Take part in the Quantum Internet Hackathon 2022

The RIPE NCC is co-organising a Quantum Internet Hackathon simultaneously in five nodes on 1-2 December 2022. Join us in Amsterdam, Dublin, Padua, Poznan, Sarajevo - and online!

How this Hackathon works

Apply now to take part in the Quantum Internet Hackathon 2022

This hackathon is a continuation of our previous Pan-European Hackathon in 2019 and a prequel to a series of planned events. The RIPE NCC is joined by the Quantum Internet Alliance (QIA), GÉANT, PSNC, SURF, QuTech and several universities to organise the Quantum Internet Hackathon 2022. This Hackathon will take place simultaneously in connected locations or 'nodes' – you can also take part virtually!

Participants will form local teams to take on challenges, and possibly even form cross-node teams. And of course, we will bring all our nodes together virtually to share projects, progress and feedback. Experts and facilitators will also be at hand to guide participants.

All our hackathons are:

Non-commercial; we are a not-for-profit organisation and have no monetary prizes
All resulting software and tools are released under non-commercial licences
Non-competitive; we prefer cooperation and teamwork

We're looking for you!

A group of hackathon participants stand together in yellow Hackathon t-shirts

Curious about the Quantum Internet? Passionate about developing new technology? We're looking for general enthusiasts, software developers, network operators and equipment vendors, as well as general web, privacy, and cryptography experts (students, researchers, industry professionals), designers, or hackers - anyone interested in Quantum Internet technology to participate in this event. Each node can accept approximately 20 participants based on their capacity, which means we have roughly 120 places available in total across our five nodes, and 50 online participants.

If you're interested, submit the application form and make sure you select the node of your choice. There is an open deadline apart from Amsterdam where the deadline is 29 November 2022. Please note that the Padua location is now full.

The Hackathon Challenge

The goal of this hackathon is to develop some of the first applications that use quantum mechanics as a tool for communications, to catch a glimpse of the quantum Internet. An example of this kind of application is a browser that can load a web page over an encrypted HTTPS connection using a secret key generated by a quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol. Similarly, many other applications that need to encrypt their online traffic, such as e-mail or online messaging, can be integrated with QKD. Different protocols involving nodes of the network can be implemented, from quantum game theory to multi-party quantum measurements.

Hackathon Goals:

Sharing existing software and protocols, receiving feedback on how to improve them
Actual bug fixes, additional features
New software and tools
Sharing all of this (on GitHub, GitLab or other open repositories)
Producing documentation, or learning/promotion/interaction materials
Forging connections between participants and between nodes
Learning about Quantum Networking, monitoring and management

Existing projects and challenges:

Using SimulaQron to simulate quantum network
Integrating QKD into OpenSSL to enable running quantum encrypted TLS connections
Design and implement applications that use Quantum Protocol Zoo
Use the QNE Application Development Kit
Designing protocols for resource sharing among multiple nodes for routing information within a quantum network

Practical Hackathon information

Important Dates and Deadlines

1 October 2022: Applications open
10 November 2022: Preliminary list of participants published
1-2 December 2022: Quantum Internet Hackathon takes place simultaneously at all nodes

Venues and Travel

The event is free of charge - there is no fee to pay and food and drinks will be provided throughout the event on both days. The organisers will not be making any travel or accommodation arrangements for participants. The hackathon takes place simultaneously in five nodes. Make sure you select the node of your choice when filling in the application form. The precise locations for each node will be published closer to the actual event date.

Before the event

Applicants can use the collaborative tools (such as discussion mailing list, EtherPad and IRC) to help plan shared work. We will also organise a webinar to introduce the available tools and proposed projects for participants a week or two before the event. You are encouraged to check out the code and projects submitted during previous hackathons, available on GitHub.

During the event

Standard work/play times for the event are 9am - 5pm (UTC+1), depending on the location. The “marathon” side of the event might mean that cooperation can extend deep into the night! There will be scheduled “touch-base” video links between all the nodes and online participants twice every day, but due to the different time zones, and due to the virtual team participants, we will announce the exact times later on.

In addition to already proposed challenges, participants are encouraged to propose projects they wish to work on, either completely new ideas, or existing projects.

Participants will work in small teams, with each team focusing on a chosen project. All source code developed during the hackathon will be publicly licensed and available on GitHub, and accessible for the entire community to use. A variety of goodies will be provided for participating.

After the Hackathon

Since this event is very short, we are conscious that most of the work will have to be done either in advance or in the future. For the sake of continuity, all projects will be documented on GitHub, and the teams will be encouraged to stay in touch with each other, and to join our follow-up events in 2023. Since we want to focus on collaboration and not on competition, there will be no single prize winner. We will showcase all achievements during the closing session. Several projects will be awarded symbolic prizes, in the categories of 'Most Innovative Solution', Best Team Work' and Most Complete Presentation'.

Curious about the Quantum Internet?

Read about the Quantum Internet Hackathon held in 2018, and the Pan European hackathon in 2019, as well as a recording of Stephanie Wehner's Quantum Internet presentation from RIPE 74.

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