The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Group of Seven Cyber Security Working Group have released a call for governments and organizations to begin transitioning to post-quantum cryptography, or PQC. The document, Preparing for the Post-Quantum Era: A Call to Action, presents the transition as an urgent step for protecting sensitive data, authentication systems, and critical assets from emerging quantum-computing threats.
The call to action is built around five priorities. Together, they frame PQC adoption as a policy, technology, coordination, and procurement issue rather than a change limited to cryptographic specialists. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency says the transition should begin before quantum computing threats create a direct security impact on the systems and information that organizations need to protect.
The first priority is raising awareness of quantum risks and the importance of PQC. The G7 working group identifies awareness as a necessary part of the transition, placing the issue before governments and organizations responsible for sensitive information, authentication, and critical assets. The priority also establishes the basic case for action: organizations need to understand why existing approaches may require a future transition and why post-quantum protections matter.
The second priority calls for national strategies that support PQC adoption and integration. This places responsibility on governments to create an organizing framework for moving toward quantum-safe protections. The call to action does not describe a single implementation timetable or prescribe one national model. It does identify national planning as one of the five elements needed for a successful transition, alongside technical research, collaboration, awareness, and cybersecurity requirements.
Research and development is the third priority. The G7 Cyber Security Working Group calls for advancing quantum-safe technologies, linking the transition to continued work on the technologies organizations will use to protect data, authentication systems, and critical assets. In this framework, research is not presented as separate from deployment. It is one part of a broader effort to make post-quantum cryptography practical for the systems and security programs that will need to adopt it.
The fourth priority is stronger public-private cooperation. The call urges partnerships that share expertise and resources between government and industry. That emphasis reflects the range of responsibilities involved in a cryptographic transition. Governments are positioned to develop strategies and requirements, while organizations that operate systems and manage data will need relevant expertise and resources to support adoption. The document identifies information-sharing and cooperation as part of the path toward a successful PQC transition.
The fifth priority is integrating PQC into cybersecurity requirements and procurement processes. This would place post-quantum considerations inside the rules and purchasing decisions that shape security programs, rather than treating them as an optional initiative outside normal processes. The call connects these requirements to the protection of sensitive data, authentication systems, and critical assets, making procurement and cybersecurity governance part of the transition effort.
The document’s immediate message is that organizations and governments should start preparing now for the post-quantum era. Its five priorities provide the stated agenda: explain the risk, develop national strategies, advance quantum-safe technology, share expertise and resources through public-private partnerships, and incorporate PQC into cybersecurity requirements and procurement. Those priorities are intended to guide the beginning of a transition aimed at protecting systems and information from emerging quantum-computing threats.