Canton of Jura and SEALSQ to establish Swiss post-quantum semiconductor center

SEALSQ Corp, its parent company WISeKey International Holding, and the Canton of Jura have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a Swiss Post-Quantum Semiconductor and Cybersecurity Center. The public-private initiative involves an indicative investment of CHF 40-60 million over six years to develop sovereign semiconductor capabilities within Switzerland.

The center will focus on the design, testing, and secure provisioning of post-quantum semiconductor technologies to address cryptographic security threats posed by quantum computing. A central component of the project is SEALSQ’s QS7001 Quantum Shield, which implements post-quantum algorithms such as ML-KEM and ML-DSA, as standardized by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The project aims to leverage the Canton of Jura’s existing expertise in precision manufacturing and microtechnology, traditionally rooted in the watchmaking industry, and apply those skills to secure semiconductor personalization. The initiative is expected to create significant employment, with projections suggesting over 250 direct jobs in the Canton of Jura by the eighth year of operation.