Collaboration To Foster European Involvement in Future Quantum Standards

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PISA - Italy , July 1^st, 2026 - StandICT.eu & PQ Next announce their collaboration with the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Quantum technologies are moving towards technological maturity and wider adoption. From a market perspective, one measure to accelerate development and uptake is the promotion of coordinated, dedicated standardisation and certification efforts. Currently, the industry is relatively fragmented, with few to no standards in place. And yet, standardisation is a crucial foundation for the field to mature and harmonise the European quantum supply chains through interoperability across systems, technologies, ecosystems, and companies. Standardisation facilitates the development of new technologies and the creation of efficient, effective supply chains. With this in mind, two European research and innovation initiatives have joined forces to foster the European contribution to developing these required new quantum standards.

On one side, StandICT.eu, a EU-funded initiative that has been running since 2018 with the central objective of fostering the participation of European experts in international ICT standardisation. To reach this goal, it has four main axes: first, it runs a Fellowship programme funding 300+ European standardisation experts through 6 Open calls, providing over 4M€ in direct funding. Secondly, it manages the European Observatory for ICT Standardisation (EUOS), an interactive online ecosystem that includes an up-to-date standards repository and working groups sharing insights on ongoing standardisation efforts across different initiatives. Thirdly, via its Academy, it trains future experts in ICT standardisation. Moreover, it proposes a mentoring programme that connects ICT standardisation professionals to exchange knowledge and best practices, thereby improving engagement in global digital standardisation.

StandICT.eu focuses on horizontal and vertical ICT fields as defined in the Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation; one of the focuses is quantum computing and technologies. Through its fellowship programme, it has supported several European experts financially in developing standards and chairing working groups across different Standards Development Organisations (SDOs), namely CEN/CENELEC, ETSI, ISO, and ISO/IEC. This topic remains a priority within the Fellowship Programme and its future open calls.

On the other side, PQ-NEXT, a European research and innovation project co-funded by the European Union, aims to develop a migration framework to analyse and model scenarios for a smooth transition to post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) standards, with tailored migration plans. PQ-Next focuses especially on Quantum cryptography-related standards with the aim of engaging the project’s results in the development of new standards in this field.

This announced collaboration can further consolidate these commitments of both projects

“Europe’s position in quantum technologies will depend on its capacity to turn research excellence into a consistent and coordinated influence in global standardisation. The collaboration with PQ-Next is a great opportunity to strengthen that pathway, helping experts engage where future requirements for trust, interoperability and competitiveness are being defined.” reflects Maria Giuffrida, StandICT.eu Coordinator (from Trust-IT) about this collaboration.

"Post-quantum cryptography is not a future concern, it is an immediate priority. The work we are doing within PQ-Next to develop migration frameworks and engage with standardisation bodies will be more effective when undertaken in joint action with initiatives like StandICT.eu. Together, we can ensure that Europe shapes the global standards that will underpin the security of our digital infrastructure for decades to come." says Akis Kourtis, PQ-NEXT project coordinator (from Demokritos) about this collaboration.