Delivering a system hardened, scalable, and interoperable QKD solution (DHSI-QKD)

This project delivers a next generation QKD solution designed for telecommunications production environments. This system addresses additional near term market demands not met by current offerings; high levels of security, robustness and networking flexibility - all whilst being delivered at speed and at scale. As deployment of QKD becomes more widespread, transitioning from lab-based verification to national testbeds & commercial trials and services, network and data centre operators are increasingly demanding features in QKD products that are standard in other technologies in their operational stack. The challenge is threefold; firstly, deployment in mission critical data environments demands a level of security currently not widely available in QKD systems. Secondly, deployment in complex networks requires a level of flexibility not easily achieved with point to point QKD products; and thirdly, as the demand for quantum-safe communications grows, the solutions must be extremely reliable and be available at scale. Whilst current QKD systems can offer some of these features, there is not a single product on the market that can meet the full set of requirements. As a result, there is a significant opportunity for an entrant into the market that can provide the scale, security and flexibility that customers are demanding. By delivering a QKD system that meets the key demands from the market of security, reliability and flexibility at scale for the first time, we can ensure that the UK can be at the heart of the global supply chain for commercial quantum-safe communications.