PQC Migration for Energy, Utilities, Water, and Transport
Equipment with a 25-year service life has to be migrated before the answers are perfect. Operational technology (OT) environments face a PQC migration challenge unlike anything in IT: devices with limited computational resources, safety-critical systems that cannot tolerate downtime for upgrades, annual maintenance windows that constrain deployment schedules, and regulatory frameworks (IEC 62443, NERC CIP) that add approval requirements to every change.
This course covers quantum-safe migration for energy, utilities, water, and transport infrastructure, addressing the practical realities of OT environments where the migration approach must be fundamentally different from enterprise IT.
Course Outline
Module 1. Where OT Systems Use Cryptography
Where cryptography is used in OT environments: SCADA protocols, DCS authentication, historian data encryption, remote access, and inter-facility communication. The OT-specific challenge: devices with 10–25 year lifetimes, limited processing power, and safety certification requirements.
Module 2. Gateway-Based Migration
When endpoints cannot be upgraded, gateway-based approaches provide PQC protection at the network boundary. Gateway architecture design. Protocol translation and re-encryption. Performance implications for real-time control systems. Managing dual-protocol operation during transition.
Module 3. Safety-Case and Regulatory Considerations
IEC 62443 implications for cryptographic changes. NERC CIP compliance during migration. Safety-case recertification requirements when cryptographic components change. The relationship between functional safety and cybersecurity in PQC migration.
Module 4. Migration Planning for Long-Lived Assets
Prioritizing migration based on asset lifecycle and replacement schedules. Integrating PQC migration with planned technology refresh cycles. Managing the residual risk of assets that cannot be migrated before end-of-life. Historian data protection: re-encrypting archived data with PQC algorithms.
Prerequisites
None. Sector experience is helpful but not required. For a broader PQC foundation, consider starting with Post-Quantum Foundation.
Certificate of Completion
Upon completion, you will receive a Quantum Academy certificate of completion. This is not a professional certification.
Who this course is for
OT security architects, control systems and automation engineering leads, safety engineering, and the security leadership responsible for the boundary between IT and OT. It suits manufacturing, transport, water, chemicals, and anyone else running industrial control systems.
If you are a regulated utility, Quantum-Safe Energy and Utilities goes deeper on the utility-specific regulatory picture, including the NERC CIP material Module 3 introduces here.
What you’ll be able to do afterward
- Assess PQC migration constraints in OT environments (safety cases, patching windows, device lifetimes)
- Identify un-upgradeable device populations and plan appropriate mitigation (gateway, isolation, retirement)
- Apply ICS/SCADA protocol considerations to PQC planning
- Navigate the NIS2 and sector-specific compliance overlay for critical infrastructure
- Design PQC migration plans that respect safety-case constraints
What you leave with
You leave with the course handbook, a PDF of the full material with the instructor notes written out in place of the slides’ bullet points, and a PDF copy of Quantum Ready, included at no extra cost. The handbook is yours to keep. For most organizations, that shared reference is the clearest return on a training budget.
Enrollment includes 180 days of access to the online on-demand course. Where that course is not yet published, the 180 days start on the day it is.
Where this course fits
Nothing is required. Post-Quantum Foundation covers the algorithm vocabulary if you want it first. The Quantum-Safe OT and Critical Infrastructure Intensive is the private working session. Quantum-Safe Energy and Utilities adds the regulated utility overlay.
Why we teach this
The course is built on the OT and Critical Infrastructure Extension of the Applied Quantum PQC Migration Framework, published openly under Creative Commons at pqcframework.org and written by the practitioners who teach here. Our faculty runs migration programs in this sector, and that is where the constraints in this material come from.
About this program
Quantum Academy credentials are private professional credentials issued by Quantum Academy, a trade name of Post-Quantum Institute. They are not government-issued licenses, accredited degrees, or academic credit, and earning one does not guarantee employment, promotion, regulatory approval, or any other specific outcome.
Quantum Academy programs are educational and informational only, and are not legal, compliance, or engineering advice.