Dr. Ilias Papastamatiou, Senior Project Manager at GRNET, TNC25 Programme Committee Member, and Coordinator of HellasQCI, will chair the session “Building the Quantum Future: NRENs at the Forefront” on 11 June 2025.
GRNET will participate at TNC25, GÉANT’s flagship event and the leading conference for research and education networks, 9–13 June 2025 in Brighton, United Kingdom. The event is hosted by Jisc, the UK’s National Research and Education Network, and brings together experts and stakeholders to tackle pressing issues on cybersecurity, international partnerships, and network resilience. By bringing together decision-makers, networking and security specialists, identity and access management experts, researchers, academics and students TNC fosters cross-disciplinary dialogue and aims to deliver future-proof solutions to current and emerging challenges.
GRNET is proud to be a member of the TNC25 Programme Committee, contributing to the shaping of this year’s conference agenda. Dr. Ilias Papastamatiou, Senior Project Manager at GRNET, TNC25 Programme Committee Member, HellasQCI Project Coordinator, will chair the session “Building the Quantum Future: NRENs at the Forefront”, taking place on 11 June 2025, 16:00–17:30, at the Studio Theatre.
This session offers a comprehensive update, through four (4) presentations, on quantum developments shaping the research and education networking landscape, with a focus on the central role of NRENs and GEANT in enabling secure, future-ready infrastructures.The session brings together five National Quantum Communication Infrastructures (NatQCIs), part of the pan-European EuroQCI initiative: GRNET (HellasQCI – Greece), PSNC (PIONIER-Q – Poland), BELNET (BeQCI – Belgium), SURF (QCINed – Netherlands), and LatNET (LatQN – Latvia).
Session Presentations:
- Quantum Technologies Initiatives and Current Landscape in Europe – Synergies and Alignment with NREN Community Activities
Exploring how European quantum initiatives align with NREN efforts to foster strategic collaboration and coherence across the research landscape.
Speakers: Domenico (Dom) Vicinanza (GÉANT), Piotr Rydlichowski (PSNC – Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center)
- Quantum-Safe Communication at Scale: Leveraging MDI-QKD for On-Demand Key Distribution
Showcasing how Belnet’s BeQCI project uses MDI-QKD to enable scalable, on-demand quantum-secure communications—and the practical challenges involved.
Speaker: Jonathan Van Overmeir (BELNET)
- SURF’s QKD testbed deployment
Demonstrating the integration of QKD technologies in real-world NREN infrastructure, with insights into deployment challenges and cross-vendor interoperability.
Speaker: David Maier (SURF)
- On Quantum-Secure Layer 3 (IP) and Layer 2 Networking
Presenting Latvia’s national QKD backbone and its experimental integration into IP and Layer 2 networks using hybrid quantum-classical security approaches.
Speaker: Sergejs Kozlovics (Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Latvia)
Participation in TNC25 offers GRNET the opportunity to engage with international peers, share national developments, and contribute to shaping the future of digital infrastructure for research and education. It also supports GRNET’s strategic role in advancing innovative technologies such as quantum communication at both national and European levels.
