Press release
TÜVIT is committed to playing an active role in shaping the technologies of the future. In the QKD laboratory, TÜVIT is developing a testing infrastructure for quantum-secure communication. For this work, the team was presented with the TÜV NORD Innovation Award at the internal event ‘Basecamp Future 2026’.
Innovation arises where technological expertise and the promotion of new ideas come together. With the Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) laboratory, the team of experts is paving the way for a new generation of secure communication. As quantum computers threaten the security of classical cryptographic methods, alternative methods for secure key exchange must be developed and evaluated.
The focus here is on the central question of the digital future: how can the security of new methods be reliably demonstrated? The answer is: through reliable testing methods. After all, technologies that can be independently tested and evaluated build trust in the long term.
TÜV NORD GROUP Innovation Award 2026
The TÜV NORD Innovation Award recognises projects that highlight new technologies, forward-looking ideas and concrete solutions within the TÜV NORD GROUP. The award was presented during the internal event ‘Basecamp Future 2026’ in Essen, where 130 participants from various countries presented their projects, use cases and future-oriented topics.
Alongside TÜVIT’s QKD Lab, the finalists included projects from ALTER TECHNOLOGY and TÜV NORD Mobility. The award demonstrates that TÜVIT is one of the technological driving forces within the TÜV NORD GROUP and is developing solutions for the security challenges of tomorrow.
Trust is not built solely through new technologies, but through transparent and independent testing. That is precisely what we are working on at the QKD-Lab.
Sven Bettendorf
Lead Expert for Quantum Technologies & Project Manager
Quantum-secure communication: Be ready before the market demands it
The QKD laboratory is building up testing expertise for a technology before it becomes widely established in the market. Future technologies must not only be developed, but above all reliably assessed and safely transferred into real-world applications. The tests take into account, amongst other things, attack scenarios in the context of implementation attacks on QKD systems.
At the same time, building secure communications infrastructures takes time. Companies, public authorities and operators of critical infrastructure should therefore engage with quantum-secure methods at an early stage.
With the QKD-Lab, TÜVIT is positioning itself as a pioneer in the testing of quantum-secure communication. This applies not only to quantum technologies, but also to other fields of work such as cyber security, secure embedded systems, semiconductor technologies and digital trust services.
QKD Team: Expertise in quantum-secure communication
Behind this award-winning project is an interdisciplinary team that combines specialist knowledge, technological foresight and practical testing experience: Dr. Natalie Jung, Senior QKD Expert; Dr. Marc Wehling, Quantum Security Expert; and Maik Witasik, Junior QKD Expert. Together, they are driving forward the development of the QKD laboratory and laying the foundations for further innovations in future technologies.
TÜV Informationstechnik GmbH (headquartered in Essen, Germany) is a renowned IT security service provider and an independent testing institute and laboratory for IT security and cyber security in digitalization. Globally accredited since 1995, TÜVIT builds trust in security measures at the level of business processes, data, applications, and technologies through vulnerability analyses, audits, and evaluations. TÜVIT is a powerful partner in detecting and responding to cyberattacks and ensures rapid restoration of business continuity. This enables businesses, administrations, and operators of critical infrastructures to strengthen their regulatory compliance in the areas of confidentiality, integrity, and availability, as well as their overall cyber resilience and IT security in the supply chain.
Together with ALTER TECHNOLOGY, TÜVIT forms the Business Unit Digital & Semiconductor. The Business Unit is a key pillar of the TÜV NORD GROUP knowledge enterprise, which has stood for safety and trust worldwide for over 150 years. More than 15,000 engineers and IT security experts in over 100 countries ensure that companies in the networked world become even more successful.
