To achieve India's 'techade' that Narendra Modi envisions and build a local quantum technology ecosystem, India announced its first operational quantum computing-based telecom network link and invited hackers to break it.
PTI and The Economic Times reported that Ashwini Vaishnaw, union minister of communications of India, said at the first International Quantum Communication Conclave that India's first quantum computing-based telecom network link is now operational between Sanchar Bhawan and National Informatics Centre office in New Delhi.
Vaishnaw said the Indian government had launched a hackathon, and anyone who breaks the system will be given INR1 million (about US$12,160) per break, adding that the idea to put the challenge round was formed seven months ago, which led to the release of India's first QKD (Quantum Key Distribution) system.
According to the reports, India's state-owned C-DoT (Centre For Development Of Telematics) developed solutions for QKD and PQD (Post Quantum Cryptography), and the Indian government is hopeful that the hackathon may help it discover vulnerabilities in the system that utilized QKD and PQC.
India is looking to stay in the game in a race among leading countries, such as China and the US, to achieve quantum hegemony. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for electronics and IT of India, said in January that it is Modi's vision to create an India-centric quantum tech ecosystem with partners and players around the world, adding that quantum computing will be at the core of the growth and expansion of India's 'techade,' referring to the decade of new technology, NDTV reports.
The Ministry of Electronics & IT of India announced on March 23 that the Unique Identification Authority of India and the Society of Electronic Transactions and Security agreed to collaborate on R&D in deep tech, including quantum computing, IoT security, and cyber security.
There are two separate domains of quantum technology: quantum computing and quantum communication. Quantum computing utilizes qubits to conduct calculations much faster than traditional bits, while quantum communication uses principles derived from quantum mechanics to establish a secure communication channel between two parties.
