Quantum Computing Standardization and Regulation: Status and Way Forward
PDF
HTML

Keywords

Quantum computing
standardization
SDO
ETSI
CEN-CENELEC
IEEE
ISO
EIC
NIST
ITU-T
regulation

Abstract

Quantum computing (QC) is an emerging technology with transformative potential that remains in development and that promises significant impacts across a broad spectrum of industrial sectors. Small and medium enterprises, large corporations, and academic institutions are investing substantial resources to make this promising technology a commercial reality. Given the fragmented nature of current QC initiatives and the diverse development pathways being pursued to commercialize them, establishing coordinated standardization efforts across different global regions is critical to accelerate progress and ensure interoperability between the various proposed hardware and software solutions. This paper reviews recent standardization efforts and the main standards developing organizations working on the definition of future QC products. Finally, it analyzes the current discussion on the European Commission planned Quantum Act and its potential effects on the QC community.

https://doi.org/10.13052/qi2795-0492.114
PDF
HTML

References

Gartner technology hype cycle. 2014. Available online at: www.gartner.com.

I. K. Garewal, C. V. Mahamuni and S. Jha, ‘Emerging Applications and Challenges in Quantum Computing: A Literature Survey,’ 2024 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Computing and Data Communication Systems (icABCD), Port Louis, Mauritius, 2024, pp. 1–12, doi: 10.1109/icABCD62167.2024.10645271.

‘New MIT report captures state of quantum computing’, August 2025. Available online at: https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/new-mit-report-captures-state-quantum-computing.

IBM Quantum. 2025. Available online at: https://www.ibm.com/quantum.

C.Q. Choi, ‘How Many Qubits Are Needed for Quantum Supremacy?’, IEEE Spectrum, 2020. Available online at https://spectrum.ieee.org/qubit-supremacy.

H. Soller, ‘The Year of Quantum: From concept to reality in 2025’, McKinsey Digital, June 2025. Available online at: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/business%20functions/mckinsey%20digital/our%20insights/the%20year%20of%20quantum%20from%20concept%20to%20reality%20in%202025/the-year-of-quantum-from-concept-to-reality-in-2025.pdf?

European Commission. 2025. European Quantum Act. Available online at: https://www.european-quantum-act.com/.

European Commission. 2025. ‘The EU’s plan to become a global leader in quantum by 2030’. Available online at: https://commission.europa.eu/news-and-media/news/eus-plan-become-global-leader-quantum-2030-2025-07-02_en.

Munich Quantum valley: https://www.munich-quantum-valley.de/.

Quantum Delta NL: https://quantumdelta.nl/.

Quantum Valley Campania: https://quantumvalley.it/.

B. Raaf, M. Faerber, B. Badic, V. Frascolla, ‘Key technology advancements driving mobile communications from generation to generation’, Intel Technology Journal, 2014, Vol 18, Issue 1, p 12.

V. Frascolla, M. Faerber, L. Dussopt, E. Calvanese-Strinati, R. Sauleau, V. Kotzsch, G. Romano, K. Ranta-aho, J. Putkonen, J. Valino, ‘Challenges and opportunities for millimeter-wave mobile access standardisation,’ 2014 IEEE Globecom Workshops (GC Wkshps), Austin, TX, USA, 2014, pp. 553–558, doi: 10.1109/GLOCOMW.2014.7063490.

V. Frascolla, M. Faerber, E. Calvanese-Strinati, L. Dussopt, V. Kotzsch, E. Ohlmar, M. Shariat, J. Putkonen, G. Romano, ‘MmWave use cases and prototyping: A way towards 5G standardization,’ 2015 European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC), Paris, France, 2015, pp. 128–132, doi: 10.1109/EuCNC.2015.7194054.

M. Shariat, M. Dianati, K. Seppänen, T. Suihko, J. Putkonen and V. Frascolla, ‘Enabling wireless backhauling for next generation mmWave networks,’ 2015 European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC), Paris, France, 2015, pp. 164–168, doi: 10.1109/EuCNC.2015.7194061.

ETSI website. Available online at: http://www.etsi.com.

ETSI Technical Committee on Quantum Technologies. Available online at: https://www.etsi.org/committee/2600-quantum-technologies.

The European Quantum Communication Infrastructure – EuroQCI. Available online at: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/european-quantum-communication-infrastructure-euroqci.

Petrus EU-funded project. Available online at: https://petrus-euroqci.eu/.

Institute for Quantum Computing. Available online at: https://uwaterloo.ca/institute-for-quantum-computing/.

ETSI White Paper Preparing for a quantum secure future, April 2025. Available online at: https://www.etsi.org/e-brochure/ETSI-QSC-Report-2025/mobile/index.html#p=1.

The quantum Safe Cryptography Conference 2026. https://www.etsi.org/events/2592-etsi-iqc-qsc-conference-2026.

ITU-T. Available online at: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/Pages/Default.aspx.

ITU-T Focus Group on Quantum Information Technology for Networks (FG-QIT4N). Available online at: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/focusgroups/qit4n/Pages/default.aspx.

