Exploring Quantum Informatics, Cloud Technologies, and European DNS Resolution at Networkshop 2024

In April 2024, the 33rd Networkshop Conference took place in Eger at the Eszterházy Károly Catholic University. One of the distinguished sponsors of the event was HUN-REN SZTAKI. Several departments and research laboratories of HUN-REN SZTAKI were represented at the conference - the Department of Network Security and Internet Technologies, the Department of Distributed Systems, and the Parallel and Distributed Systems Research Laboratory. They delivered presentations and workshops on various topics.

Networkshop is the most prestigious domestic computer networking and applied informatics conference for higher education, public education, research, and public collections. The focal point of this year's conference was artificial intelligence (AI). Participants could choose from 108 presentations across 6 plenary sessions during the three-day event. In addition to presentations, there were poster sessions and mini-workshops to enrich the conference program. The Hungarnet Award was also presented on the opening day.

In a mini-workshop on quantum informatics, Attila Farkas and Tamás Máray, researchers from the Laboratory for Parallel and Distributed Systems (LPDS), talked about the basics of quantum computing, quantum computers, and comparisons between quantum computers and conventional computers, possible applications and the use of the HUN-REN Cloud Quantum reference architecture, as well as practical possibilities for access to quantum computer simulators and real quantum computers. Zoltán Peskó and Ádám Szilágyi (IBM Hungary) informed the participants about the current state of quantum computing technology and the milestones to be expected in the future, while quantum communication and quantum internet and related projects in Hungary were presented by Márton Czermann (BME) and János Mohácsi (KIFÜ), the other speakers of the mini workshop.
 

Cloud technologies and the HUN-REN Cloud itself were among the highlights of NWS 2024. Péter Kacsuk reported on the HUN-REN Cloud experiences so far and outlined the future vision of the national research cloud, emphasizing potential collaboration with other Hungarian digital research infrastructures. During the same session, Attila Farkas explained the reference architecture concept available on the HUN-REN Cloud and its applications. In Tamás Máray’s lecture called: Quantum Computing: Is This the "Future"?  attendees learned about the possibilities quantum computing embraces and the current trends.

László Kovács, the head of the Department of Distributed Systems at HUN-REN SZTAKI, gave a presentation titled "Principles of possible collaboration between the ARP federated research data repository network and EOSC," while Zoltán Tóth presented the structure of the HUN-REN Data Repository Platform. Eszter Mihály (OSZK DBK) – András Micsik (HUN-REN SZTAKI) – Kadosa Nagy (HUN-REN SZTAKI) gave a talk called "Following literary exchanges with TEI and maps."

George Buhai (Whalebone) presented the DNS4EU project, in which the Department of Network Security and Internet Technologies (HBIT) of HUN-REN SZTAKI is involved. Next up, Ernő Rigó, the head of the HBIT department, reported on the tasks performed within the project, particularly highlighting efforts made in terms of feasibility and implementability in Hungary. He also detailed the security design tasks undertaken in the project.

Gyula Szabó, a HUN-REN SZTAKI HBIT fellow, spoke about solutions for new and experimental identification infrastructures he has experienced recently, among which the best ones have been introduced both at HUN-REN SZTAKI and within the HUN-REN research network.

On the closing day of the conference, Dr. Gábor Soós (Magyar Telekom) gave a presentation titled "V2X - Challenges of communication between vehicles," co-authored by Pál Ormos, a colleague at HUN-REN SZTAKI HBIT. The talk covered the 5G network used in road traffic and its further possibilities. Ernő Rigó was one of the speakers at the closing plenary session, providing a detailed summary of the technical presentations at the conference.

The accompanying event of the conference was the "Without Obstacles" event supported by HBIT, detailed information about which can be found here. The next Networkshop in 2025 will welcome participants in Győr in the spring.