditions under which certified hybrid QKD-PQC deployments meet their requirements≥50 organisations in the EU purchase and consume EU QKD without subsidies61
End users Entanglement-based adoptionInitial catalog of documented entanglement use cases published; early lab-level PoCs for device-independent QKD (DI-QKD) and distributed quantum sensingDetailed PoC plans developed with early adopters across 3 vertical sectorsField-validated PoC pilots operating on established European testbeds, connecting 5 operational end-user sites for distributed quantum processing and secure clock synchronization61
Certification and standardisation Standards and procurement criteriaLandscape still centred on ongoing ETSI work (e.g. ETSI ISG QKD); ≥10 European SMEs already active in standards development, interoperability tested in pilotsFull set of draft standards across several SDOs (ETSI, CEN/CENELEC JTC22, ISO, ITU, IETF); procurement criteria standardised; standardised APIs/monitoring interfaces adopted by major European vendors, multi-vendor interoperability validated in ≥3 cross-border pilotsMature, approved and adopted standards set; seamless interoperability between European QKD domains; European certification ecosystem recognised internationally61
Certification and standardisation Certified systems and accredited testingCertification on a "working, best-effort" basis; mostly research-grade labs, fragmented attack cataloguesTesting facilities established, 1/3 of systems tested; standardised attack libraries/validation procedures for major implementation attacks; accredited labs perform standardised component/system evaluation>80% of systems certified (application-dependent); pan-European network of accredited laboratories supports certification and continuous conformity assessment62

What the portal shows today

Read-only figures of this portal, for orientation; they are not SRIA figures and do not measure progress against the draft.

Confirmed items of the technologies of this chapter

  • 442 projects
  • 85 organisations
  • 5 courses and schools
  • 32 infrastructure entries
  • 7 deployment records

Technology hubs: Quantum communication, Quantum key distribution (QKD), Quantum random number generation, Quantum networks and repeaters, Quantum memories, Satellite quantum communication

Infrastructure deployment tracker

Current Flagship KPIs (SAB booklet 2025)

Suggested experts

People with recent published works in the matching technology families, from open sources (OpenAlex). Professional information only.

  • Hannes Hübel, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH (38 quantum works on Quantum key distribution (QKD))
  • Angela Sara Cacciapuoti, University of Naples Federico II (30 quantum works on Quantum networks and repeaters)
  • Marcello Caleffi, University of Naples Federico II (29 quantum works on Quantum networks and repeaters)
  • Bernhard Schrenk, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH (28 quantum works on Quantum key distribution (QKD))
  • Florian Honz, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH (26 quantum works on Quantum key distribution (QKD))

More experts in the directory · About this directory