Quantum-Secure Communications at Dublin City Council

Partners in the IrelandQCI project successfully demonstrated quantum-secure communication at Dublin City Council headquarters today, as part of the project’s first engagement with a local authority.

The demonstration, which was coordinated by Smart Docklands, took place under the IrelandQCI (Ireland Quantum Communication Infrastructure) project, the €10 million DIGITAL Europe EuroQCI initiative to build a national quantum communication infrastructure for Ireland. IrelandQCI co-funded by the European Commission and the Irish Government’s Department of Culture, Communications and Sport. The project is coordinated by Walton Institute at South East Technological University on behalf of CONNECT Centre headquartered at Trinity College Dublin.

 

Connect 17.2.26 Pic Paul Sharp/SHARPPIX

Quantum Communications: The Future of Cybersecurity

For governments and cities, early adoption of quantum-secure communications is key to ensuring long-term resilience across critical public services, including Government, healthcare, finance, energy, and emergency response.

This first Government Use Case involved collaborating with the IrelandQCI partners including Asiera, who deployed quantum communication systems on the existing Dublin City Council municipal fibre network. This demonstrates how local authorities can strengthen cybersecurity, enabling the use of their own publicly owned networks to provide connectivity for critical infrastructure, citizen data, and digital city services requiring the utmost protection.

The Demonstration

The test involved creating a highly secure connection between two strategic Dublin City Council locations with the expertise of project partner Asiera. During the trial, the IrelandQCI consortium of partners successfully tested quantum-based security technology in a real operational environment, showing that it works reliably under everyday conditions.

This trial was delivered as part of the Smart Docklands programme of advanced technology trials, a joint initiative between Dublin City Council and the CONNECT Centre.