The Estonian government awarded Cybernetica three strategic procurements to lead the nation’s transition of e-governance systems to post-quantum cryptography (PQC). According to Cybernetica, the projects cover developing a national PQC transition roadmap, assessing quantum-related risks to the Population Register, and updating the national report on cryptographic algorithms.
Estonia’s core digital infrastructure depends on traditional cryptography vulnerable to quantum computers. Affected systems include eID solutions (ID-card, Mobile-ID, and Smart-ID), the X-Road data exchange platform, public e-services, and the Internet voting system. Dan Bogdanov, Cybernetica’s Chief Scientific Officer, said that the transition to PQC cannot be postponed given the need to protect documents with decades-long confidentiality requirements.
The roadmap development consists of three phases: conducting a cryptographic inventory of existing systems, creating detailed transition plans with timelines and priorities, and implementing changes across Estonia’s digital infrastructure. The announcement noted that this work aligns with the Ministry of Defence’s cryptographic assessment capability program. The EU’s NIS Cooperation Group has established 2030 as the deadline for high-risk use cases to transition to quantum-resistant cryptography.