Quantum News Briefs August 20: EPB announces Janet Rehberg as President of EPB’s Strategic Initiatives Business Unit • Oxford Ionics kicks off international expansion with new US office • China pushes for QKD approach to quantum-safe networking •

News Briefs:

EPB announces Janet Rehberg as President of EPB’s Strategic Initiatives Business Unit

EPB has named Janet Rehberg to serve as president of its recently established Strategic Initiatives business unit. Building out this new business unit is the next step in EPB’s continuing strategy to keep Chattanooga on the cutting edge as the energy and communications industries undergo rapid change.
In her new role, Rehberg will leverage her extensive experience and leadership skills to spearhead future-facing initiatives with the goal of capitalizing on emerging opportunities for the benefit of the community. At the same time, EPB’s Energy and Communications business unit, with Ryan Keel as president, will continue to provide world-class technology and customer service through the company’s established business lines.
Rehberg brings a wealth of experience to EPB, having spent nearly twenty years in leadership roles within the energy sector. Most recently, she served as Chief Strategy Officer & VP of Engineering for Tri-County Electric Cooperative in Aledo, Texas. In this position, she had responsibility for formulating strategy and leading a wide range of departments including engineering, system operations, field services, business development, community relations and legislative affairs. Her career reflects a depth of technical and operational expertise in delivering energy services as well as a strong commitment to innovation, sustainable operations and community benefit.
EPB is a customer-focused technology company that delivers innovative power and telecommunications solutions to the Chattanooga area in pursuit of its mission to enhance the quality of life for the community it serves. In 2010, EPB completed a 100% fiber optic network accessible to all its customers as the basis for launching America’s first community-wide Gig speed internet.
In 2022, EPB continued its commitment to keeping Chattanooga on the cutting edge by establishing our nation’s first commercially available quantum network — EPB Quantum Network℠ powered by Qubitekk. This effort aligns local job creation efforts with the national priority to accelerate the commercialization of quantum technology.

Oxford Ionics kicks off international expansion with new US office

Oxford Ionics, a leader in trapped-ion quantum computing, today announced it has opened its first international office in Boulder, Colorado as per the August 19 news release. With demand for quantum computers reaching new heights, the new office will serve as a critical base for its expansion into North America.
With funding initiatives like Elevate Quantum, cutting-edge laboratories at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and JILA, and strong research programs out of University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado has fast become the epicenter for quantum computing innovation in the United States. With its new office in Boulder, Oxford Ionics joins this pioneering ecosystem – allowing it to tap into the significant US talent pool and vital supply chain as it accelerates its work to bring the most powerful quantum computers to market.
As Oxford Ionics opens its new location, Professor David Allcock has joined the team to lead the US office as Director of Science, North America. With a PhD in Atomic & Laser Physics from the University of Oxford, Allcock has spent several years at the forefront of quantum computing research across institutions like NIST Boulder and most recently as an Assistant Professor at the University of Oregon. 

In Other News:

TelecomTV Reports: “China pushes for QKD approach to quantum-safe networking”

Last week’s post-quantum cryptography (PQC) standards announcement by the US Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has shone a much needed spotlight on next-generation network security requirements, but while the NIST approach is one that has already attracted significant support from the likes of BT, IBM and Nokia, alternative approaches are also well advanced.
The development of other quantum-secure cryptographic algorithms and systems continues apace particularly in the field of quantum key distribution (QKD)as per Martyn Warwick’s August 19 article in TelecomTV.
China and Russia are collaborating on experimental, international ‘full cycle’ quantum comms system. It is no coincidence that China decided to go its own way with QKD as the foundation of its quantum technology strategy when it became apparent that the US was putting a tight focus on PQC and less attention to QKD.
The People Republic of China (PRC) is striving to gain unique technological ascendance in all things quantum and its determination to do so with QKD is characterised by plans to enable global quantum-safe network coverage using QKD systems loaded onto MEO (medium-earth orbit) and HEO (high-earth orbit) satellites. China also has an experimental 2,000km-long QKD-secured terrestrial network that stretches between Beijing and Shanghai but it is not robust enough to carry commercial traffic in guaranteed security.
Meanwhile, India, which is now the world’s most populous country and is rapidly emerging as a direct rival to China both economically and technologically, has its own ambitions in QKD and is whittling away at the PRC’s lead in the quantum field.