Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) allows two parties to perform key exchange by leveraging properties of quantum physics to guarantee communication security and eavesdropping detection. These strong security promises, combined with the imminent threat to classical cryptography due to recent advances in quantum computing capabilities, have fueled substantial research and development efforts over the past two decades in the QKD industry. Today, QKD has evolved from experimental lab prototypes to commercially available solutions, becoming a pillar of quantum-safe communication with strategic initiatives like the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) aiming to establish QKD networks across Europe by 2030.Despite significant commercial progress, QKD still faces several challenges including practical limitations such as hardware imperfections, implementation deviations, integration issues in complex networks, and lack of interoperability guarantees between devices from different vendors in large-scale deployments.To address these challenges, numerous standardization efforts through national, regional, and international initiatives led by bodies such as ETSI, ISO/IEC, and ITU-T are working to establish guidelines that define requirements for security, performance, and deployment of QKD technologies.This talk will provide an overview of the current QKD standardization landscape, highlighting key players, major standards under development, and the different scopes and approaches they adopt. We will discuss the opportunities and challenges that standardization brings for industry and reflect on how these initiatives are shaping the future of QKD adoption at the European and international levels.
