Last month, PQShield attended the 2nd annual Commercialising Quantum Global event with Economist Impact, helping senior business leaders to understand if and when they should adopt quantum technology.
Representing the team in London was our SVP Strategy, Ben Packman, and our CEO and Founder, Dr. Ali El Kaafarani, who also took part in a 1-2-1 fireside chat.
Standing out in the crowd
Our stand was buzzing with conversation throughout the event. Many attendees were intrigued by our unique position catering to the science and mathematics of PQC, as well as real-world applications for business and policy when it comes to the quantum threat.
A popular topic of discussion was our recently released Cryptography Modernisation whitepaper, which was also the theme of Dr. Ali El Kaafarani’s talk, moderated by the Economist’s science writer, Abby Bertics.
Talking to The Economist
Ali’s fireside chat delved into themes such as how to assess where cryptography is within your organizations, what next steps you can take to ensure quantum-security, and clearing up questions about post-quantum vs quantum.
Key takeaways
While there were many panel discussions on how to separate the quantum hype from reality, it was interesting to hear views on the benefits of hype, which include attracting investment, talent and progression to the quantum space.
From a cybersecurity perspective, panelists debated what “quantum safe” really means (we at PQShield define quantum secure as ‘safety against cryptographically relevant quantum computers’).
And on the topic of timelines, it was acknowledged that research on quantum computers needs to advance in the areas of the number of Qubits that can be processed and the noise reduction that can be achieved. These uncertainties are the major reason behind the inconsistent timelines associated with breaking public key cryptography.