The Algerian Academy of Sciences and Technologies (AAST) organized the International Symposium on Quantum Sciences: Applications and Challenges (QSAC’2023) on September 24-25, 2023, in Algiers. The event was held at the CIC Alger, Club des Pins, Staoueli, with collaboration from the University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene (USTHB), Algeria’s Directorate-General for Scientific Research and Technological Development (DGRSDT), the Ecole Nationale Polytechnique (ENP), the University of Technology of Troyes (UTT), and France’s CNRS, according to the symposium’s official page.
Keynote speakers included Nobel laureate Alain Aspect of Paris-Saclay University, Mohamed Bourennane of Stockholm University, Thierry Ebbesen of the University of Strasbourg, and Abdellah Farid Mokrane of Paris 8 University. One presentation addressed post-quantum cryptography and proposed a twenty-year strategy for Algeria based on the country’s experience in encryption and cybersecurity. Selected papers from the symposium were subsequently published by Springer in a proceedings volume.
AAST, established by presidential decree in 2015, serves as an advisory body to Algerian decision-makers on science and technology matters. QSAC’2023 marked the first dedicated quantum sciences event organized by an Algerian government-affiliated institution at the national level.