Events (all times EST):

Completed Webinars:

• Welcome & Opening Keynote – The Decade Creating 6G

  Tue, September 21st 2021 09:30 AM EST

  Early visions for 6G include building it to meet societal and environmental goals; step-changes in security, availability and usability; and a flexible ability to delivers services to end-users in a wide variety of contexts. This is not only a technology revolution but one which involves new approaches in policy, business relationships and service delivery throughout the value chain. If 6G services appear around 2030, the coming decade needs to be a time of furious activity and radical change to meet these requirements. In this opening keynote session, hear from thought leaders paving the way towards 6G.

• Building a value proposition

  Tue, September 21st 2021 11:45 AM EST

  6G will be shaped by a multitude of factors, many of which go beyond the enabling technologies and spectrum opportunities that often are at the forefront of research initiatives. For the business of 6G to be successful, research and development must be guided by an understanding of the value proposition against societal and economic needs. In this session, experts will address the question of “Why we need 6G” and give insights into the fundamental non-technical challenges that should be addressed by 6G. Understanding the Digital Divide, remote healthcare, rural coverage, sustainability are key societal topics to be discussed. In addition, 6G will be guided by economic necessity such as continued evolution of sharing economies, and continued cost pressures for mobile operators.

• Services From the Sky: Satellite and UAVs Beyond 5G

  Tue, September 21st 2021 13:00 PM EST

  There is a new space race, with service providers such as Starlink and Telesat aiming to bring customers services anywhere on Earth and in the air. Meanwhile, companies such as Airbus and Softbank’s HAPS mobile are developing high-altitude drones to deliver lower-latency services still. As satellite services reinvent themselves as fast as terrestrial networks, we explore how in practice these services might integrate or compete.

• Revolution is in the Air - Part 1: The Air Interface

  Tue, September 21st 2021 14:00 PM EST

  Part 1: The Air Interface. The physical layer has undoubtedly brought some of the most defining technologies for each wireless generation, from waveforms, coding technologies, power management algorithms, and more. New challenges are anticipated for the physical layer driven by the expansion of new use cases, from 4D holograms, satellites, drones, fixed wireless access and more. Join this panel to learn which physical layer technologies will be evolutionary vs. revolutionary as we look toward 6G.

• Revolution is in the Air - Part 2: The Spectrum

  Tue, September 21st 2021 15:00 PM EST

  Part 2: The Spectrum. The expected growth in the number, demands data rate demands and diversity of wireless devices in the coming decades will create two key challenges for 6G. Firstly, how do we become much more efficient at using the spectrum that telecoms networks already have access to? And secondly, how can we access more spectrum in a way that makes it affordable and effective? A failure to solve either problem will either lead to networks being overwhelmed or an astronomical cost to deploy and maintain infrastructure. While no one solution will provide the answer, great steps are being made all the way from materials through the air interface to new models of spectrum management. Join experts at the leading edge of these separate, but related, questions as we explore the enablers and technologies that will take us from today to a credible, practical 6G.

• Break

  Tue, September 21st 2021 16:00 PM EST

  Break

• US Government Initiatives Beyond 5G

  Tue, September 21st 2021 16:30 PM EST

  From cybersecurity to strategic supply chain management and from transportation to social equality, the US Government is investing in a secure and competitive America throughout the 2020s and 30s. However, the wide variety of activities and initiatives can be difficult to navigate. Join us in this session, which will explore how both Congressional and civil service activities combine to support American leadership.

• Day 2 Keynote & 6G Delivering for Industries?

  Wed, September 22nd 2021 09:30 AM EST

  Each new generation of cellular has brought revolutionary changes in industries and expanded cellular usage into new markets. While it will take more time to fully see the impact of 5G, it is clear that the typical decade of advancement that each cellular generation undergoes results in new applications and broader market use of wireless. Ten years ago, augmented reality on our smartphones was non-existent and mobile ride-hailing services like Uber were just being trialed. The next ten years of wireless growth will be propelled by the synergies between technology advances and business needs. This panel will explore the potential for 6G to address the needs of industries and new verticals. Experts from across a broad range of emerging and future users for 6G will discuss the technology challenges in their industries and the possibilities for 6G.

• 6G and the Quantum Internet

  Wed, September 22nd 2021 11:15 AM EST
  With an ambitious program announced by the Department of Energy and National Science Foundation, and with parallel work ongoing in Japan, China and Europe, quantum cryptography poses new challenges for the near future in its adoption on networks of different kinds. The longer-term development of quantum information processing and communications will inevitably start to intersect with telecoms services. This panel explores possible timelines, implications and crossovers as quantum computing develops during the coming decade.

• The Future of Cloud & Edge

  Wed, September 22nd 2021 11:45 AM EST

  The evolution of edge computing offers brand new capabilities in low-latency, low-energy and high-security compute and storage. As an extension of cloud computing the promise is clear; indeed, a recent global enterprise survey by Censuswide found almost half of companies surveyed were actively interested in edge computing. As telecoms networks move towards being a system of compute and storage nodes there are clear opportunities for providers to engage in new ways with enterprise IT and cloud providers, as well as consumers and IoT devices. This session explores the current trajectory of edge and cloud computing in 5G, and investigates the implications for architectures and business models beyond 5G.

• 6G: Built with Security by Design?

  Wed, September 22nd 2021 13:00 PM EST

  Up to now, no generation of network technology has been architected around the need for secure, trustworthy computing; but no previous generation has had the national security significance that 6G will carry. While people discuss ‘security by design’ as a principle, what will that require in practice in a software-based, flexible network of networks? Join us as we explore the role of elements such as distributed computing and blockchain; functional safety and resilience; quantum-safe cryptography; governance; and more on the road to a new kind of network.

• Shaping the Future with O-RAN: Interoperability vs Zero-Touch Control

  Wed, September 22nd 2021 14:00 PM EST

  The O-RAN project brings together two big ideas: Enabling interoperability to create a more vibrant competitive environment; and the ability for AI to control the network autonomously, in this case through the Radio Intelligent Controller, or RIC. Both of these elements are, arguably, crucial for the health of the telecoms industry. This debate will instead explore where these elements lead and which is likely to be more significant in the longer-term revolution in technology and business models that lie beyond 5G.

• Break

  Wed, September 22nd 2021 15:30 PM EST

  Break

• Will 6G be Ready for Native AI & Machine Learning?

  Wed, September 22nd 2021 16:00 PM EST

  Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) has been a defining technology for today’s emerging applications, from home assistance with voice recognition, to targeted advertising and more. It is natural to ask what role AI/ML will play in 6G and how deep into the air-interface and network architecture the impacts will go. This session will explore the evolution of AI/ML in wireless communication systems and characterize the on-going debate to what degree AI/ML will have a profound impact on 6G air-interface and network design such as enabling flexible and adaptable design for a wide range of vertical domains and deployment scenarios via end-to-end learning, ML-as-a-service or even providing support for true semantic communications.