Dutch AIVD, CWI and TNO publish a post-quantum migration handbook
3 DECEMBER 2024, THE HAGUE
The Dutch intelligence service AIVD, the national research institute CWI and the applied-research organization TNO published a post-quantum migration handbook on 3 December 2024. The handbook sets out a three-step approach and comes with a free tool called PQChoiceAssistant. Together they give organizations a practical, vendor-neutral starting point rather than abstract advice.
PQChoiceAssistant lowers the barrier to entry. The tool helps an organization choose appropriate post-quantum options for its situation, which matters for teams that lack deep in-house cryptographic expertise. By pairing the handbook's method with a tool that applies it, the three organizations made the first steps of migration accessible to a wider range of organizations.
The handbook carries added weight because of who wrote it. The AIVD has said that Q-Day, the point at which a quantum computer can break current cryptography, could arrive by 2030. An intelligence service making that estimate gives the handbook's call to start now a sharper edge than a purely technical publication would carry.
Why it matters. The handbook turns the Netherlands' post-quantum thinking into usable guidance, and the free PQChoiceAssistant tool means organizations can act on it without buying anything first. The AIVD's view that Q-Day could come by 2030 frames the timeline: planning that starts now has a realistic chance of finishing in time, while delay narrows the window. The three-step approach gives teams a concrete place to begin.