A vision for quantum cyber security

The Quantum Communications Hub wanted to engage industry with Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), an early stage technology which uses quantum physics to securely encrypt data.

The Hub wanted to showcase its achievements in Phase 1 of the UK Quantum Technologies Programme, and set the scene for Phase 2.

It also wanted to create a strategic piece of content which demonstrated the value of QKD to the economy, set out its vision for the UK to become a world leader, and engage businesses in telecoms, finance and security that need to be involved in developing and using QKD.

An initial meeting with Tim Spiller, Director of the Hub, scoped out the report. This was supplemented by interviews with experts at The University of Cambridge, The National Physical Laboratory, BT, Toshiba Research Europe, and KETS Quantum.

The resulting report demonstrates achievements to government backers; and explains commercial opportunities to industries such as IT, electronics, finance, space, and defence.

We also developed ‘What’s in it for me’  one pagers for target sectors.

At the UK National Quantum Technologies Showcase, the materials proved useful in cutting through vast complexity and explaining the opportunities of QKD. The report garnered praise from quantum experts at Oxford University, BT and Toshiba, who were keen to use it as part of their own drive to promote QKD.

Georgia Mortzou, Quantum Communications Hub Project Manager, said:

“The Hub is turning scientific research into commercial applications. This naturally means we are more familiar with academic styles of communication, but we are aware that we need to communicate better with business.”

“Memetic did an excellent job of drawing out the expertise from our network, and articulating it in a way that was informative and inspiring to a business audience, whilst still having the rigour to be valuable and credible in the eyes of our academic partners. That is a very challenging thing to achieve. These materials will be hugely useful for us as we move into Phase 2, which will require much greater focus on industry engagement.”