Vodafone partners with IBM to prepare for the
quantum era of applications in telecommunications
NEW YORK, Nov. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM)
announced today at the IBM Quantum Summit 2022 that Vodafone Group
is collaborating with IBM on quantum-safe cybersecurity, and also
joining the IBM Quantum Network, which will give the company cloud
access to IBM's advanced quantum computing systems, as well as
IBM's industry-leading quantum expertise. The multinational
telecommunications company will work with IBM to help validate and
progress potential quantum use cases in telecommunications.
As part of this collaboration, Vodafone will explore quantum
computing for a variety of telco use cases. The company will also
advance their employees' skills in quantum technology through
iterative prototyping led by IBM, as well as actively recruit
quantum computing experts, to build a dedicated capability within
its ranks.
Throughout this engagement, Vodafone will explore how to apply
IBM Quantum Safe cryptography technology across its entire and
diverse network infrastructure and systems. Future quantum
computers will pose a threat to today's standard security, such as
public key encryption. Quantum-safe cryptography protocols not only
exist today, and offer the capability to help protect classical
data and systems from these future quantum computers' potential
decryption capabilities, but the US National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST) recently announced that four algorithms —
three of which IBM helped develop have been chosen to be part of a
protocol for standardization by 2024. Vodafone's exploration of
these protocols marks an IBM Quantum Safe first in understanding
and preparing for this risk in telecommunications.
"Partnering with IBM provides us with access to quantum
technology which has the potential to provide incredible network
optimization. It's the sort of innovation that existing computers
will never achieve alone, allowing us to save energy, reduce costs
and give customer great connectivity in more places," said
Luke Ibbetson, head of group R&D
at Vodafone Group. "Investing in quantum-safe cryptography, now,
also gives us the peace of mind that our infrastructure and
customer data will also always be secure as we explore the benefits
of quantum computing."
"Vodafone, as a leading mover in telco, is setting the example
for their industry by exploring quantum computing applications for
their business operations, as well as applying quantum-safe
cryptography protocols to protect their long-term data and
systems," said Scott Crowder, Vice
President, IBM Quantum Adoption and Business Development. "We're
excited to partner with Vodafone to help them simultaneously adopt
quantum technology, and move to quantum-safe technology as they
serve an entire ecosystem of operators, vendors, regulators, and
open-source community."
IBM and Vodafone are also among initial members of the recently
announced GSMA Post-Quantum Telco Network Taskforce, whose mission
is to help define policy, regulation and operator business
processes for the enhanced protection of telecommunications in a
future of advanced quantum computing.
Vodafone joins more than 200 members of the IBM Quantum Network,
a global community of Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, academic
institutions, and research labs working to advance quantum
computing and explore practical applications. Their engagement is
designed to set them on a path to tap into this future of quantum
advantage capabilities: when a computational task of business or
scientific relevance can be performed more efficiently,
cost-effectively, or accurately using a quantum computer than with
classical computations alone.
For more information, visit:
https://www.ibm.com/quantum/quantum-safe.
Statements regarding IBM's future direction and intent are
subject to change or withdrawal without notice and represent goals
and objectives only.
About IBM
IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business
services provider, helping clients in more than 175 countries
capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business
processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their
industries. Nearly 3,800 government and corporate entities in
critical infrastructure areas such as financial services,
telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud
platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital
transformations quickly, efficiently, and securely. IBM's
breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing,
industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver
open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by
IBM's legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility,
inclusivity, and service. For more information, visit
https://www.ibm.com/quantum
About Vodafone
For more information, please visit www.vodafone.com, follow us
on Twitter at @VodafoneGroup or connect with us on LinkedIn at
www.linkedin.com/company/vodafone.
Contact
Brittany Forgione
IBM Research Communications
Brittany.Forgione@ibm.com
Vodafone Group
Media Relations
GroupMedia@vodafone.com
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