FORTH is the leading public research center in Greece, and one of the top research centers in Europe. Its activities span many fields including, but not limited to, quantum technologies, photonics, astrophysics, cyber security, informatics and networking.

FORTH participates in HellasQCI with the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL), the Institute of Astrophysics (IA), and the Institute of Computer Science (ICS). The group for Theoretical Quantum Optics and Technologies at IESL-FORTH, has documented expertise on various aspects of quantum cryptography, including security analysis of QKD protocols, cryptographic applications of physical unclonable functions, and quantum public-key cryptography. Members of the group have participated in various EU projects on quantum technologies, including FP6 IP SECOQC program (which was targeting the development of the first European QKD network), and SFB CROSSING program, which focuses on “Cryptography-Based Security Solutions: Enabling Trust in New and Next Generation Computing Environments”, and it is funded by DFG.

ICS-FORTH brings expertise in the area of cybersecurity through the Distributed Computing Systems and Cybersecurity (DiSCS) laboratory. DiSCS has a long experience in leading global research activities in the area of cybersecurity. It has been (i) the founding coordinator of SysSec: The European Network of Excellence in Threats and Vulnerabilities for the Future Internet, consisting of 8 partners and more than 70 associated partners funded in part by the European Commission, (ii) the coordinator of the NoAH project which installed one of the largest academic Network of honeypots in Europe, and (iii) the founding member of SENTER: The European Network of the National Centers of Excellence in Cybercrime Research Training and Education.

Skinakas observatory is a common research infrastructure of the University of Crete and FORTH. Its day to day operation is managed by the IA-FORTH. It is among the three observatories in Greece, selected by the Ministry of Digital Governance, to participate in ScyLight, HydRON as well as SAGA projects of ESA for the preparation of the space segment of the EuroQCI. As a result of an ESA ITT (1-10938) is under development and it will be formally issued in April 2022.

Finally, FORTH collaborates closely with the nearby University General Hospital of Heraklion (UGH), in the framework of the Greek National Network of Precision Medicine in Cardiology (GR i Cardiac NET). In HellasQCI, FORTH participates mainly in WP3, WP4, and WP5, while it is involved in use cases 6 and 14.