On October 31st, 2018, NUST MISIS hosted the opening ceremony of the National Center of Technological Initiative for Quantum Communication technology. Improvement of quantum communications facilities, training world-class specialists in the field of quantum engineering, research in the field of quantum network vulnerability, and the creation of quantum communication systems for satellites are among the Center’s main responsibilities. The center’s financing through 2022 will amount to 2 billion Rubles.
The NTI Center for Competences has been modeled after NUST MISIS in partnership with the Russian Quantum Center (RQC), which also includes the Steklov Institute of Mathematics, RANEPA, Tomsk State University, and small innovative enterprises specializing in quantum communications. The Russian Venture Company, the project’s operator, will provide support and monitoring for the NTI Center for Competences.
“In 2016, NUST MISIS and the RQC launched the joint scientific and educational project ‘The NUST MISIS Quantum Center’, where Russian and world-leading scientists in collaboration with world-class research centers would implement a number of research programs in the field of quantum technologies. In 2018, the project has reached a new level: NUST MISIS won the Russian Venture Company contest, which was held with the Russian government`s support for the National Center of Technological Initiative. During this year, the National Center of Technological Initiative for end-to-end ‘Quantum Communication’ technology was created together with the RQC and through the support of Gazprombank”, said Alevtina Chernikova, Rector of NUST MISIS.
The purpose of the Center is to form a stable scientific and technical connection between research groups engaged in quantum communications and its business. According to experts, the field of quantum communications is one of the most promising directions for commercialization, because cryptography, based on fundamental laws of nature, can make data transmissions completely invulnerable to hacker attacks, which is vital in today`s world as all IT infrastructure needs protection.
Yuri Kurochkin, head of the Quantum Communications Lab, noted “quantum communications is what will determine the future of information technologies and the world`s leading companies, such as Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, etc., have already invested hundreds of millions of dollars into its development. It is necessary to invest in the developments today in order to achieve tangible results in the next
5-15 years, and that`s why the creation of the NTI Center and the state support [it has received] is a critical and timely step”.
The Russian Quantum Center is one of the leading research centers in the field of quantum technologies. The most important part of the RQC`s work is the presence of the international expertise forum’s Advisory Councils, which include leading scientists (including two Nobel prize winners), and representatives of the business community.
Speaking about the upcoming plans, Ruslan Yunusov, Chief Executive Officer of the RQC, noted that during the next year, the Center will try to solve a large number of various tasks including infrastructure and personal issues.
The labs of the NTI Center are headed by leading scientists in their fields: Vadim Makarov, a world-renowned scientist in the field of vulnerability detection of quantum communication systems from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology; Yuri Kurochkin, a quantum cryptography specialist and Technical Director at QRate; and Aleksey Fedorov, the creator of the world`s first quantum blockchain.
