IrelandQCI showcased at Waterford Chamber Business Expo Innovation Zone
In early April, IrelandQCI was showcased at Waterford Chamber Business Expo – a fantastic industry event, with a strong turn out of cross-sector representatives from across the south east. This year’s Expo saw an exciting new addition to the event, with the debut of the Innovation Zone, hosted by Walton Institute at South East Technological University (SETU.)
The Innovation Zone served as a dynamic hub where business representatives explored the latest advancements across key sectors such as Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Health, and Quantum Technologies. The area also became a hotspot for valuable networking and learning opportunities.
Walton Institute’s Director of Research and Project Lead for IrelandQCI Dr Deirdre Kilbane represented IrelandQCI alongside members of the research team including Jimí Ó Baoill de Faoite, pictured.
Fellow Walton researchers were on site to present other ongoing innovative projects, as well as various representatives from SETU’s Xcelerate Centre, Technology Transfer Office, SEAM Research Centre, PMBRC, TU Rise and more.
A particularly informative panel discussion took place on the topic, ‘Innovation in the Region’, chaired by Marian Walsh of Carron + Walsh. The panel was made up of key voices in the innovation space across the south-east of Ireland:
⭐ Kevin Doolin, Executive Director of Walton Institute, SETU & President of Waterford Chamber
⭐ Richard Hayes, Vice President of Strategy, SETU
⭐ Frances Hardiman, Head (Carlow) of Faculty of Engineering & Built Environment, SETU
⭐ Ken Thomas, Head (Waterford) of Faculty of Engineering & Built Environment, SETU
IrelandQCI
IrelandQCI ‘Building a National Quantum Communication Infrastructure for Ireland’ incorporates integrating innovative and secure quantum devices and systems into conventional communication infrastructure. The project aim is establishing an infrastructure for Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), a method of communication based on sharing encryption keys using quantum physics in a manner that boosts security, which will be distributed over the existing classical network, creating a quantum communication network that will provide a huge increase to information security in Ireland.
Funding bodies
Co-funded by the European Commission, European Space Agency and the Irish Government’s Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, IrelandQCI is the €10 million Irish project within the EU-wide Quantum Communications Infrastructure (EuroQCI) programme.
IrelandQCI is one of several across the EU which sees the European Commission working with 27 Member States towards the deployment of a secure quantum communication infrastructure spanning the EU. This project has received funding from the European Union’s DIGITAL Europe Programme under grant agreement No. 101091520.
Consortium partners
Waterford’s Walton Institute, at South East Technological University (SETU), is leading the IrelandQCI project on behalf of CONNECT Research Ireland Centre for Future Networks and Communications, with partners specialising in quantum technologies at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and University College Cork (UCC)’s Tyndall National Institute, with support from University College Dublin (UCD) and Maynooth University (MU) and the Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC) at University of Galway. HEAnet and ESB Telecoms are also key partners in the project, as the quantum communications network is being built across the dark fibre optic network of ESB Telecoms parallel to the existing HEAnet backbone between Dublin, Waterford and Cork.