The Importance of Standards in the Adoption of Quantum-Resistant Technologies

Abstract

The emergence of large-scale quantum computing poses a concrete threat to the public-key cryptographic algorithms widely used in today’s information technology systems. Over the past three decades, post-quantum cryptography (PQC) and quantum key distribution (QKD) have been proposed to protect against this threat. This article traces the formation and output of research and standards organizations that made these technologies viable for deployment, with particular attention to ETSI, and the NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography standardisation initiative. The article argues that necessity and standardisation, rather than any single technical contribution, was the decisive factor in taking this research from academia and laboratories into an interoperable ecosystem now reaching production deployment. The article further conjectures on reasons why PQC will see much broader adoption than QKD based on some basic principles of adoption of standardized technologies.