Timeline
As part of the then-3-year-old Quantum Information Science and Technology (QuIST) program, DARPA-funded researchers established the first so-called quantum key distribution network, a data-encryption framework for protecting a fiber-optic loop that connects facilities at Harvard University, Boston University, and the office of BBN Technologies in Cambridge, Mass.
Though only a step toward functional and practical quantum encryption systems, it represented the sort of community-building and thought leadership that it takes to move futuristic ideas, such as ones based on quantum mechanical processes, toward operational and current realities.
Redefining Possible
Since 1958, DARPA has been an engine of innovation serving national defense and the U.S. warfighter.