The French and Germans like each other more than they did in past centuries, but they still compete.
A month ago I wrote about the French company Thales and its efforts to develop a quantum-resistant smartcard called the MultiApp 5.2 Premium PQC. (PQC stands for post-quantum cryptography.)
But the Germans are getting into the act.
“In recent months, Bundesdruckerei GmbH and G+D [Giesecke+Devrient] have established a unique technical foundation for this transformation [of the German identity card]. The federal technology company and the international SecurityTech leader jointly initiated the development of a demonstrator together with the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), implemented on specialized chips produced by semiconductor manufacturer Infineon.
“Germany’s transition to quantum-secure ID cards will occur in two stages. First, personal data will be protected from forgery using a quantum-resistant digital signature scheme. The second phase will involve a full transition to quantum-secure technology.”
Also see Biometric Update’s coverage.
Bredemarket 