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Illustrative: atoms and bonds of a lattice with a phonon travelling through it and one dopant site

Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Technology and Digital Systems · Department of Computing, Data and Quantum Technologies

Quantum computing, sensing, communication and the post-quantum migration

Quantum technologies

Quantum technologies covers quantum computing, sensing and communication, their realistic timelines and limits, and the transition risk they pose to public-key cryptography.

Map quantum technologies on a real place See the courses
01Scope

What the discipline covers

The subtopics its courses and labs teach.

Courses
In preparation
Levels
In development
Labs
In development
  • Quantum computing principles
  • Quantum sensing
  • Quantum communication and key distribution
  • Post-quantum cryptography
  • Cryptographic inventory and migration
  • Quantum materials
  • Quantum industry and workforce
  • Responsible quantum innovation

Courses in development extend the scope to further subjects: Quantum technologies for risk professionals; Post-quantum migration planning.

02Maps

Build a twin of any place

Search any place or open the world; the layers and generators follow quantum technologies on the planet map, the globe and in 3D.

West Cornwall: Goonhilly and the Porthcurno cable landings: a flat plan of the faculty twin. Terrain 0 to 245 m; 4 satellite dishes; 74 communication masts and towers; 12 telephone exchanges; 7 data centres and cable landing stations; 12 aerodromes; 1 telecom offices; Communication line 161 km; 729 known exploited vulnerabilities since 2023-10-17; Night-time lights, VIIRS day-night band: read live when the 3D twin opens. Contours every 25 metres from the elevation grid; communication cables by class; ground infrastructure as marks.
West Cornwall: Goonhilly and the Porthcurno cable landings, United Kingdom. Flat plan of the same data: relief as contours from the inline grid, the mapped ground infrastructure by kind, the mapped cables and the numbers below. The 3D twin opens on devices that can draw it, once its data and code have been checked.
  • Terrain 0 to 245 m
  • 4 satellite dishes
  • 74 communication masts and towers
  • 12 telephone exchanges
  • 7 data centres and cable landing stations
  • 12 aerodromes
  • 1 telecom offices
  • Communication line 161 km
  • 729 known exploited vulnerabilities since 2023-10-17
  • Night-time lights, VIIRS day-night band: read live when the 3D twin opens
Credits and dates per layer are listed under the stage. Relief in the twin is exaggerated ×1.5 for legibility.

Drag to move, right drag or Shift with a drag to turn and tilt, Ctrl with the wheel to zoom. Keyboard: arrows move, Shift with arrows turn and tilt, + and – zoom, 0 resets, V steps through the views, Escape clears.

Flat plan of the same data: relief as contours from the inline grid, the mapped ground infrastructure by kind, the mapped cables and the numbers below. The 3D twin opens on devices that can draw it, once its data and code have been checked.

The boundaries, names and designations shown do not imply any judgement on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Countries: Natural Earth (public domain).

03The subject

The subject, methods and measures and debates and bodies

The field and its scope

For security architects, cryptography owners, technology strategists and policy analysts who must judge quantum timelines soberly and plan the migration of public-key cryptography.

04The method

From a secrecy lifetime to a migration deadline: the Mosca inequality in years

Data is exposed to a future quantum computer when the years it must stay secret plus the years a migration takes exceed the years until a cryptographically relevant machine exists; the exposure is X plus Y minus Z, and the migration decision is about Y, the only term an organisation controls.

Sources: Mosca, Cybersecurity in an Era with Quantum Computers: Will We Be Ready? (2018); Gidney, How to factor 2048 bit RSA integers with less than a million noisy qubits (2025); NIST, Transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography Standards (NIST IR 8547, initial public draft) (2024); NIST, Module-Lattice-Based Key-Encapsulation Mechanism Standard (FIPS 203) (2024); Bernstein and Lange, Post-quantum cryptography (2017).

05At a glance

At a glance, standards and evidence, research and evidence, what is changing and learning

Quantum technologies at a glance

risksacademy.comtechnology-digitaldiscipline

Quantum technologies: 0 primary courses open, 2 in preparation and 0 also taught here, across 8 subtopics. Courses: RAF-128 L1 in preparation, RAT-240 L2 in preparation.Quantum technologiesRAF-128RAT-240
Quantum technologies at a glance
  • Open, 0
  • In preparation, 2
  • Subtopics, 8
Course codes from the curriculum; study levels L1 to L4.
Twin builderBuild a twin of any placeWorked example: West Cornwall: Goonhilly and the Porthcurno cable landings · 4 generators · 7 layers · 3 instruments
06Console

How Quantum technologies is taught, as a process you can run

Press Play to run this process from this page's own data.

Process explorer

How Quantum technologies is taught

14 steps5 stages

07Learning

Achievements, where this is practised, practised in and across the ecosystem

Achievements in this discipline

  1. Course achievements

    One for each course with this as its primary discipline, earned when you pass the course's assessed activities.

An achievement is a record of the learning completed and assessed here. See how recognition works.

08Take part

Take part in Technology and Digital Systems

Start from who you are.

09References

Core references and where to begin

Start with Mosca, then Bernstein, then National Institute of Standards.

10Questions

Questions, answers and key terms

Is study here free?
Yes. Every course and learning material of Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium, is free to study, self-paced or with a cohort. Ordinary participation has no fee; paid work, internships and fellowships are separate arrangements.
What does completing a course give me?
A completion record: the course, its version, the date and what was assessed, private by default and shared by you. It stacks into discipline, department and programme achievements. A record states what was studied and assessed and does not certify competence. A record is not a licence, a professional title or an employment status.
Where do the data and the places come from?
Every faculty teaches on a twin of a real place built from open data. Each layer carries its provider, licence and date, and every result on the Academy states its source. Maps and figures are indicators for teaching, never an assessment of a place.
How do I take part beyond the courses in quantum technologies?
Form a competence cell of three to seven people, study a shared pathway, take a supervised assignment in the National Working Groups, or bring a cohort from your institution. Open the page for organisations.

Key terms

Term

Qubit

The basic unit of quantum information, which can be in a superposition of states.

Term

Quantum advantage

A task on which a quantum computer outperforms the best classical methods.

Term

Post-quantum cryptography

Public-key algorithms designed to resist attack by quantum computers.

Term

Harvest now, decrypt later

The threat that encrypted data captured today could be decrypted once quantum computers mature.

ReportsContribute

Contribute evidence from this page.

Reports is the Consortium's quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.

Risk Academy
Related

Around Quantum technologies

Quantum technologies

Prepare with a related course

Open courses in connected disciplines teach the methods this discipline will build on.

Browse the course catalogue Back to Department of Computing, Data and Quantum Technologies