July 1, 2021
The Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) is one of Japan's central research institutions and is responsible for implementing the country's science and technology policy. In cooperation with the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, the JST is funding three research projects in Germany, including one at Jacobs University Bremen. The project, led by Giuseppe Thadeu Freitas de Abreu, Professor of Electrical Engineering, focuses on the realization of secure wireless networks.
The JST funding stems from a joint international initiative to support and enhance cooperation between ten European countries and Japan in the fields of science, technology and innovation. Twenty-one proposals were submitted in response to the JST's call for applications for research on information and communication technologies for a stable and secure society. Six projects were selected and will be funded for a period of three years.
"Wireless networks play a key role in the development of technologies for the next-generation of the Internet of Things. We want to help ensure their security," said Professor Abreu. Specifically, they are looking at advancing beyond classical, complex-based security systems that are threatened by a new generation of quantum computers. These are of almost unimaginable power. In 2019, for example, the quantum computer "Sycamore", which was developed by Google, took 200 seconds to perform a complex mathematical calculation. The most powerful supercomputer in the world at the time would have needed 10,000 years for the same calculation; the quantum computer was about 158 million times faster.
Traditional security systems for wireless networks are no match for this enormous force. "This means we need to find other ways to secure information," Abreu emphasized. "In our project, we are exploring technologies that protect information in ways that even quantum computers cannot break through." The international undertaking, titled ORACLE (Organically Resilient and Secure Wireless Networks for Next- generation IoT Technologies to Serve Future Connected Societies), involves researchers from Japan, Turkey and Spain.
Abreu, who is fluent in Japanese, has long conducted research on wireless transmission and conversion of signals. His work also focuses on information and communication theory, for example mathematical formulas and algorithms that accurately describe problems related to the storage, processing and communication of information, and enable their implementation in every-day information technology.
Questions can be addressed to:
Giuseppe Thadeu Freitas de Abreu
Professor of Electrical Engineering
Phone: +49 421 200-3271
Email: g.abreu [at] jacobs-university.de