Available online at: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/about/groups/2025-2028/Pages/sg13.aspx.

Document JCA-QKDN-079, to be discussed the ITU-T meeting in December 2025. Available online at: https://extranet.itu.int/sites/itu-t/jca/qkdn/meetingdocs/Forms/AllItems.aspx.

CEN/CENELEC. Available online at: https://www.cencenelec.eu/european-standardization/cen-and-cenelec/.

CEN-CENELEC JTC. Available online at: https://boss.cen.eu/TechnicalStructures/Pages/JointCENCLCTCs.

European Commission Standardization requests. Available online at: https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/single-market/goods/european-standards/standardisation-requests_en.

CEN-CENELEC White Paper Terms of reference. Available online at: https://www.cencenelec.eu/media/CEN-CENELEC/AreasOfWork/CEN-CENELEC_Topics/Quantum%20technologies/Documentation%20and%20Materials/fgqt_q01_termsofreference.pdf.

CEN-CENELEC White Paper Work programme. Available online at: https://www.cencenelec.eu/media/CEN-CENELEC/AreasOfWork/CEN-CENELEC_Topics/Quantum%20technologies/Documentation%20and%20Materials/fgqt_q02_fgqt_wp_call_for_participation.pdf.

CEN-CENELEC White Paper Towards Standardization for Quantum Technologies. Available online at: https://www.cencenelec.eu/media/CEN-CENELEC/AreasOfWork/CEN-CENELEC_Topics/Quantum%20technologies/Documentation%20and%20Materials/fgqt_q03_towardsstandardizationforquantumtechnologies.pdf.

CEN-CENELEC White Paper Quantum Technologies Use Cases. Available online at: https://www.cencenelec.eu/media/CEN-CENELEC/AreasOfWork/CEN-CENELEC_Topics/Quantum%20technologies/Documentation%20and%20Materials/fgqt_q05_quantumtechnologiesusecases_release1.pdf.

CEN-CENELEC White Paper Standardization Roadmap on Quantum Technologies. Available online at: https://www.cencenelec.eu/media/CEN-CENELEC/AreasOfWork/CEN-CENELEC_Topics/Quantum%20technologies/Documentation%20and%20Materials/fgqt_q04_standardizationroadmapquantumtechnologies_release1.pdf.

CEN-CLC/JTC 22 White Paper Standardization roadmap on quantum technologies. Available online at: https://www.cencenelec.eu/media/CEN-CENELEC/AreasOfWork/CEN-CENELEC_Topics/Quantum%20technologies/Documentation%20and%20Materials/fgqt_q06_standardizationroadmapquantumtechnologies_release1-1.pdf.

ISO homepage. Available online at: https://www.iso.org/about.

EIC homepage. Available online at: https://www.iec.ch/homepage.

JTC 3 on Quantum Technologies. Available online at: https://www.iec.ch/dyn/www/f?p=103:7:::::FSP_ORG_ID:49854.

JTC 3 Programme. Available online at: https://www.iec.ch/dyn/www/f?p=103:23:314833267927291::::FSP_ORG_ID,FSP_LANG_ID:49854,25.

IEEE Quantum Week homepage. Available online at: https://qce.quantum.ieee.org/2025/.

IEEE Quantum Education. Available online at: https://ed.quantum.ieee.org/.

IEEE Quantum Podcast series. Available online at: https://quantum.ieee.org/podcasts/.

IEEE Standardization Roadmap. Available online at: https://standards.ieee.org/industry-connections/activities/standardization-roadmap-on-quantum-applications/.

NIST Homepage. Available at: https://www.nist.gov/quantum-information-science.

NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography project. Available online at: https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/post-quantum-cryptography.

FIPS 203 standard. Available online at: https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/fips/203/final.

FIPS 204 standard. Available online at: https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/FIPS/NIST.FIPS.204.pdf.

FIPS 205 standard. Available online at: https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/FIPS/NIST.FIPS.205.pdf.

SP 800-227 standard. Available online at: https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-227.pdf.

Falcon digital algorithm. Available online at: https://csrc.nist.gov/news/2022/pqc-candidates-to-be-standardized-and-round-4.

HQC key encapsulation mechanism. Available online at: https://csrc.nist.gov/news/2025/hqc-announced-as-a-4th-round-selection.

Quantum Technology flagship homepage. Avalalble online at: https://qt.eu/about-quantum-flagship/.

Chips JU homepage. Available online at: https://www.chips-ju.europa.eu/.

QuIC homepage. Available online at: https://www.euroquic.org/.

Position Paper of DigitalEurope on a Quantum strategy. Available online at: https://cdn.digitaleurope.org/uploads/2025/06/1-DIGITALEUROPEs-recommendations-for-the-EU-Quantum-Strategy.pdf.

Regulation (EU) 2019/881 “Cybersecurity Certification Act”. Available online at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:JOL_2013_165_R_0041_01&qid=1397226946093&from=EN.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.