# Secure Quantum Communication Technologies and Systems: From Labs to Markets
## 6 Industrial Roadmap  
A roadmap towards the commercialization of all quantum technologies, including QKD, is reported in the Strategic Research Agenda [133] prepared by the European Quantum Flagship. A summary of the expected developments is as follows:  
* Within 3-years: standards and certification methodologies for QRNG and QKD; development of use cases and business models; cost-effective systems for inter-city and intra-city communications; protocols for the security of long-lived systems and secret sharing, exploiting quantum and classical cryptographic techniques; protocol execution over an elementary quantum repeater link using an integrated control plane and platform-independent software stack; improved device performance addressing parameter benchmarks of relevance for cryptography and network applications. Within 6-10 years: Advanced QKD and QRNG systems for critical infrastructure, IoT, and 5G; trusted-node network functionality and interoperability for fiber, free-space, and satellite links; end-to-end security over trusted nodes and eventually repeaters between countries; integration of at least three physically distant quantum repeaters over telecom fiber, demonstrating key generation over more than 500 km; demonstrations of entanglement-based network application and satellite-based links; showcase of a network of physically distant processing nodes (e.g., in the quantum memory), with at least 20 qubits per node and programmable in platform-independent software. Figure 3: Industrial survey on the perceived barriers preventing QKD being impactful. Similar research and development phasing efforts were undertaken by individual countries such as the United Kingdom [142], which put an emphasis on a ten-fold cost reduction of quantum communications technologies within 15 years from now, and of course by countries with large investment capabilities, such as China and the United States. The U.S. high level strategy is illustrated in [143]. For quantum networking, exploring and using coherent or entangled multi-party quantum states is envisaging. An excellent analysis of the global scenario, including socio-economic and strategic implications for Europe, is provided in [144]. A short summary of the various initiatives covered in [145], is provided below:  
* A comprehensive public program for the deployment of a QKD infrastructure is being pursued by China, and comprises a \(\sim\)2000 km Beijing-Shanghai quantum backbone, four metropolitan networks, a \(\sim\)50 km free air link, and a quantum satellite for intercontinental communications. * The government of South Korea is funding the development of a \(\sim\)250 km quantum backbone connecting existing metropolitan quantum networks. * Australia is implementing a government quantum network for intra-governmental communications in Canberra. * In South Africa, a quantum communication security solution has been deployed in Durban's municipal fiber-optic network. * In Japan, several industrial and public partners have jointly developed an extensive quantum network in Tokyo. * Besides China, satellite-based quantum communications are also currently being investigated in Japan, Canada, and the United States. In 2007m the European Space Agency published a review paper on its activity in this field, comprising a feasibility study for the placement of an entangled photon source on the International Space Station. * In the United States, a fiber-based QKD infrastructure has been in development since 2003, with a Defense Advanced Research Projects (DARPA) funded project, and several players, both public (Department of Commerce with NIST, Department of Energy with Los Alamos Labs) and private companies (mostly from the defense and aerospace sectors, e.g., Magiq, BBN Raytheon, Boeing, Batelle), are accumulating intellectual property and expertise, in some cases complemented by field deployments. * A real-world application of QKD was demonstrated in Austria in 2004. In 2007, in Switzerland the Canton of Geneva transmitted ballot results using a QKD link.