Renowned German sports car maker Porsche hopes to break the mould on industrial digitalisation by forming a business unit to improve internal operations along with boosting its work with other sectors and companies.

Porsche Technologies is being formed by combining the company’s current engineering and digital units, a marriage deputy chair Dr Michael Steiner said would deliver the best of both worlds.

Steiner said the unit would “play a central role” in Porsche’s own “strategic development activities and in its business with other automotive and industrial customers”.

Sectors including space, maritime, defence and medical technology were listed as potential targets.

The company aims to launch Porsche Technologies early in Q2 2027 to provide services spanning development of hard and software through to validation of digital and physical products.

Porsche stated AI and data systems would play important roles in the work of the business, particularly for process optimisation.

Current Porsche Engineering CEO Markus-Christian Eberl (pictured, centre) is to head the new division.

Porsche Digital CEO Stefan Zerweck (pictured, left) is to become the CTO, with engineering unit CFO and COO Dirk Philipp (pictured, right) to occupy the same roles in the new business.

Staff numbers for the combined division stand at around 2,700, located at sites throughout Europe, the US and China.

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Toshiba addressed what it believes is complexity in deploying quantum-safe networks with the release of a platform it stated can lower the need for specific fibre connectivity and equipment.

The Japanese company is targeting the platform at network operators, enterprises, public-sector groups and companies running data centres. It is pitching the set-up as offering more than a bump to security, highlighting potential competitive advantages and revenue opportunities.

Toshiba echoed concerns expressed by many over the potential dangers of quantum computing, noting some nefarious types are already harvesting data to be decrypted when compatible machines come online.

It stated governments, “regulators and standards bodies” are already pressing for action to address potential threats.

The sales pitch for Toshiba’s platform centres on the simplicity of deployment. It states organisations “do not need to rebuild their networks” to use the set-up, which “integrates with existing network infrastructures” and can be run through “a single dedicated connection to large metro, hub-and-spoke, ring, mesh and long-distance networks”.

Andrew Shields, VP of Toshiba Europe and head of its Quantum Technology Division, said the platform should prove cost-effective in deployments “across large-scale networks”.

Toshiba equipped the platform with post-quantum cryptography, quantum key distribution and random number generation, technologies widely regarded as being suitably robust to secure the future computing systems.

Hiroshi Tsukino, VP of Toshiba’s ICT Solutions Division, said the move to quantum-safe technologies is “the largest cryptographic transformation in history” and urged organisations to begin preparing today.

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Telefonica demonstrated the military capabilities of its 5G infrastructure during an unmanned drone and vehicle exercise, one of the first moves it is making in a collaboration with Portuguese telecoms player NOS Comunicacoes.

The companies combined their 5G technologies during the Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping with Maritime Unmanned Systems demonstration. Telefonica stated the work proved the ability to provide fresh services and uses of the pair’s infrastructure.

Telefonica and NOS Comunicacoes formalised their partnership during the event with the signing of a memorandum of understanding covering joint development of future connectivity set-ups, secure communications and digital services.

Defence and security uses are foremost in the companies’ focus. NOS Comunicacoes board member Joao Ricardo Moreira said a changing security and defence “landscape requires digital infrastructure capable of operating in a coordinated manner across national borders”.

As such, network interoperability is one of the key areas the companies agreed to explore.

Also on the table is work involving edge computing, AI, 5G and fresh architectures. Telefonica stated there would also be a focus on how the technologies integrate with “command-and-control systems, autonomous platforms and other emerging technologies”.

It took the companies a year to hammer out the details of their collaboration.

Telefonica Espana director of defence and security Javier Lopez Gutierrez said the work holds the potential to boost European sovereignty and thanked the Spanish and Portuguese navies for providing the “operational environment” to test and evaluate the technologies involved.

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PLD Space kept the focus on European satellite communication ambitions, revealing progress in developing its reusable launcher a matter of hours after major operators outlined plans involving spectrum access.

The Spanish rocket company is gearing up for a demonstration flight of its MIURA 5 reusable launcher with a trio of machines, two on which it tests systems and one on which validated technologies are installed.

PLD Space stated the approach should reap repeatability benefits when it comes time to manufacture its launcher vessels, along with enabling it to validate fresh features without interrupting scheduled operations.

It is progressing development of flight hardware, engines and mechanisms to lift rockets in to position on launchpads.

Its test units have been used to develop fairings and the company is also confident in its trajectory modelling.

PLD Space has a quartet of flight avionic systems ready and is keeping an eye on the ground infrastructure needed, which includes 17,000 square metres of manufacturing facilities along with ten test benches.

The company is also building a launch facility in French Guiana.

Co-founder and CEO Raul Torres said PLD Space must test “every element of the system” rigorously, making the three-vessel approach vital to the speed of development.

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