QIA co-organises a Pan-European Quantum Internet Hackathon

As a continuation of our previous Pan-European Hackathon organised back in 2019, QIA is joining RIPE NCC, GÉANT and the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Centre to organise a Pan-European Quantum Internet Hackathon. The event will take place on the 1^st and 2^nd of December 2022, and can be joined both virtually and physically at five European cities: Amsterdam, Dublin, Padua, Poznan and Sarajevo.

This hackathon is targeting general enthusiasts, software developers, network operators and equipment vendors, as well as general web, privacy, and cryptography experts (students, researchers, industry professionals), designers, or hackers – with interest in Quantum Internet technology.

The aim of this hackathon is to develop some of the first applications that use quantum mechanics as a tool for communications, to catch a glimpse of the quantum Internet. An example of this kind of application is a browser that can load a web page over an encrypted HTTPS connection using a secret key generated by a quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol. Similarly, many other applications that need to encrypt their online traffic, such as e-mail or online messaging, can be integrated with QKD. Different protocols involving nodes of the network can be implemented, from quantum game theory to multi-party quantum measurements.

Challenges

Participants will address one of the following existing projects and challenges:

• Using SimulaQron to simulate quantum network
• Integrating QKD into OpenSSL to enable running quantum encrypted TLS connections
• Design and implement applications that use Quantum Protocol Zoo
• Use the QNE Application Development Kit

Participants will form local teams to take on challenges, and possibly even form cross-node teams. And of course, we will bring all our nodes together virtually to share projects, progress and feedback. Experts and facilitators will also be at hand to guide participants.

Venues and Travel

The event is free of charge – there is no fee to pay and food and drinks will be provided throughout the event on both days. The organisers will not be making any travel or accommodation arrangements for participants. The hackathon takes place simultaneously in five nodes. Make sure you select the node of your choice when filling in the application form. The precise locations for each node will be published closer to the actual event date.

You can learn more here.

You can register to the event here.