Arqit Quantum Inc. and NEOM Tech and Digital Company signed a Memorandum of Understanding on December 8, 2021, to build and trial a quantum security system for cognitive cities. According to the announcement, the two organizations agreed to develop new software capable of defending cognitive cities against cyber-attacks from advanced computers, including future quantum machines.
NEOM Tech and Digital Company was founded in 2021 as the first subsidiary of NEOM, a region in Saudi Arabia being developed as part of the Vision 2030 program. Pending a successful trial in NEOM during the first half of 2022, the system was intended for potential export to other cognitive cities worldwide.
Mansoor Hanif, Executive Director of Emerging Technologies for NEOM’s Technology and Digital Company, said the organization was “excited to trial the world’s first quantum secure cognitive city system,” adding that NEOM’s infrastructure must be “both quantum safe and energy efficient.”