Advancing Europe's Quantum Leadership via Collaborative Efforts: The MADQuantum-CM Initiative
For the International Year of Quantum Science and Technologies declared by UNESCO, the Community of Madrid decided to allocate 16 million euros to research projects on quantum communication and cybersecurity. The development of these technologies can be beneficial, as their solutions can both offer resistance to cyberattacks and improve the security of digital communications. Among the list of initiatives funded by the regional government is MadQuantum-CM, a project that aims to enhance secure communications by deploying a scalable quantum key distribution (QKD) network across Madrid that will become become a permanent EuroQCI (the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure, a pan-European network for secure quantum communications) node, foster a quantum industry, and develop real-world use cases in critical sectors, while also training specialized researchers.
The project is led by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) and the IMDEA Software Institute. Its consortium encompasses a wide array of partners, which include IMDEA Networks Institute, Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA), Centro Español de Metrología (CEM), Fundación Vithas, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) and Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM).
For its part, IMDEA Networks has involved 5TONIC in this project for its role as a leading laboratory in the advancement of 5G and 6G technologies and its proven expertise in fostering collaboration among various organizations and companies for the development of use cases based on new technologies. The project also involves, as subcontractors, the 5TONIC members Telefónica and the University Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M), whose collaboration is fundamental. By combining UC3M’s expertise in quantum networks and software-defined architectures with 5TONIC‘s experimentation capabilities in 5G and 6G environments, an innovative testbed has been deployed in the latter’s data center. This project relies on fibre optics provided by Telefónica to expand the infrastructure to the most extensive quantum communications network in Europe. This synergy between advanced telecommunications infrastructure and quantum technology would establish inherently secure communications based on the principles of quantum mechanics.
The project has developed an innovative solution for secure end-to-end key distribution, combining Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technologies with cloud-native architectures and SDN software-defined networking. This solution has been successfully validated in the 5TONIC lab testbed and relies on a disaggregated and virtualised key management layer, deployed on top of Kubernetes clusters. This architecture allows the establishment of dynamic sessions, even in multi-hop scenarios with trusted nodes, the application of authentication and in-real-time access control, the guarantee of service quality per session, and the detection of link failures or degradations to dynamically adapt the network.
Moreover, thanks to ETSI standards-compliant interfaces, applications can request keys that the system delivers transparently and securely, even in cases where a QKD link does not directly connect endpoints. The centralised control plane orchestrates the entire process, managing access, optimising routing and responding to failures. For validation, the Quditto platform has been used to create digital twins of QKD networks and simulate key exchange flows in real topologies.
Within the framework of the project, IMDEA and UC3M researchers, led by professors Francisco Varela and Iván Vidal, developed an advanced testbed solution for secure end-to-end key distribution, combining QKD with cloud-native and SDN architectures. This resource relies on a virtualised and disaggregated key management layer, which is deployed on top of Kubernetes clusters. Thanks to this architecture, it is possible to establish dynamic sessions in complex scenarios with multiple hops between trusted nodes. Furthermore, real-time authentication and access control can be applied, quality of service can be guaranteed for each session, and link failures or degradations can be detected, allowing the network to adapt dynamically. Through ETSI standards-compliant interfaces, applications request keys that the system delivers transparently and securely, even when a QKD link does not directly connect the endpoints. The centralised control plane drives the entire process, managing access, optimising routing and responding to failures. For validation, the Quditto platform was used, which enables the creation of digital twins of QKD networks and the simulation of key exchange flows in real topologies.
A Strategic Milestone for Quantum-Driven Network Evolution
Our participation in the project has played a strategic role in the progress of the MADQuantum-CM programme. Thanks to our advanced 5G/6G experimentation facilities and UC3M’s expertise in quantum networks and software architectures, they have managed to integrate diverse quantum, post-quantum and classical technologies (QKD, pQKD, PUFs, firewalls) in a unified operating environment. This has allowed them to validate interoperability between different domains and vendors, thus addressing one of the key challenges in the initial phase of quantum infrastructure. In addition, they have developed and tested virtualised strategies for key management and monitoring, in line with ETSI and ITU-T standards, promoting scalable and adaptable network architectures. They have also simulated real threats, such as eavesdropping attacks, in a controlled environment to test dynamic mitigation mechanisms. Finally, they connected research with industrial relevance, deploying these innovations in a real 5G/6G context.
«The synergy between the different players in the ecosystem, from operators such as Telefónica to research centres such as UC3M and IMDEA Networks, is fundamental to the success of the project,» adds Carlos J. Bernardos, Vice-President of 5TONIC and full professor at UC3M. “In turn, our influence extends beyond traditional communications, actively contributing to the technological development in the field of quantum communications. In this context, our lab becomes a catalyst for innovation, facilitating knowledge transfer and the creation of cutting-edge solutions.”
Besides, the establishment of the quantum communications testbed at the 5TONIC facilities, within the framework of the MADQuantum-CM project, is a key milestone for Madrid. This innovation and collaboration between sectors provides the city with a strategic hub for the development of quantum technologies at the national and European levels. The active cooperation between entities such as 5TONIC, Telefónica, and IMDEA Networks illustrates the public-private model essential to leading this technological transformation, thereby driving the deployment of secure quantum communications networks in Europe.