2 1: WISeKey International Holding Ltd. (“WISeKey”) (SIX: WIHN, NASDAQ: WKEY), a leading global cybersecurity and IoT company, and MINES Saint-Etienne Research Institute (“MINES Saint-Etienne”), an internationally renowned multidisciplinary university and labs created in 1816, today announced they are starting a new R&D cooperation to help the international community find cryptography algorithms that will resist future quantum computing based cyber-attacks. They will jointly participate in the related US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standardization program (NIST PQC) launched in 2016. Researches about quantum computing, namely how to use quantum mechanical phenomena to perform fast computation, were initiated in the early 1980s. The perspectives and unbelievable performances offered by this promising technology are so huge that many countries are sponsoring public/private R&D initiatives. With the French Quantum Program launched by President Macron in January 2021, and worth 1.8 billion euros over 5 years, France has rejoint the USA and China in the Top-3 countries leading this international race. WISeKey and MINES Saint-Etienne will be cooperating in this context.