AIT is part of several projects funded under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) program. Among other activities, AIT will contribute its experience in Key Management Systems (KMS) and Software Defined Networks (SDN) for Quantum Key Distribution Networks (QKDN) namely the AURORA QCI suite. The projects are briefly introduced here.
AIT coordinates BAT-QCI (Bavaria-Austria Quantum Communication Infrastructure, project number 101249609), with the main objective to connect Vienna and Munich terrestrially and establish an Eagle-1 compatible OGS in Vienna. The in-person Kick-off took place in July 2026 to spark relevant topics now being worked on.
The project CEQCI (Implement QCI network in Central Europe, project number 101249538) will connect Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania with an OGS in Budapest and Innsbruck. The formal Kick-off took place in early 2026, an in-person workshop was conducted in Budapest to facilitate the already very productive activities.
The QCI-AT-CZ-PL project (QCI Networks Interconnection Czech Republic – Poland – Austria, project number 101249790) implements a QCI infrastructure between Austria, Czechia and Poland. The project connects important infrastructure, such as Quantum Computing and high performance computing services.
The QCIMED project (Mediterranean Quantum Connectivity, project number 101249740) connects Italy and Austria and establishes two OGS: one fixed in Matera (Italy) and one mobile. It also tests a submarine fibre connection to Greece.
With these projects, the Austrian section of the QCIs is currently planned to be comprise 10 – 15 nodes all powered by the AURORA KMS and AURORA SDN.
Find all CEF projects, the original source of the post image and more information on EuroQCI here: https://hadea.ec.europa.eu/programmes/connecting-europe-facility/about/quantum-communication-infrastructure-euroqci_en