Page 136 - AI Standards for Global Impact: From Governance to Action

AI Standards for Global Impact: From Governance to Action

need for cross-border efforts and proactive consideration of both benefits and dual-use risks.
Challenges include differing national priorities, rapid technological evolution, error correction
and scalability issues, and balancing collaboration with export controls.

Standards are one of the most practical and agile forms of collaboration. Technical standards
can help harmonize efforts across borders, create a shared vocabulary, and support the
interoperability and security of emerging quantum systems. Standards also provide a framework
for building trust, reducing ambiguity, and potentially laying a foundation for upcoming
regulation, without stifling innovation during the nascent stages of technology development.

ITU standards are addressing network and security aspects of quantum information technologies
with an initial focus on Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) for quantum-safe encryption and
authentication. This work has involved over 300 experts from 180 organizations and 43
countries. ITU-T Y.3800 “Overview on networks supporting quantum key distribution” provides
the foundational framework for quantum key distribution (QKD) networks, covering architecture,
terminology, and design principles. ITU-T X.1710 “Security framework for quantum key
distribution networks” builds on ITU-T Y.3800, identifying security threats, and specifying security
requirements and measures for QKD networks. ITU-T X.1811 focuses on 5G, assessing quantum
threats to existing cryptography and providing guidance for applying quantum-safe algorithms.
Together, these and other standards in the ITU-T suite give governments and industry a clear
reference for building secure, interoperable quantum-safe networks. Ongoing ITU-T work also
addresses quality assurance, protocols, and even the use of machine learning in QKD networks,
laying the foundation for a scalable, globally trusted quantum infrastructure.

In the current phase where applications are largely pre-commercial and risks still theoretical,
global standards can offer consistent technical language, testing protocols, interoperability
guidelines, and benchmarks. These mechanisms can help governments, industries, and
researchers align efforts, prevent fragmentation, and coordinate around shared goals.

Beyond technical aspects, international standards guide ethical practice and responsible
innovation. Participants highlighted the dual-use nature of quantum technologies; capable of
strengthening climate forecasting or healthcare on one hand, but also of breaking encryption
or enabling new weapons on the other. Drawing lessons from AI, they urged the community to
embed ethics, security, and equity considerations from the outset, rather than as an afterthought.
Multi-stakeholder spaces where scientists, policymakers, and industry leaders could convene
to co-design guidelines and ethics were seen as vital for addressing these dilemmas before
competitive pressures harden.

From establishing international standards and security frameworks to promoting cross-border
research and cooperation to avoid a new quantum divide, quantum diplomacy will be pivotal
in shaping the future governance of quantum advancements. Two main areas were seen as
crucial in this respect:

a) The need for diplomatic action to make quantum technology available without hurdles,
especially to ensure developing regions are not left behind by a new technology divide.
b) Collaboration among scientists, industry, and policymakers to co-design frameworks for
responsible innovation before quantum’s dual-use dilemmas outpace governance.

Collaboration at international level can help countries grow their expertise, build a quantum-
ready workforce, create opportunities (including for women and girls), equip youth for further
quantum development, and foster quantum research locally.

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