On 28–30 September 2026, the prestigious annual QCI Days 2026 conference took place at Centro Congressi Fiera di Padova in Italy. This leading European event brings together experts, research organisations, public authorities, and industry representatives to discuss the development of quantum communications and the establishment of the pan-European EuroQCI infrastructure.
The CZQCI project team, operating within CyberSecurityHubCZ, was also in attendance.
The three-day summit featured an intensive programme focused on the latest technological trends and the practical implementation of quantum networks. Participants discussed the current state of national and cross-border quantum networks, post-quantum cryptography, standardisation, certification, and system orchestration. Particular attention was given to sharing best practices among representatives of national projects funded by the European Digital Europe Programme (DEP) and the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
For the Czech delegation, the event provided an excellent opportunity to share its experience in developing the Czech quantum communication infrastructure and strengthen international cooperation with partners from Austria, Poland, Slovakia, and other European countries.
A key moment of the Czech delegation’s participation was the presentation by doc. Jan Bouda of CyberSecurityHubCZ, which took place on 30 September. As part of the “Transitioning from National to Cross-Border Networks” session, he provided an in-depth overview of the Czech CZQCI project. Funded by the Digital Europe Programme (DEP), the project aims to build a secure national quantum communication network in the Czech Republic.
During the panel discussion, representatives of similar projects from Austria (QCI-CAT), Poland (PionierQ), and Slovakia (skQCI) explored concrete steps towards connecting individual national networks into a unified cross-border EuroQCI architecture.
The active involvement of the CZQCI team reaffirmed the Czech Republic’s growing role as one of the key contributors to the development of the pan-European quantum network. Connecting national networks through the EuroQCI infrastructure will significantly strengthen cybersecurity and digital sovereignty across the European Union.
Kickoff for EuroQSS: The European research and innovation project aims to develop an open, interoperable quantum software stack, balancing hardware specifics with abstraction.
More than 50 member organisations of the Czech National Semiconductor Cluster (CNSC) met in Brno on 24 September.
