Palm Beach Colleges Connect as Florida Launches Quantum-Safe Network

Insider Brief

• Florida’s first statewide quantum-safe network segment is operational, connecting Palm Beach State College and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton using IonQ quantum key distribution technology.
• Supported by a $1 million FloridaCommerce grant, the connection went live Oct. 15 over Palm Beach County’s dark fiber infrastructure to strengthen data security between the institutions.
• Connections to Miami Dade College and FAU’s Jupiter campus are planned within three months, with further statewide expansion dependent on funding.

PRESS RELEASE — Palm Beach State College (PBSC) President Ava L. Parker, JD announced Wednesday night that the first segment of Florida’s statewide quantum-safe network is operational. The system links PBSC to Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton over Palm Beach County’s dark fiber infrastructure.

Supported by a $1 million defense infrastructure grant from FloridaCommerce, Palm Beach State College is leading the development of the network’s first segment in partnership with Florida LambdaRail, Florida Atlantic University, Palm Beach County and IonQ.

The segment uses IonQ quantum key distribution technology to strengthen the security of data transmitted between the participating institutions and establishes a foundation for expanding quantum-secure communication across Florida.

Parker made the announcement at the college’s Historic Building in West Palm Beach, the future home of PBSC’s Quantum Innovation Center, the evening before Quantum Beach 2026. The link went live Oct. 15, 2026.

“”This partnership is a model for how higher education, industry and government can work together to build the infrastructure and talent that will drive Florida’s future,” said Parker. “By connecting students to leading-edge technologies while strengthening secure communications across our region and state, we are creating opportunities that extend far beyond our campuses. At the same time, we are preparing students for careers in the technologies that will power our economy and protect our critical infrastructure.”

The newly operational connection marks the first milestone in the broader statewide quantum-safe network initiative, announced in April 2026, when IonQ and Florida LambdaRail signed a master service agreement at the eMerge Americas conference in Miami. That initial phase envisioned a quantum-safe corridor of nearly 100 miles from Palm Beach County to Miami-Dade County, with PBSC playing a key role in advancing the network’s implementation.

Additional planned nodes at Miami Dade College and at Florida Atlantic University’s John D. MacArthur Campus in Jupiter are scheduled to come online over the next several months. The Jupiter campus is home to the Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience and the FAU Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute.

Quantum key distribution uses the physics of light to share encryption keys between two points. Any attempt to intercept a key disturbs it, and the system detects the intrusion. The technology is increasingly important to state and national security, as governments, research institutions, and critical infrastructure operators guard against adversaries who collect encrypted data today in order to decrypt it once quantum systems can break current encryption standards.

“Florida Atlantic University, Palm Beach State College and Florida LambdaRail established Florida’s first quantum-safe network so universities and colleges could securely share sensitive research data across the state in a post-quantum world,” said Jason Ball, chair of the Florida LambdaRail board of directors and Associate Provost and Chief Information Officer at Florida Atlantic University. “Securing it with quantum keys between two Palm Beach County institutions establishes a blueprint for the statewide adoption of quantum-safe networking.”

Florida LambdaRail operates a 1,540-mile dark fiber network on behalf of its 13 university partners and serves affiliates from research, education, health care and local government. FLR and FloridaCommerce are planning a second phase that would extend quantum-safe capability across the full network footprint. “Using public infrastructure to support research, workforce development and stronger cybersecurity for Florida is a direct return on our community’s investment, and we look forward to supporting the next phases of this initiative,” said Palm Beach County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo.

The network figures in the Florida Quantum Ecosystem report, a 94-page strategic assessment released in September by The Quantum Insider and the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County with FloridaCommerce and Florida Quantum. The report finds that Florida universities conduct about $3.5 billion in research and development each year and that the state hosts three combatant commands and 21 major military installations. It recommends making post-quantum security a statewide priority and building regional quantum hubs that operate as one statewide system. The full report is available at FloridaQuantum.org/ecosystem.

“This project is about much more than building a network,” said Matt Cimaglia, a founding member of Florida Quantum and managing partner of Quantum Coast Capital. “It’s creating the digital infrastructure needed to accelerate research, attract technology companies and position South Florida as a hub for quantum innovation. Investments like this strengthen the region’s competitiveness and lay the groundwork for long-term economic growth.”

PBSC, working in partnership with Florida LambdaRail, Palm Beach County, IonQ, and participating institutions plans to advance the next connection in the South Florida quantum-safe corridor, including Miami-Dade College and Florida Atlantic University’s Jupiter campus within the next three months.  Completion of the initial corridor will provide a foundation for future expansion along Florida LambdaRail’s statewide network, as funding becomes available.