Almaviva to lead an EU project to defend against quantum threats

Future conflicts will increasingly be played out in cyberspace, between computer networks, digital identities and cryptographic systems. And, in this new scenario, Europe is preparing to equip itself with defensive tools that are equal to the threats. A concrete step now comes with the selection, under the European Defence Fund 2024 (Edf24) programme, of Q-Arm: an international project, led by the Italian group Almaviva, which aims to develop an advanced system for military communication, capable of resisting attacks conducted with quantum technologies.

The name Q-Arm comes from a meaningful acronym. It stands for Quantum Agile and Resilient Military Communications and promises, as is often the case with technology, to anticipate a risk that has not yet manifested itself on a large scale, but could soon become a reality: quantum hacking, i.e. the use of quantum computers to decipher the most sophisticated confidential communications in a matter of seconds.

Q-ARM is one of only three projects chosen at continental level in the Disruptive Technologies - Quantum category and aims to create a resilient, secure and interoperable platform for European defence. In detail, as explained in a note by Almaviva itself, it envisages the creation of a platform for military communications that is quantum threat-proof: it will be a mix of post-quantum cryptography, quantum key distribution (Qkd), blockchain, satellites, fibre-optic networks and secure digital identity management. A complex ecosystem, it is clear, but designed for a simple defence: to ensure the protection of European military communications and the resilience of those critical infrastructures - energy, logistics, institutional - that are today sensitive targets for hybrid or cyber attacks.

As for Almaviva - a group founded in 1983, which has long since ceased to be that system integrator that put together the pieces of others, but today is, and increasingly wants to be recognised, as a global tech company - this is an acknowledgement that in terms of strategic positioning goes well beyond the economic value recognised by the EU for this project (five million euros for the initial step). The words of the group's CEO, Marco Tripi, are eloquent in this sense: 'The entry of Project Q-Arm into the EDF programme,' reads a note, 'marks a strategic step change in the company's positioning in the defence sector. We are putting our technologies and expertise at the service of Europe to provide innovative technological tools for the protection of communications and critical EU infrastructures'. A turning point, therefore, for the group's industrial identity to bring its expertise in software, technology, artificial intelligence, cloud, and security to the defence field as well.

The project will be developed by a consortium coordinated by Almaviva and composed of 10 partners from 7 European countries, including leading scientific institutions such as the Warsaw Polytechnic, the Military Academy of Technology of Poland, the French Defence Research Institute, and several industrial players such as Zanasi Alessandro Srl and Almaviva de Belgique.